This can help save your new fish! Do you have one?

[revhtree Verified Admin]

New fish in an aquarium full of old, territorial fish can equal a good beating or even death for the new fish. There are several tactics to help combat the effects of fish bullying but there is also a fairly inexpensive piece of equipment we can employ that will work wonders for your new purchase and your nerves when introducing a new fish to your aquarium. Let's talk about it!

1. Do you own a fish acclimation box or fish breeder box that you use to acclimate new fish to your aquarium?

2. How well has the fish acclimation box worked for you?


image via @Dowtish

 

[ShepherdReefer]

I don't currently use one but have used something similar in the past.

 

[fade2black]

Never used one, but I keep smaller tanks that don't have very many fish.

 

[Bars]

Only used it for flasher wrasses. Every other fish I just put them in right away. Both methods work fine for me, although I haven't tried adding flashers without acclimation box

 

[maceto]

Never used one, I should?

 

[ca1ore]

1. Do you own a fish acclimation box or fish breeder box that you use to acclimate new fish to your aquarium?

Yes, made one years ago and have modified it a bit over time. Unfortunately, my corals have grown so much that it now doesn't fit into the tank.

2. How well has the fish acclimation box worked for you?

It's a useful tool. Only limitation is that sometimes existing fish will just ignore the box. Once the fish gets released ..... BAM.

 

[laverda]

While I have one I don't generally use it. Depends on what I am adding and the other fish in the tank. I find adding several fish at once works much better than when adding one. Especially if you have one bully. He will chase them all a little instead of focusing on one new addition.

 

[Simply__J]

I have a DIY one that has worked quite well allowing me to feed new fish specifically without the established fish snatching food out of its mouth.

Cube Build - Redsea Reefer 170 all the way from a 55 gal

While moving I took the opportunity to trade my almost 3 year old year old 55 gal. for an unfinished 45 gal. rimless cube. I'm very excited to be a part of Clube Cube as my holy grail of tanks is a 90 gal. rimless cube.(I'm half way there) I'll be sharing some of the progress I've made and will...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Hamster balls anyone? Worked well for my filefish. The mandarin I put on a hang on acclimation box to get her to eat. Most go directly into the tank with the lights off.

 

[rtbell1771]

I currently have my new Copperband in one. Just trying to get it to eat a little better and my Sailfin is a hog and a jerk.

 

[stanleo]

I don't have one but I want to get one. I want a powder tang and a flame angel. I tried adding both at different times and the only lasted a couple days. I think the Yellow tang is going after them and want to try an acclimation box for a couple days to see if that works. But I'm gun shy about it.

 

[garbled]

I would love one but I don't think they exist for 1" thick acrylic euro-braced. If they do, yes, please tell me where.

 

[Bossman]

I bought one of the fish traps with glass sliding door. I used it 2 or 3 times to catch a problem fish. I've found it also works well as an acclimation box. It has suction cups to hold it to the glass.

If I'm adding a fish to a well stocked tank and am worried at all about compatibility, I use the acclimation/trap box. I'll keep the new fish in the box for a day, or several. The existing fish see the new addition and the new fish can become a little more comfortable with the tank before being let out. Helps with some initial aggression.

 

[Jilly92]

New fish in an aquarium full of old, territorial fish can equal a good beating or even death for the new fish. There are several tactics to help combat the effects of fish bullying but there is also a fairly inexpensive piece of equipment we can employ that will work wonders for your new purchase and your nerves when introducing a new fish to your aquarium. Let's talk about it!

1. Do you own a fish acclimation box or fish breeder box that you use to acclimate new fish to your aquarium?

2. How well has the fish acclimation box worked for you?


image via @Dowtish

I've used one everytime. I've never had any fish bully besides 2 blennys a little bit but thats expected

 

[Rubberfrog]

Oddly enough, I just got one at my lfs last night.

 

[Jilly92]

Hamster balls anyone? Worked well for my filefish. The mandarin I put on a hang on acclimation box to get her to eat. Most go directly into the tank with the lights off.

Thats a good idea lol could use that for mushrooms too

 

[S.Pepper]

Nope, but I have thought about getting one. The ones that I have looked at were either cheap or expensive, or cheap & expensive. I have been introducing different wrasse to my system without issue. I have 3 more to go and will probably chance it at this point.

 

[saltyhog]

I have a couple. I use it more for identifying/preventing aggression than acclimating. I have a large number of wrasses and any new one goes in to the acclimation box until I'm confident there won't be a problem. To attract the current tank inhabitants, I feed in to the acclimation box and let the food flow out of it in to the tank. That makes sure the new fish gets food and attracts everyone else to come look at him at feeding time.

I would love one but I don't think they exist for 1" thick acrylic euro-braced. If they do, yes, please tell me where.

I have one of these and just use the outer box for an acclimation box. It attaches with suction cups instead of magnets and should work fine in your tank.

Reef-gently.com

reef-gently.com

 

[Nhjmc]

I have three actually well one is being used as a hob fuge but I have used it to acclimate/introduce smaller fish into my tank before.

 

[SaltyT]

To attract the current tank inhabitants, I feed in to the acclimation box and let the food flow out of it in to the tank. That makes sure the new fish gets food and attracts everyone else to come look at him at feeding time.

^ genius! LOL I never thought to feed into the acclimation box to cause the others to pay attention to the new guy(s)! Thanks for the tip!