Acclimating a pencil urchin to crazy lfs parameters

[Rickybobby]

Holy moly guys. So my lfs. Is very ma and pa. Has a small area for marine but does get some neat stuff. Just bought my second urchin from him a pencil. Got home. Tested my main display. 1.026 ph 8.2 alk 10
Lfs get ready. 1.022 ph 8.6 and alk 20!!
Just bought a brand new red sea ph alk kit today. Re tested many times
So I’m thinking this acclimation should be forever?? Like how do I do this one. 3 hours enough??

 

[Jaden9933]

Holy moly guys. So my lfs. Is very ma and pa. Has a small area for marine but does get some neat stuff. Just bought my second urchin from him a pencil. Got home. Tested my main display. 1.026 ph 8.2 alk 10
Lfs get ready. 1.022 ph 8.6 and alk 20!!
Just bought a brand new red sea ph alk kit today. Re tested many times
So I’m thinking this acclimation should be forever?? Like how do I do this one. 3 hours enough??

As the water in the bag sits, ph drops and so does the toxicity of ammonia. As you add your tank’s water to the bag, both ph and ammonia toxicity will rise. Inverts are very sensitive to ammonia and may not handle the elevated levels very well. Therefore, I would say to go with your standard 30-45min acclimation. 1hr acclimation max.

 

[Rickybobby]

As the water in the bag sits, ph drops and so does the toxicity of ammonia. As you add your tank’s water to the bag, both ph and ammonia toxicity will rise. Inverts are very sensitive to ammonia and may not handle the elevated levels very well. Therefore, I would say to go with your standard 30-45min acclimation. 1hr acclimation max.

This urchin was in the bag for 15 mins. Not sure how ammonia has come into this

 

[Jekyl]

Shot glass of water every 5 minutes until the water volume has doubled.

 

[Jaden9933]

This urchin was in the bag for 15 mins. Not sure how ammonia has come into this

I think you misunderstood what I was saying.

What I meant was that if you take 3 hours to acclimate it, you may end up killing it. Ammonia in the bag will accumulate and become more toxic as you acclimate. Best of luck.

 

[Chrisv.]

This urchin was in the bag for 15 mins. Not sure how ammonia has come into this

If you want to be extra sure, check the ammonia levels. If they are not high I doubt they will get high in three hours, given that these guys have a pretty slow metabolism.

The other thing is that the LFS pH of 8.6 is higher than your tank, so I suspect that by dripping or doing whatever acclimation you choose, the pH will likely go down, making ammonia less toxic.

 

[Rickybobby]

No I dump water every while and keep adding fresh 5ml at a time

 

[Rickybobby]

Ammonia is zero on salifert. I’m more concerned about the alk and the salinity

 

[Chrisv.]

Good luck! It's a cool urchin!

 

[Cell]

As the water in the bag sits, ph drops and so does the toxicity of ammonia. As you add your tank’s water to the bag, both ph and ammonia toxicity will rise. Inverts are very sensitive to ammonia and may not handle the elevated levels very well. Therefore, I would say to go with your standard 30-45min acclimation. 1hr acclimation max.

This phenomenon is relevant when shipping overnight, not so much from a LFS. The ph drops in a sealed bag slowly and raises rapidly when exposed to O2. The bag isn't sealed long enough for pH to drop and ammonia to build up at significant levels in a short drive from your LFS.

 

[Rickybobby]

I guess what I was asking is with such a huge difference in tanks. Should I do the normal drip for 3 hours or should I go longer. Last urchin from same place I did 3 hours and today wears hats lol

 

[Jaden9933]

This phenomenon is relevant when shipping overnight, not so much from a LFS. The ph drops in a sealed bag slowly and raises rapidly when exposed to O2. The bag isn't sealed long enough for pH to drop and ammonia to build up at significant levels in a short drive from your LFS.

I wasn’t sure how long the urchin had been bagged up for, or what the ammonia levels at the LFS were at considering that all of their other parameters were so out of wack. Figured it was better to be safe than sorry

 

[Rickybobby]

Going on hour number 4. Raising salinity .001 an hour so should be at 1.026 by 8pm. Thanks everyone. Just for that here’s my tuxedo urchin Ben with his baseball hat on

 

[Robert Ranciato]

As the water in the bag sits, ph drops and so does the toxicity of ammonia. As you add your tank’s water to the bag, both ph and ammonia toxicity will rise. Inverts are very sensitive to ammonia and may not handle the elevated levels very well. Therefore, I would say to go with your standard 30-45min acclimation. 1hr acclimation max.