Acclimatization of fish shipping with lower salinity?

[gray808]

So, I have my first batch of fish ordered and arriving tomorrow.
I reached out to the place I ordered from (LiveAquaria) to ask what salinity they would be shipped at and was told 1.018-1.020.
My QT and DT are currently running at 1.025.

What is the best way to acclimatize these fish from bag to QT?

--Gray

 

[Conovan]

I acclimated per the live aquaria instructions on the website https://www.liveaquaria.com/general/general.cfm?general_pagesid=665 and my fish did just fine going from the bag that was 1.020 to my tank which was 1.026

 

[JCTReefer]

Best way is to drop your salinity to 1.018 in your quarantine. Every batch of fish I’ve ordered from there is 1.018. That would be the ideal way to do it. I personally don’t agree with liveaquaria’s acclimation procedure. What they don’t tell you is that when fish ship, ammonia “NH3” gets converted to ammonium NH4 due to the drop in ph when oxygen is depleted. This is a good thing and works to the fishes favore. NH4 “Ionized ammonia is far less toxic than free ammonia. Now when you open the shipping bag and expose the shipping water to atmospheric oxygen, that ammonium gets converted back to ammonia due to the PH increase. And then you started adding higher ph water and that just makes it worse. Ammonia burn to the gills is a really bad thing. You are better off getting a bucket and making up “transition water”. This transition water is temperature, ph, and salinity matched to the shipping water. If you test the shipping waters ammonia and ph, the ph will likely be very low. Like in the 6-7 range. And total ammonia likely 4-5ppm. You can take a small syringe and draw the water out to be tested without opening the bag and exposing it to oxygen. Then put a piece of tape on the hole. By placing the fish directly from the shipping bag to this transition water that’s been adjusted to match the ph, salinity, and temp of the bag. You give the fish time to flush the entrained ammonia in it’s gills. I’d let this flushing take place for a good ten fifteen minutes. Then you can start a fast drip from the QT to the transition water bucket. This will slowly raise the ph of the transition water to that of the Qt. After ph matches, just net the fish out and place in Qt. Lowering PH - using 1 mL of distilled white vinegar per gallon of aquarium water to achieve an initial pH drop of about 0.3 pH units. If they ship at a different Specific Gravity, have a strong solution of saltwater mixed up to adjust the Qt and transition water if needed. Also have some fresh Ro/Di in case you need to drop the salinity. Here’s a good read. It’s an excellent paper I think everyone should look over. Bob Fenners guerilla acclimation procedures follow the same guidelines. Of course this is just how I would do it. Hope the shipment goes well!!!

https://sustainableaquatics.com/docs/Acclimation-White-Paper.docx

 

[Thespammailaccount]

It is not recommended to drip acclimate fish that are ship. There is ammonia in the bag and once exposed to the air it becomes toxic. Just acclimate to temp and release. Like previously stated ask what salinity the fish is being shipped in and adjust qt tank to that number