Acclimating Online Coral & Fish

[AlexDm]

In your opinion guys what would be the best method to acclimate new Fish & Coral? That was order online and delivered over night ??

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

In your opinion guys what would be the best method to acclimate new Fish & Coral? That was order online and delivered over night ??

Drip acclimation is probably the most common method. See the second part of this page on liveaquaria: http://www.liveaquaria.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=157

 

[AlexDm]

Drip acclimation is probably the most common method. See the second part of this page on liveaquaria: http://www.liveaquaria.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=157

But some people say when doing the drip method it can damage the fish's eyes , because of the PH difference

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

But some people say when doing the drip method it can damage the fish's eyes , because of the PH difference

I personally have never had that happen to me but maybe @Humblefish could offer some insight.

 

[deedubz]

Find out ahead of time what salinity they ship their livestock in. Match your quarantine tank to that.

Float bag 15-20 minutes to acclimate to temp. Cut tiny hole in bag to suck some water out to verify salinity(WITH REFRACTOMETER). If within +/- .001, drop your acclimated fish into quarantine.

As far as coral, I don't have a lot of it but I generally temp acclimate then drop it in low in the tank to slowly get it used to my mh/t5

 

[Whipples]

In addition to the above, quarantine! Those fish are kept in systems with who knows what and you don't want to introduce anything to your tank. Check out the fish diagnosis threads for how to quarantine and tips/suggestions. It will save you money and time, I promise!

 

[AlexDm]

Okay! thank you all!

 

[Brew12]

But some people say when doing the drip method it can damage the fish's eyes , because of the PH difference

I'm not sure I am buying that. pH is primarily determined by the Alkalinity of the water and the CO2 content. The CO2 in the water builds up during shipping causing pH to drop. As soon as you open the bag and start getting air exchange the pH goes up fairly quickly. One important thing to keep in mind, especially for fish ordered online, is that as pH rises it makes the ammonia in the shipping bag more toxic.

I'm going to link something I put together a few months ago. You may find it helpful. There are many ways to acclimate, this is just my favorite.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/beginners-guide-to-acclimation-and-quarantine.304980/

Keep in mind that there are some species of fish and inverts that need a multi hour drip acclimation. Starfish are one common example.

 

[Humblefish]

I personally have never had that happen to me but maybe @Humblefish could offer some insight.

Look here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-acclimate.192300/