Acclimating Shipped Fish

[Snake42490]

Hey guys i just bought some synodontis petricola off aquabid. they are a little over 1 inch. How should i go about acclimating these guys into my tank. the guy im getting them from has same ph as me and hard water. What will i need to do once they are delivered to my house.. procedure etc... Thanks!

 

[bluedollars]

if you want to directly put the fish in the tank without first observing it....float the bag with the fish in it in your tank for 20 minutes to get it used to the temp...to go even further open up the bag and allow your tank water in the bag but not the water in the bag into the aquarium and then let him out...feed your fish prior toletting them go so that they dont peck at the new fish thinking there food

 

[Snake42490]

ive heard that your supposed to just dump them in because right when you open the bag bag buddies or whatever will stop working and that ammonia will be at a deadly state.. is that true?

 

[Tolak]

You will want to have a bottle of ammo-lock, or other ammonia neutralizer handy, along with a bucket, air line & an air valve long enough to reach from the tank to the bucket, and a net. You are also hopefully starting with a quar tank, as there may be bacteria your fish live perfectly fine with that will affect you new purchase that will be stressed from shipment. There is also the chance that there are bacteria that the new fish has that will affect your fish. Quarantine the fish for 4 weeks.

What I do when I get fish shipped in is open the bottle of ammo-lock, open the bag of fish, and immediately add the ammo-lock. The fish then go into the bucket with the water they came in. Start filling the bucket with water siphoned through the air line, using the valve to adjust for a rate of one drop per second. Once the water volume has doubled increase the rate to two or three drops per second. Decrease the drip rate if the fish is showing any signs of stress. Once you have 3 to 4 times the original volume and a fish that is behaving normally you can add the fish to the tank.

I like to start with a bare tank that has been cleaned with a bleach/water solution and rinsed well. This eliminates any bacteria that may be present from any previous fish. I also withhold food for 24 hours, and then feed lightly for the next week. Often shippers will tranquilize the fish a little, this slows down the metabolism, so they produce less waste. This also slows down their digestive system, feeding too soon and too much can easily lead to constipation.

 

[Snake42490]

how big of a qt tank would i need for 6 syno petricolas all 1 inch? i have a 5 gallon tank but have a feeling that wont be big enough. will prime lock up the ammonia? it says it removes it. about what size of a qt tank will be needed for this or that you would recommend..

 

[Tolak]

A 10 gallon should be fine for quar, it's a cheap, readily available tank. A 5 is just a bit too small, you could get by with it if you do daily water changes. Prime would work, it has the same ingredient in it as ammo-lock.

 

[Snake42490]

i think i i know what i am going to do. im going to go get a 20 gallon tank keep it clean put a 100 watt visi therm stealth heater in. model 100 rena air pump. then put a aqua clear 150 on. i would rather be on the safe side then risk anything,.

so when getting this 20 qt tank i dont want to cycle it your saying? drip the clean water in from the qt tank into the bucket with the fish until its filled doing your drop method. then put the fish in the qt tank? i take it bacteria from our area will start to produce and the fish will then just get used to it?

 

[Tolak]

You do want to have a cycled filter. What you can do is take some of the cycled filter media from your main tank, and add it to the new filter. This will give you a tank that is instantly cycled. I keep spare filters running all the time, spare heaters on hand & such. Once the fish are acclimating you will have plenty of time to take some media & add it to the new filter. Drip acclimating usually takes at least a couple of hours.

 

[Snake42490]

well thanks for all of your quick responces. i will be keeping this thread going for a couple more days as i know i will be needing some more help. i just bought the fish today. they will be overnight shipped on monday. so tuesday i will probably be freaking out assuming these little guys make it haha...! ill keep in touch thanks again

 

[Tolak]

No problem, I usually check the topics I've posted on to see where they are heading. Any problems pm me, they are usually the first thing I check.

I've taken days off of work to get fish in, I know how you can get nervous about it. As long as the seller is reputable the biggest worry is the shipper. I don't trust them, even though I've never had a problem with shipping.

 

[Snake42490]

yeah i know.. first time ive ever done any fish shipping haha.. im still figuring out how to use paypal and stuff lol... looks like we both have some decent non freezing weather so hopefully that will help. im doing USPS overnight shipping... hopefully everything goes well.. i just set up my drip thing figuring out how to use it.. went through and printed stuff online for what im going to get tomorrow.. so it should be a quick 30 min go in get stuff and leave..

 

[Snake42490]

ok so i went to the store today and got everything set up... i have a couple questions of course.. right now i have 20 gallon long with aqua clear 150 on.. the one for up to 30 gallons.. 100 watt stealth heater. bubble wall attached to profile 5500 haha i got the two outlet rena for my 55 gallon.. very nice pump. after i got things running and temp settled to 79 in the 20 gallon i took one of my sponges from my 55 gallon mature tank and squeezed it out in my 20 gallon.. i also had a mature pad that i stuck in an 85 degree 5 gallon that i looked and had so much bacteria just growing in it so i took some of that and put it in the 20 gallon.. will that be enough to get the 20 gallon going? i filled the 20 gallon up 10 percent using my 55 gallons aquarium water to... anything else i need to be doing to help that tank out.. i have an extra sponge that i was thinking about letting sit in my 55 for a day or two then putting it back in.. i will need to have the 20 gallon ready on wednesday for 6 petricola.. thanks!

 

[Snake42490]

also haha... the fish are being shipped on tuesday morning.. not sure when they will get here wednesday. i had the guy add an extra heat pack tuesday high of 36 low of 33 wednesday high 39 low 30.. will the fish be ok? i will be at school and most likely miss the shipment. im going to talk to my neighbors and have them get the fish inside right when they come.. i have no clue what time they will get here.. if they do sometime after 3 which is a possibility then i could just take them inside..

 

[Tolak]

The problem with adding the cycled media 3 days before adding the new fish is that you will have to add some ammonia to the new tank to keep the filters cycled, and do a large water change before adding fish. To me that’s not a big problem, 1ml of ammonia daily, and a 90% water change when the fish come in. Other than that it sounds like a nice setup for a quar tank. It’s always a good idea to have extra filters or extra media running in filters, this saves a lot of running around should you find a spur of the moment deal.

An extra heat pack is a good idea, as is having the neighbors take the shipment indoors if it comes in before you get home. Have them put the box in a cooler part of the house, the heat packs should keep it warm indoors. If it is in too warm of a place, like by a heat register or radiator the fish may get too warm.

 

[Snake42490]

i take it you just get a bottle of ammonia at a local store?

would putting the fish in the garage be better with the heat pack in them.. the garage will be about 45 to 50 degrees with it being 30 outside..