Is in bag temperature Acclimation pointless/redundant?

[terraincognita]

Just picked up a sixline for the tank and of course the way my overly inquisitive mind works always makes me think about things.

The most standard new Fish introduction is

1. Temp Acclimate in bag for 20-30 minutes.
2. Drip Acclimate for 1-2 hours.
3. Introduce to the tank.

But isn't the beginning temp acclimation kind of pointless? Seeing as most of these fish are in 2-3 cups max of water, doesn't that water reach room temperature within 20-30 minutes anyway?

So by acclimating temp, we're technically bringing the temp from room temp back to tank temp say 6-8 degrees hotter, then over the next 20 minutes dropping it back down 6-8 degrees to room temp. Isn't this going to just add more stress?

Wouldn't it be smarter to drip acclimate and then put them back in the bag, temp acclimate and then add?

Maybe Saltwater specifically takes longer to go from 80 to 72. Idk?

Just thoughts .

 

[lpsouth1978]

I have always just gone straight to drip acclimating all fish, no in bag temp acclimation. This has worked well for me with no losses due to acclimation.

 

[Jekyl]

Temp acclimation is more for shipped livestock.

 

[terraincognita]

Temp acclimation is more for shipped livestock.

Even still, wouldn't it be smarter to just room temp acclimate since you're still effectively sending it through 6-8 degree temp swings?

You'll reach room temp in 20-30 minutes in an open container same as throwing the bag in the tank.

I guess unless the bag came in over 80 degrees? Which I imagine would kill most fish anyway or severely stress them out.

 

[MONTANTK]

No sense in separating temp and drip acclimation. When you drip acclimate you are essentially temperature acclimating as well

 

[Jekyl]

Once temp acclimated I add a shot glass of tank water every 5 minutes. Temp should remain pretty constant.

 

[terraincognita]

No sense in separating temp and drip acclimation. When you drip acclimate you are essentially temperature acclimating as well

Once temp acclimated I add a shot glass of tank water every 5 minutes. Temp should remain pretty constant.

Yeah I guess that's the real question, is how fast it will go to room temp in an open container despite adding tank temperature water.

 

[RuuToo]

When I was really serious about this, I had a spare temp controller and heater set to tank temp, and I would put the bags in a heated bucket and drip acclimate at the correct temperature.

I’ll be honest I haven’t had any losses not doing that any more, but that in my mind is the “ideal” acclimation, since you can do a super slow many hour acclimation without worrying about temperature. I’d probably do it for super sensitive inverts even now

Dave

 

[Jedi1199]

I drip acclimate while the bags are floating in the tank. After temp acclimation, I drain off about 1/2 of the store water and then begin adding tank water about 1/4 cup at a time. I have a few small clamps that I use to attach the bags to the edge of the tank to keep them from floating away.

 

[Uncle99]

I do temp first, then salinity, if there’s less than .002 difference, in they go. If the DT is lower, in they go. Fish don’t mind lower salinities, just can’t take fast increases.
In the event the DT is higher, then we drip over 30minutes, and in they go.

 

[Saltyanimals]

In situations where you can't float a bag and have to temp match two tanks, what is the temperate difference where folks feel comfortable that the temperate is "close enough"? 1-2 degrees too much? The precision of course varies with the instrument, but you get a little more precision out of digital ones. I'm trying hard to get it within 1 degree obvious 1-to-1 is preferred, but sometimes time does not permit.

 

[Uncle99]

I doubt I’ve ever been closer than 2-3 degrees if lucky, and I’ve had no issues at all.

The instruments we use in the hobby are only so accurate.

But close is fine IMM.