acclimation

[tracereefer]

i just ordered a clown from sustainable aquatics. i’m wondering what other people have done when it comes to acclimation of a fish that was ordered online. I’ve heard that drip acclimation just causes more stress and possible ammonia burn bc of the bag water when the bag is opened. i’m starting to lean more towards temp acclimation only but if that’s a death sentence please let me know. thank you

 

[James M]

Temp then drip acclimate.
Where did you hear about temp then just dump in ?

 

[jrill]

Temp then drip acclimate. Where did you hear about temp then just dump in ?

It's an accepted practice by many fish keepers. It's believed that the prolonged stay in the bag and resulting ammonia build up causes a radical change is pH harming the fish. Many folks "pop and drop".

I've done both and never lost a fish either way.

 

[cmcimino]

I just got my first online order of fish last week. I temp acclimated and then basically did the drip method. I ordered two wrasse so they don’t ship anyways. Things started to look worse after 30 min or so. I called my friend who runs an LFS, and he said to never drip acclimate because the agent the use to detoxify the ammonia wears off once you open the bag. I netted the fish and they have finally seemed to recover and not be as stressed over the past two days. I think next time I’ll just temp acclimate, make sure my salinity matches and dump. I see it being more important to get the fish in new water with 0 ammonia.

 

[Idoc]

I adjust my quarantine tank salinity to match the shipping water salinity, then float the bag for 20 min to equalize the temps. Then remove the fish into a strainer, rinse quickly with a little water from the new tank (into a bucket to be discarded), then release the fish into my quarantine tank.

 

[tracereefer]

Temp then drip acclimate.
Where did you hear about temp then just dump in ?

i don’t remember but it was from a pretty reputable youtubed i believe. from what i remember is that when the bag is opened the air causes the ph to drop which causes the ammonia to become toxic.