Fish arrived in poor shape
- Thread starter NinjaSeaTurtle
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hds4216
Valuable Member
That's the worst course of action. As the old water is exposed to air the pH rise makes the ammonia in the bag more toxic. I would temp acclimate and try to salinity match the old water with the new water if possible, then basically just dump it in. Leave the old water exposed to air for as little time as possible.
Apollo7235
Well-Known Member
I was doing some research on this a few days ago and one of the videos I watched talked about waiting to open the bag to air because it will activate the ammonia and burn the gills of the fish so he basically recommended floating the bag to temperature acclimate then dumping the fish into a net and placing the fish in quarantine. Basically choosing the lesser of the two evils: burnt gills and possibly dead fish or a little bit of shock from skipping drip acclimation. Let me see if I can find the video for you.
Do you mind DM'ing me who that vendor was?
I think the way you acclimate them in that situation probably depends on the fish. Also, I've thought about this situation before and I was thinking that adding an ammonia binder would help with the ammonia burning? Not sure about that because I've never tried that. But on to what I said before, I think for hardier fish that can handle swings better (perhaps captive bred hardy fish), one can just simply temperature acclimate only when the salinity matches (which seems to never match because vendors don't keep stable salinity for fish in my experience). Though not exactly the same situation, long time ago when I was in Hawaii the local pet store had a diver who would bring in new fish and inverts every week - he would just dump them into the holding tanks (which were kept at the same salinity) without any acclimation. Oddly I've never seen any of the inverts or fish die, but I've personally only ever done this with hardier tidepool creatures. Tidepool fish will actually try to jump out of disgusting water to get to a different body of water (often of different temperature, salinity, and ammonia/nitrate levels) since to them its better than living in an anoxic garbage pool, however they are well adapted to huge swings like these.
I think the way you acclimate them in that situation probably depends on the fish. Also, I've thought about this situation before and I was thinking that adding an ammonia binder would help with the ammonia burning? Not sure about that because I've never tried that. But on to what I said before, I think for hardier fish that can handle swings better (perhaps captive bred hardy fish), one can just simply temperature acclimate only when the salinity matches (which seems to never match because vendors don't keep stable salinity for fish in my experience). Though not exactly the same situation, long time ago when I was in Hawaii the local pet store had a diver who would bring in new fish and inverts every week - he would just dump them into the holding tanks (which were kept at the same salinity) without any acclimation. Oddly I've never seen any of the inverts or fish die, but I've personally only ever done this with hardier tidepool creatures. Tidepool fish will actually try to jump out of disgusting water to get to a different body of water (often of different temperature, salinity, and ammonia/nitrate levels) since to them its better than living in an anoxic garbage pool, however they are well adapted to huge swings like these.
Apollo7235
Well-Known Member
I would sure like to know who this was as well!
JCTReefer
Valuable Member
If anyone cares to read about how acclimation should be done, here it is. Lol!! A lot of online vendors are just plain wrong or misinformed on their acclimation procedures. This is geared for fish in transit over night or fish in transit longer. Slow dripping/adding water has to be the worst advice I’ve gotten from a Vendor. Anyone ever tested ammonia levels in a bag shipped over night? They will be through the roof. The relationship of Nh3 and Nh4 is important.
NH3 (ammonia) is a gas and sometimes called toxic or free ammonia. This type of ammonia is the dangerous part.
NH4 (ammonium) is a nontoxic salt. It is the ionised form of ammonia.
NH3 and NH4 together are often referred to as total ammonia nitrogen (TAN).
The two exist at an equilibrium point that is governed largely by pH and temperature. However, salinity and the ionic strength of the water also influence this equilibrium point.
These white papers explain things in detail. It’s an excellent read and I believe everyone would benefit. There’s a few who posted above with good advice. Of course, we’re not talking about short trips from the LFS here.
NH3 (ammonia) is a gas and sometimes called toxic or free ammonia. This type of ammonia is the dangerous part.
NH4 (ammonium) is a nontoxic salt. It is the ionised form of ammonia.
NH3 and NH4 together are often referred to as total ammonia nitrogen (TAN).
The two exist at an equilibrium point that is governed largely by pH and temperature. However, salinity and the ionic strength of the water also influence this equilibrium point.
These white papers explain things in detail. It’s an excellent read and I believe everyone would benefit. There’s a few who posted above with good advice. Of course, we’re not talking about short trips from the LFS here.
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