How to acclimate with more success

[Miami Reef]

I bought a few fish and I had a very low survival rate. I’m blaming it to my acclimation technique.

This is what I did: I took the fish, opened the bag and put them in a bucket. I then added about a cup of tank water every 5-8 minutes until 30 minutes or so, then put the fish in the tank.

(Please try not to suggest putting the fish in quarantine tanks)

 

[DanH86]

Try a drip tube from DT to bucket. Might not cause as much of a shock as a cup of water.

 

[jordan9095]

you need to float the bags for 15-20 mins to get them to the right temperature first. then slowly add water to get salinity close. then they go in the tank. temp, salinity & pH should be close

 

[EmdeReef]

you need to float the bags for 15-20 mins to get them to the right temperature first. then slowly add water to get salinity close. then they go in the tank. temp, salinity & pH should be close

+1 start with temperature and then salinity

Why do you think it was your acclimation?

 

[K95ranger]

I agree with floating the bag first. I usually do it for a hour. Then just add 1/4 or 1/2 cup to the bag every 10 minutes or so. When the bag gets full I empty 1/2 the water and keep doing it for 3 to 4 hours. Then add the fish in and I have never had any issue. I usually quarantine but that's is me.

 

[Miami Reef]

Thanks! I never temp acclimated...


I’m buying magnets so I can temp acclimate, and pour some tank water inside the bags while the are floating. With my flow, the bags will sink, so I’m looking for reef safe magnets...do you think these are safe?

 

[K95ranger]

No need for magnets. Just put more air in the bag, normally there's enough air from LFS to float in tanks. I normally acclimate temp first before adding water, but that's just me.

 

[Jon Fishman]

Yeah. Just float in my sump, for 20 minutes, or until I realize I forgot they were in the sump, then do the exact acclimation you were doing..... so just try temp acclimating first



Have these poor-results come from various vendors/stores? I have one store I will not buy fish from locally, one I am hesitant about, and a few I have no qualms about

I do not quarantine

 

[ca1ore]

I bought a few fish and I had a very low survival rate. I’m blaming it to my acclimation technique.

This is what I did: I took the fish, opened the bag and put them in a bucket. I then added about a cup of tank water every 5-8 minutes until 30 minutes or so, then put the fish in the tank.

(Please try not to suggest putting the fish in quarantine tanks)

Maybe it was your acclimation, maybe not. Were fish sourced locally, or shipped - it makes a difference. Did you check the salinity difference between your tank and the bag water? I’m TRYING to not extol the virtues of QT (including avoiding salinity acclimation). I don’t personally like the bucket acclimation because the water cools fast. Better to float the bag so that temperature equalizes and then add tankwater to get salinity closer.

 

[maikel255]

Stop acclimating and just put your fish in right away. Thats what I do, I have the highest survival rate this way. When I acclimated like you did with cups, i had a much lower survival rate... I just open the bags now and drop the fish right in. Havent had any losses until today. Did this with many tangs as wel, yellow tang, regal tang etc...

 

[Hermie]

Add Prime or some other ammonia inhibitor because ammonia (and pH will be affected) will build up very fast if you have a fish in a little bit of water that's exposed to air

 

[FishyDave]

Add Prime or some other ammonia inhibitor because ammonia (and pH will be affected) will build up very fast if you have a fish in a little bit of water that's exposed to air

Do not add prime if there is ANY chance the bag/water has copper in it. It will kill the fish.

 

[FishyDave]

Stop acclimating and just put your fish in right away. Thats what I do, I have the highest survival rate this way. When I acclimated like you did with cups, i had a much lower survival rate... I just open the bags now and drop the fish right in. Havent had any losses until today. Did this with many tangs as wel, yellow tang, regal tang etc...

I have lots of friends who have had success with this IF the fish is from a local LFS with a matching salinity and you temp acclimate first.

 

[FishyDave]

Forgive typos as I'm on a mobile

For online fish I match the salinity and ph of the water in the bag. I use a needle to extract water samples, do not open the bags!! I use a sterile bucket(s) depending on how many items I have. Do not mix inverts eith fish ever!

The temp of the water in the buckets must match your tank temp while the salinity and ph match the water in the bags

Each bucket needs it's own heater.

Temp acclimate the bags for 30 to 40 minutes.

Once everything matches. Open each bag, remove fish and place in bucket. Do not transfer any water from the bag. Now do your drip acclimation slowly.

I hope this helps.

 

[Miami Reef]

I got my fish from the LFS. I bought 4 anthias, 1 dragonet mandarin, 1 Midas blenny, and 1 flame angel.

Only one anthias, dragonet, and the Midas blenny survived. Everything died in the span of 24 hours.

So let me get this straight. I float the bags first for a half an hour.

Then I take the bags out of the water and put them in a bucket outside my tank and drop acclimate them? Won’t removing the bags from my tank water get the temperature off? Won’t it be easier to open the bags of fish in the tank and use the bag that the fish came in as an acclimation bucket? That way the temp won’t fluctuate?

 

[ca1ore]

Add Prime or some other ammonia inhibitor because ammonia (and pH will be affected) will build up very fast if you have a fish in a little bit of water that's exposed to air

Only true if the fish has been overnight shipped; not from an hour or two when sourced locally. And you do have to worry about therapeutic copper. I personally wouldn't do it.

 

[Hermie]

Only true if the fish has been overnight shipped; not from an hour or two when sourced locally. And you do have to worry about therapeutic copper. I personally wouldn't do it.

I disagree about an hour or two being fine especially if the fish produces waste while in the container, however if you have evidence that ammonia does not rise or cause problems in 1 to 2 hours I am happy to change my view.

 

[Hermie]

Here is the deal. You leave the bags sealed while floating. If the fish are shipped overnight they are filled with pure oxygen when packed, which actually prevents ammonia exposure (until you open the bag). So as long as your salinity matches after floating for 30 min you just open the bag and release the fish immediately into your tank. Never any ammonia exposure.
....

However if you drip acclimate, even though you are diluting the bag water, the fish has expelled waste in that small amount of water for up to 18-24hrs. So you are exposing the fish to ammonia and even trace amounts can start to cause Gill and internal organ damage very quickly.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/acclimation-ammonia-confusion.576542/#post-5877590

@ca1ore

 

[vetteguy53081]

Every 15 mins once in bucket 4-6 intervals ( about 1.5hr)

 

[#1Fellowreefer]

I bought a few fish and I had a very low survival rate. I’m blaming it to my acclimation technique.

This is what I did: I took the fish, opened the bag and put them in a bucket. I then added about a cup of tank water every 5-8 minutes until 30 minutes or so, then put the fish in the tank.

(Please try not to suggest putting the fish in quarantine tanks)

Here is what I have learned and used for the first two black storm and orange storm clownfish I got. I have seem and followed a lot of ppl use this method and have been very very successful in bringing the NEW fin friends home and keep them healthy and be successful with them for a long long time.

1. Float the bag in your display tank or QT tank for 30 minutes to an hour which ever one you will be adding them to.
2. Once temp acclimated now setup a drip acclimate them using a drip loop you can setup this at home yourself DIY or here is a link to it or you can buy one or get a free one from saltwateraquarium.com when you buy $100 of more but they are fairly inexpensive https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/drip-acclimation-kit/
3. Once drip acclimating is done for either 30 minutes or until the water that you had receive the fish in has doubled you can then use Safety Stop and they link to watch a in depth video is here 4. Once you have given the fish the Safety Stop bath you should NOW be ready to add the fish to your display or QT tank and per my knowledge I would recommend to QT the fish at least for 3 weeks to a month before adding to make sure they are eating your fed food and diet and make sure they are not stressed or show any signs of being sick as that's the most significant part of keeping a reef or fish only tank.

I hope this helps as I have done extensive research on this hobby before I had even setup my first saltwater tank. Please let me know if this helps.