Acclimation

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I acclimate into my qt. If the fish is long haul from overseas I match salinity or if I drip use prime. If domestic I roll the top down on the bag and use my refractometer pipette to add water while floating.
 
I assumed QT was understood. I always QT and use acclimatization into QT and the display.
 
Sometimes I have adjusted my QT to match the incoming salinity and temperature, which can be done very fast by adding cool RO water and/or cool salt water to normal QT water.

Then the fish can plop right into the new water with no acclimation and no concern about ammonia toxicity (during the acclimation the pH is typically rising and increasing the ammonia concerns). :)
 
Nobody quarantines???

Never have. I've been lucky with good quality livestock from my local shops. Unless set up correctly, I've seen quarantine induce far more stress than it's worth. That's a whole other topic though
 
kdino1 kdino1 is offline
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In my 8 or so years of reefing, ive never drip acclimated fish, inverts, corals...all just floated, added tank water to the bag for 30 minutes to an hour and put them in. No problems, all are heathy and happy. These animals are tougher than we give them credit for.
 
Dripping for a long period will cause the water in the bucket to adjust to room temp and create a ph swing which both defeat the purpose of acclimation.
I have certainly introduce thousand and thousand of coral into new conditions over the years and have found the best methods is to float for 30 minutes, dip and place into System. I do understand the outlook on the Alaska comment.. But while the coral are in the bag they are in Alaska, horrible conditions. Putting them in a healthy reef is like placing them on a Caribbean beach. Myself, no acclimation needed for that transition...
 
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 :)
I always drip and float. There's no need to spend money on any parts. All you need is a piece of airline tubing. Tie a knot in the lower end of the tube loosely. Start your siphon then tighten the knot to achieve the drip rate you want. It's super simple!
 
I have been floating and adding water to bag. After reading a bunch of articles I thought I would find out what everyone does. This is all great information.
 
Dripping for a long period will cause the water in the bucket to adjust to room temp and create a ph swing which both defeat the purpose of acclimation.
I have certainly introduce thousand and thousand of coral into new conditions over the years and have found the best methods is to float for 30 minutes, dip and place into System. I do understand the outlook on the Alaska comment.. But while the coral are in the bag they are in Alaska, horrible conditions. Putting them in a healthy reef is like placing them on a Caribbean beach. Myself, no acclimation needed for that transition...

Thanks for this im using this method as i type. this is my first sps so i hope this method works! thank you for the tip.
 
If the fish is shipped and has been in a bag for 18-24 hours drip acclimation for more than about 30 minutes can be deadly due to pH rising and causing ammonia levels to rapidly rise. I always ask the shipper what their shipping SG is an match may QT to that. If it's off more than 0.001 I take that 30 minutes to match salinity and transfer to QT. If I buy a fish locally and their salinity is way off I usually do the same but aren't in as big a hurry due to the lower threat of ammonia.
 
To me, not acclimating is like jumping into a cold pool in the dark... Its always so... cold / shocking right?! At least for a little bit, but then you adjust quickly...

That being said, when I drop 300-500 on coral you bet your butt I drip acclimate! My tank parameters could be the same but there is a lot of other factors that come into play IMHO.
 
To me, not acclimating is like jumping into a cold pool in the dark... Its always so... cold / shocking right?! At least for a little bit, but then you adjust quickly...

That being said, when I drop 300-500 on coral you bet your butt I drip acclimate! My tank parameters could be the same but there is a lot of other factors that come into play IMHO.
+1 ☆
 
I always drip and float. There's no need to spend money on any parts. All you need is a piece of airline tubing. Tie a knot in the lower end of the tube loosely. Start your siphon then tighten the knot to achieve the drip rate you want. It's super simple!

I tried that, but I only have access to the more rigid airline so any knots I tied would eventually come undone and start a full siphon. With the softer airline it would be easy though! :)
 
I've done it with the rigid refrigerator supply line from Lowe's. It's not ideal but any tubing will work. You just have to pull the knot tighter and it'll stay put. I abandoned the rigid stuff because I had issues with it lifting up on the tank side and breaking the siphon. You either have to use a really long piece or use a clip to get it to stay below the water line.
 

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

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