Salinity change in acclimation - how much is too much?

[Barry_Cuda]

I'm in a bit of a bind here, guys... need some advice.

I got home from the LFS a little while ago with my first fish, a Banggai cardinal. I was all set up to start drip acclimation when I realized the salinity the fish came in is just about 1.013, fully half of the 1.026 in the QT. I've used all the RODI I have on hand to replace SW in the QT, and I'm running more, but my RO unit is really slow and it's going to take a while to get the salinity in the QT down.

My question is - how much salinity change during drip acclimation to the QT is too much for a Banggai? What should my target salinity be in the QT?

 

[Instigate]

No more than 0.002 SG change per 24 hours is a very conservative rule I've seen suggested. Going up is harder on fish than going down generally. What SG were you able to get the QT down to? It sounds like you already started the drip. What is the SG of the bag now?

 

[Barry_Cuda]

I stopped the drip as soon as I realized I had a problem. Fish is now in 1.014, so at least I caught it early.

Stupid, stupid, stupid of me to start the drip before checking the salinity on both sides, but unfortunately that ship has sailed. Right now the QT is at about 1.017. I have the fish floating in a Tupperware container in the QT to keep temperatures consistent while I run more RO. Sounds like I should plan to get the QT all the way down to 1.014?

 

[Instigate]

I stopped the drip as soon as I realized I had a problem. Fish is now in 1.014, so at least I caught it early.

Stupid, stupid, stupid of me to start the drip before checking the salinity on both sides, but unfortunately that ship has sailed. Right now the QT is at about 1.017. I have the fish floating in a Tupperware container in the QT to keep temperatures consistent while I run more RO. Sounds like I should plan to get the QT all the way down to 1.014?

That would be the most gentle on the fish. Honestly he would likely be fine if you just dripped him up to 1.017 but I wouldn't do that, why risk it. I would take the time to bring the QT to 1.014. He'll be OK in the bag for a while and you probably don't need much RODI, I assume it's a 10 or 20 gallon tank were talking here. How long has he been in the bag? When I'm introducing a fish to QT I like to check SG of the bag and the tank and adjust the QT then just drop the fish in, no drip.

 

[Barry_Cuda]

Fish is out of the bag, and is floating in an open Tupperware container full of LFS water (with that little bit that I dripped at first) in the QT. Seems mildly stressed (darting about a bit and trying to hide in the corner of the container) but isn't visibly breathing heavily or anything. I brought him home about 2 hours ago.

I'll plan to just keep bringing the QT salinity down until it matches the LFS water, then in he goes.

Thanks.

 

[Instigate]

Fish is out of the bag, and is floating in an open Tupperware container full of LFS water (with that little bit that I dripped at first) in the QT. Seems mildly stressed (darting about a bit and trying to hide in the corner of the container) but isn't visibly breathing heavily or anything. I brought him home about 2 hours ago.

I'll plan to just keep bringing the QT salinity down until it matches the LFS water, then in he goes.

Thanks.

Sounds like he should be fine, I would only be concerned about oxygen maybe get an air stone in that tupperware container but that's probably not necessary either, I just transferred my whole tank from SD to LA and all my livestock were in bags for at least 4 hours or more. Took forever to get up to LA then issues with the new saltwater prevented me from releasing everything promptly and everything made it. Even some little week old Banggais I had from breeding them. Also, Banggais are hardy little guys, but they are quite shy and like to hide from any fast movement but then quickly come back out. I'm sure he'll be fine.

 

[Barry_Cuda]

All right, I'm feeling less worried about this now - I feel like it's all under control. Thanks for your help.

Lesson learned - check salinity before doing any acclimation! And have plenty of RO (and maybe some mixed SW as well) on hand.

 

[Instigate]

All right, I'm feeling less worried about this now - I feel like it's all under control. Thanks for your help.

Lesson learned - check salinity before doing any acclimation! And have plenty of RO (and maybe some mixed SW as well) on hand.

Always a good idea to have plenty of RODI and SW on hand!

 

[Barry_Cuda]

Update - got the QT salinity adjusted to match the LFS water and the fish is in the QT. Seems to be doing fine so far, but of course with any stressful process like acclimating a fish, I'm concerned. Keeping a close eye on him for now.