How Do You Acclimatisation New Fish To The Tank?

[Miss Wiggle]

i just float them for about 30 mins with the tank lights off then stick them in water and all.

From what I know putting some of the tank water in won't make any odds unless your planning on floating the bag for a lot longer than half an hr, depending on the fish it can take them a long time to acclimatise to new conditions so it's a bit pointless in my opinion.

 

[BigIan]

generaly i float them for 30 mins adding a little splash of tank water every 5-10 mins or so, then tip them in, but i wouldn`t do it if i was buying from an lfs i don`t know it would be net them out of the bag.

 

[Qays]

At the LFS I work at, we tell customers to float the bag for ten minutes, open it up, add a cup of water, float another ten, and another cup, float another ten, then scoop them out with a net and to NEVER added the bag water to the tank (since there's probably waste and therefoe ammonia in it now)

For Marine we tell them to do it for longer (15-20 minutes between cupfuls) and lights off, as well as for more sensitive fish.

"Never"???

Im sorry, but my fish shop keeps their fish in the tanks which are in immaculate condition. They put them in the bag. I get home in 5 minuites, acclimatise them and pour them in from the bag.

Just because your fish shop has ammonia filled tanks, doesnt mean everyone else does.

 

[mike_nofx]

Qays - Not everyone lives 5 mins from the LFS. If you buy a fish which produces a lot of waste and is in a small bag of water, THEN have to drive an hour or so, THEN have to float/acclimatise for half hour or so. A fair bit of time can pass before you can get your new fish into the tank. By that time you can usually find a bit of waste in the bag.

Do you really want that extra ammonia in your tank if you dont have to?

 

[Qays]

That wasnt my point though... He made it out as if everyones fish will spend ages in the bag. Many just pour the water into the tank and have had no porblems.

Never say never.

 

[Saedcantas]

"Never"???

Im sorry, but my fish shop keeps their fish in the tanks which are in immaculate condition. They put them in the bag. I get home in 5 minuites, acclimatise them and pour them in from the bag.

Just because your fish shop has ammonia filled tanks, doesnt mean everyone else does.

You're being quite rude towards Sirius for no good reason there.

Here's something for you to struggle thinking over, I only buy my fish from my own workplace, so I know exactly the quality of water we have which I'd go so far as to say is immaculate too. But I still take a great amount of care over introducing my new fish because nothing is too much effort to make sure everything is done right when it comes to my own fish.

Sirius gave their recommendation as that is what this topic is about, just because you do things differently, why does that give you a liscence to accuse them of obviously having ammonia filled tanks or other such nonsense?

 

[cookiemistress]

i bought a fintro from maidenhead aquatics. it slowly mixes tank water with store water over 30-40 mins

 

[OldMan47]

I must agree with Bignose that the fish adapt rather well to rapid changes in pH or temperature but not nearly as well to changes in TDS. I also like that he backs up his opinion with more than just opinion, he uses demonstrable experimental evidence. My own experience confirms what he is saying fairly well so I usually use a drip acclimation for new fish. I know my own water parameters but seldom know what kind of water I am dealing with. A significant factor is that ammonia laden water from shipping will show a high TDS using the cheap meters that are available and function by measuring the water's conductivity. I do not trust my TDS meter to tell me about the fish's actual TDS because of that. Another factor that was brought out by Carrera makes no sense to me. If I understand right, Carrera is proposing that a fish with millions of years of genetic development to survive in particular circumstances will somehow adapt faster after a few generations are bred in captivity. The only way that I could buy that story, and it would be a stretch, is if I knew that each successive generation was bred in circumstances that killed off most of the fry before they grew old enough to reproduce and each generation was exposed to very different environments. By doing that, each generation would undergo a huge shift in its ability to adapt to a particular environment and might actually be able to be bred to be very tolerant of environmental stresses. I seriously doubt that a breeder would intentionally kill off most of his breeding stock to make his fish less likely to succumb to environmental stresses. I find it more likely that the protection that aquarium bred fish get from disease makes them less likely to die from any other problems. I have seen this statement made repeatedly on the internet and it makes no more sense today than it did the first time that I saw it. It basically strikes me as urban legend, not reality.

 

[matchstickman47]

Maidenhead aquaics is very insitent you buy fintro, they hock it well though.... advertised on every tank

 

[Gill]

i bought a fintro from maidenhead aquatics. it slowly mixes tank water with store water over 30-40 mins

OMG the Fintro is one of the Best Inventions for Fish. It Acclimates the Fish with ease and the least amount of Stress.
I Used it for any new fish and Shrimp. Never had any Probs with it. For the Price it is a Must have Item for any Fish Keeper.

 

[mike os]

I very very rarely do anything except net the fish & add them straight into a tank.

given that tank water is nominally the same everywhere (ie there are very few places where it hits extremes) I see little point in messing round, and if you have a lot to do then you just don't have the time.

even sensitive species like chocolate gourami's, rays & discus are less affected by changes in ph, temp & hardness than they are by the build up of pollutants in the bag, and if the ph in the bag rises when you add tank water then any ammonium will be converted to ammonia ......

I can honestly say I have never lost a fish in transfer