Buying Fish Online

[Seal36]

I have been looking at rare aquatics online and they do some really nice fish and I was wondering if anyone has order anything from this website and how the fish were when they arrived. Also they only sell wild stock should I be more careful when ordering wild stock online or does it not really matter if it's wild or not from Tom

 

[DreamertK]

Especially in your region, you should get the fish sent with some hot packs, double bagged and one day overnight. Wild fish are more sensitive than commercially bred fish to water perameters (when you get them you should do the drip method of acclimation). I've not personally ordered from that store, but I haven ordered fish online without problems.

 

[Seal36]

Is there a drip acclimation kit you can buy as I don't have one but would like one or can you make your own one if it's not to difficult from Tom

 

[fluttermoth]

Drip acclimatising just means dripping water from your tank into the fish bag very slowly. I use a piece of airline with a knot in it.

Basically, when you receive the fish, open the bag (a darkened room is best, or the sudden bright light can shock them) and prop in it up in a bucket (or a jug, stood in a bucket; I use a clothes peg as well, to stop the bag falling over) and then drip the water in (about one drip a second to start with) until the bag is full. You want to take at least two hours doing this.

You should drip acclimatise all fish you buy online, whether they're wild caught or not.

 

[Seal36]

Could I empty the fish and the water from the bag into the bucket I use for water changes then tie a knot in a piece of tubing. Suck on the tube to get the water flowing and then cover it with a towel. Also hard do you tie the knot and where in the line do you tie it from Tom

 

[Seal36]

Also dremertk what online store did you use to buy fish online as I'm looking into online shops and seeing what they have available from Tom

 

[fluttermoth]

Could I empty the fish and the water from the bag into the bucket I use for water changes then tie a knot in a piece of tubing. Suck on the tube to get the water flowing and then cover it with a towel.

I don't empty the fish out of the bags, as I feel it's extra stress, but some people do. I cover them with a towel too, great idea

 

Also hard do you tie the knot and where in the line do you tie it from Tom

It doesn't matter where in the airline you tie the knot. You have to adjust the tightness of the knot to get the right speed of dripping; aim for around one drip a second to start with. After the first hour or so, you can loosen the knot and let it drip a bit faster.

 

[DreamertK]

Well since I'm in the US, I occasionally browse aquabid. You guys across the pond have a few similar in nature. Ebay is one to try.

 

[Seal36]

Thank you for the advice and flutter moth what do you do when the water reaches the top of the bag or does it not get that high from Tom
Also when I move my fish from the 40 litre to the 70 litre I am going to put the fish into a bucket as I change the substrate over and everything should I drip acclimation them to the new water. I'm using the old water and filter media but wondered if I should still drip acclimation them from Tom

 

[the_lock_man]

To answer your first question, I myself have never ordered from them, but I know a few people who have. Rare Aquatics have an excellent reputation.

 

[Seal36]

Thank you for the good information the lock man. I'm glad they have a good reputation as they have some really nice stock which are cheaper or the same price as my lfs even with delivery from Tom

 

[fluttermoth]

Thank you for the advice and flutter moth what do you do when the water reaches the top of the bag or does it not get that high from Tom
Also when I move my fish from the 40 litre to the 70 litre I am going to put the fish into a bucket as I change the substrate over and everything should I drip acclimation them to the new water. I'm using the old water and filter media but wondered if I should still drip acclimation them from Tom

Once the bag is full, you can let the fish out. I sink the bag in the tank and let the fish swim out in their own time. Don't worry about getting shop/bag water in your tank; if there are any diseases or parasites, they'll be on the actual fish anyway (and, as someone rightly pointed out to me once, we don't dry all the water off the fish before we put them in our tanks!), and your filter should deal with an ammonia or nitrite that has built up.

I actually drip acclimatise everything I buy now, as you never know exactly what the shop's water is like (unless you start messing about taking samples from the bag which is, again, another source of stress to the fish when you're trying to keep it to a minimum) but when just moving fish from one tank to another it's not necessary, IMO.

 

[Seal36]

Ok thank you very much for all that information. I just gentle turn the bag on its side and let them swim out then I remove the bag. Also how many hours does it usually take to drip acclimatise fish. Ok thank you very much I will just stick them into a bucket and put the water in the new tank and then put them in. Also with the new filter in the new tank there is no room for me to put the old filter media in whole so I was wondering could I cut it up into fairly small bits and wedge them in where possible and also how much is the minimum I should put in from Tom

 

[fluttermoth]

You want to do at least two hours drop acclimatising.

I have heard people say hat it takes days for fish to adjust to differing pH and hardness levels and that drip acclimatising is a waste of time, but I lost a few fish from my LFS, in the first day or two after purchase before I started doing it so I, personally, think it's worthwhile; I just feel I ought to put both sides of the argument out there!

As to filters; you really need all the old media in it, if you're moving all the fish, so take the new media out, put your old in and then fill in the gaps with new media. After a month or so, you can start taking the old media back out, if you want to, but no more than a quarter of the total at any one time, and leave at least a fortnight between the removals.

 

[Seal36]

Thank you very much that is a great help and is it better to put the old media at the front or the back of the filter or does it not matter. Also when I start to remove the old filter media when I take a quarter out do I just cut a quarter off of the old media from Tom