When I received my shipment from reef cleaners they sent me this,
All Animals at this Time:
1. Float the bag in your tank to get the animals used to the temperature in your aquarium.
2. Wait 15 minutes.
3. Add animals to the tank, discard shipping water and any towels used in the packaging.
4. DO NOT DRIP ACCLIMATE.
It is normal if many of the shipping bags have little water, and a wet paper towel. They were shipped that way purposefully.
Important: Snails may go through shock during shipping, and be closed when they arrive. You should give them plenty of time to come out of their shells and move around before deciding they didn't make the trip. Snails may go dormant for up to 3 days, Ceriths are usually the slowest to come around. Chitons and limpets are also slow to get moving.
You may find this to be different than the acclimation procedure you are used to carrying out. The reason we ask our customers to use this procedure is because our snails and crabs live intertidally, and can handle swings in ph/salinity without a problem. However, what they can't handle is toxic levels of ammonia. During the shipping process, ammonia levels in the shipping bags build, while the ph level goes down. As the ph goes down the toxicity of ammonia also goes down. However, when your tank water with normal ph is introduced to the shipping bags, and the ph rises, so does the toxicity of the ammonia, and you will be poisoning the livestock.
