Can you accclimate different fish at the same time?

[nickbuol]

I am getting two tank bred ocellaris clownfish and a regular firefish this Saturday via Live Aquaria and a local club group purchase. Can I acclimate them in the same container?

In general, how do people drop acclimate different fish species that they buy at the same time? At some point I will need to acclimate 2 different dwarf angels and another time 2 different tangs, so my question goes beyond my need this weekend.

For this weekend, I should be able to put the 3 fish into the same QT after acclimation fine, but getting them acclimated to that QT is what I am trying to figure out.

Thanks.

 

[nickbuol]

Well that stinks. I can't go back and edit my post and fix the subject line to say "acclimate" instead of "accclimate". Sorry.

 

[ReeferBob]

I would not. The space in the bags is not enough room for all three plus the 2 clowns are probably going to fight. This is normal but I don't think you want them fighting in a little bag with other fish. Do not open any of the bags until you are ready to acclimate, then go one by one until they are done. How big is the tank? Since I see Tangs in there I will assume at least a 120g (72") tank.

 

[KSzegi]

I have acclimated fish together several times. With small fish that aren't aggressive or appear overly stressed from shipping, I use my "acclimate" box, with a little bit larger fish I put them in a larger bowl or bucket together. I add the water they came in along with 1/2 to 1 cup tank water, depending on volume of shipping water and what the salinity is. I then adjust the rate of my drip a little depending upon how close the salinity and ph of shipping and tank water match up. Maybe I have just been lucky, so it is still for you to decide whether you want to risk it, but in my experience, yes it can be done - although I agree with ReeferBob and would not combine them all in the same small bag one of them came in.

 

[FishLipz]

I've done it in old salt buckets as long as the fish are compatible. You may have issues with similar species (aka...dwarf angels together) but if they are completely unrelated, I've never had a problem doing it.

 

[nickbuol]

Thanks all.

To answer some questions, I don't plan on trying to acclimate them in a single shipment bag, but would be putting them into a container of appropriate size (depending on fish size). Like a clean fish bucket or container that can be tipped up on one end if needed to "pool" the water on one end so it isn't too shallow.

Oh, and I have a 120 gallon tank that someday will have a tang or two potentially, and no, not a Pacific Blue. They are so small and my wife thinks that they are cute, but they need a much larger tank. That is a different discussion though.

Related though, lets say that I need to drip acclimate more than one fish, but I can't put the fish together (too aggressive, or whatever). One option is to get multiple drip lines going to separate containers which is probably best, but what about drip acclimating one only while the other stays in the bag floating for temp control? How long could a fish stay in that bag if it was shipped overnight from a place like LiveAquaria? Some fish information repositories say that many fish need 2-3 hours of acclimation. Would that extra few hours be too much more time in the bag? Obviously, a more delicate fish would get out of the bag and acclimated first, but I am just wondering.

Thanks again for the help so far.

 

[fusionvi]

I always acclimate multiple non agressive fishes together in a seperate container or a bucket. Just the water they came in together add a bit of tank water so they are comfortable and not out of water. Then drip acclimate them with a small heater.

my 650gal mixed reef build thread

http://dfwmas.org/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=92335#p718584