Need help acclimating fish - alkalinity question

[Terri Caton]

I have a fish in water with an alk of 5.2! My QT tank is 9.0. How do I acclimate the fish to my alk safely? I'm concerned a swing that large with the traditional drip method will be too fast. Or should I not worry about it?
Thanks

 

[Flippers4pups]

I have a fish in water with an alk of 5.2! My QT tank is 9.0. How do I acclimate the fish to my alk safely? I'm concerned a swing that large with the traditional drip method will be too fast. Or should I not worry about it?
Thanks

Alkalinity, not so much. But what about pH?

Salinity the most important. If you can match salinity, aside from temp, you should be able to just transfer directly.

 

[Sailfin11]

It's awesome that you're testing the parameters closely and trying to make the transition smooth for the new fish! However, alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium usually are only things that impact coral, so I wouldn't worry about matching them for acclimating a new fish. Instead, I would be more concerned with salinity, temperature, and for more sensitive fish, possibly pH. A lot of hobbyists even uses the plop and drop method with good success. If you'd want, you could do a 30-minute drip acclimation though which is a more gradual transition. Remember that with longer acclimations you risk the build of ammonia and low ox levels in the bag water. Best of luck with your new addition!

 

[W1ngz]

I wouldn't worry about it. Just take your time, whether that's with drip or just slowly adding a little water manually every 5 minutes.

 

[Terri Caton]

Alkalinity, not so much. But what about pH?

Salinity the most important. If you can match salinity, aside from temp, you should be able to just transfer directly.

Ok. Salinity is the same now. pH is 7.9. Temp 77.8
I figured I needed to do something because of ammonia an O2 so I acclimated some but didn't know how far or how fast I could go with a fish on alk.

It's just such a strange thing to find it threw me.

Thanks

 

[Terri Caton]

It's awesome that you're testing the parameters closely and trying to make the transition smooth for the new fish! However, alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium usually are only things that impact coral, so I wouldn't worry about matching them for acclimating a new fish. Instead, I would be more concerned with salinity, temperature, and for more sensitive fish, possibly pH. A lot of hobbyists even uses the plop and drop method with good success. If you'd want, you could do a 30-minute drip acclimation though which is a more gradual transition. Remember that with longer acclimations you risk the build of ammonia and low ox levels in the bag water. Best of luck with your new addition!

My preference is to try and get the parameters as close as possible to my tank(except CA and Mg). I figure it has to be less stressful for the fish.