Acclimation

[lefty]

I have been researching the best methods for acclimation and have found the drip method seems to be the best. What are everyone's thoughts on that? BRS has a acclimate by reef gently that seems to be a pretty nice deal. Not sure if I want to spend the money on that or make something myself. How did you set up your drip method?

Thanks,

Dan.

 

[kdino1]

in my 7 or so years of reefing, ive never drip acclimated. fish, inverts, corals...all just floated, dipperd (for corals) and put in. fish and inverts i have added a few squirts from a turkey baster to thier bag but thats just as of recently. No problems, all are heathy and happy. These animals are tougher than we give them credit for.

 

[3Twinklets]

I drip acclimate everything. These animals are expensive why take the chance.

 

[Noah707]

Well I've always drop acclimated freshwater fish/inverts. The one time I didnt I had 2 of 3 fish die. You could probably get away without drip acclimating if the parameters of the tank and bag are nearly identical. Regardless you should always float them.

 

[Noah707]

Drip*

 

[purdy]

I bet if I broke into your house, kid napped you and then flew you to Alaska and left you, you would probably survive also. But wouldn't it be much nicer if I gave you some appropriate clothing and supplies?

I use the drip method. I think it's the best way for the fish to adjust to different water parameters.

 

[prsnlty]

+1 Purdy!

 

[tyler1503]

BRS has a acclimate by reef gently that seems to be a pretty nice deal. Not sure if I want to spend the money on that or make something myself.

I haven't seen that product, so I don't know what exactly it is, but I wouldn't waste money buying anything like that. All you need is a bucket, a piece of airline a few feet long and an airline tap.
I simply put the new fish in the bucket with the bag water, put the airline with the tap on the end in the tank, open the tap, suck on the end to start a siphon, close the tap almost all the way so it's dripping about 1-2 drops a second and let it do it's own thing for a few hours. I also use airline suction caps to keep the airline in place under the water.
After the drip acclimation, I rebag the fish and temperature acclimate for about half an hour or so, then let him go

 

[purdy]

IMO dripping for a few hours us to long. And if you're dripping them for that long then the water temp is the same as the tank I'm sure, unless you're using a heater or chiller. I simply drip for about 30 minutes with a steady drip and then compare water parameters. If the salinity and temp are about the same then in goes the fish.

 

[Noah707]

I bet if I broke into your house, kid napped you and then flew you to Alaska and left you, you would probably survive also. But wouldn't it be much nicer if I gave you some appropriate clothing and supplies?

I use the drip method. I think it's the best way for the fish to adjust to different water parameters.

Notice how said if the parameters are identical, isn't that the whole point of acclimating?

 

[Noah707]

That being said you should still always drip acclimate, as there's no negative affects. The only exception IMHO being if the parameters are the same, and even then you should still drip acclimate if you have the time.

 

[tyler1503]

IMO dripping for a few hours us to long. And if you're dripping them for that long then the water temp is the same as the tank I'm sure, unless you're using a heater or chiller. I simply drip for about 30 minutes with a steady drip and then compare water parameters. If the salinity and temp are about the same then in goes the fish.

Thats a good point. I live in a place where it's excessively hot in summer an ridiculously cold in winter, so a float to temperature acclimate is necessary for me, but some people can get away without it.
Most of my fish are wild caught, not LFS bought so I feel a longer acclimation is necessary for me. An LFS bought fish will usually be acclimated for about an hour or so in my house. But a longer acclimation isn't harming anyone also, any inverts or corals get the longer acclimation.

 

[finallysalty]

I bet if I broke into your house, kid napped you and then flew you to Alaska and left you, you would probably survive also. But wouldn't it be much nicer if I gave you some appropriate clothing and supplies?

I use the drip method. I think it's the best way for the fish to adjust to different water parameters.

Well put!

 

[lefty]

Thank you all for the input. The responses have been great to read.

 

[N1Husker]

I set a small container inside a 5 gallon bucket and put the critter in the small bucket. I have a drip tube I got from Drs. Foster & Smith, it has a little control valve and a u shaped tube to havg on the aquarium. It has a vinyl tube fom the u tube with the valve about 3/4 of the way down. I drip at the rate of 4 drips a second (approx.) and keep dripping until the smaller bucket overflows into the big bucket, or for at least 2 hours, sometimes longer. I haven't lost a fish yet. The acclimation tubes from Drs. Foster & Smith are about $7.00 for 3 tube sets. I have 2 for acclimation and one for my ATO, to return water to the sump from my top off bucket.

 

[Shep]

I've always drip acclimated, usually just do it for about an hour. I doubt it does any harm, and its much safer than just dropping a fish in. Why even temp acclimate if you are just going to disregard all other water parameters?

 

[wrongturn13]

I have been doing it the same way for 25 years. I float the bag and add a 1/4 cup of tank water to the bag every 15 minutes for an hour. Never lost a fish yet.

 

[NanaReefer]

I have been doing it the same way for 25 years. I float the bag and add a 1/4 cup of tank water to the bag every 15 minutes for an hour. Never lost a fish yet.

5yrs for me doing it this same way No losses either!

 

[billwill]

I have been doing it the same way for 25 years. I float the bag and add a 1/4 cup of tank water to the bag every 15 minutes for an hour. Never lost a fish yet.

20 years for me this same way with excellent results. Fish and corals. What I don't like about drip for hours is that you drop to room temperature sitting in a bucket.

 

[Montireef]

Nobody quarantines???