Proper Acclimation For Fish And Inverts

[Kevinmc]

http://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11_03/acclimation.php

[andy]

I'm thinking you really like that link (laugh)

[impur]

Pretty good tutorial. Although i would never suggest to someone to just float corals for 30min then dump them into your tank.

[Kevinmc]

Proper Acclimation For Fish And Inverts, It's No Laughing Matter

 

I'm thinking you really like that link (laugh)

 

(laugh)(laugh)(laugh)(laugh)(laugh)(laugh)(laugh)(laugh)(laugh)(laugh)(laugh)(laugh)(laugh)(laugh)

 

Andy, you must not have ever been lied to about how long it really takes to acclinate fish from a bag. (laugh)(laugh)(laugh) I have lost $$$ in fish and not using a QT tank.

 

I WILL NEVER DO IT THAT WAY EVER AGAIN, THIS IS WHY THIS KIND OF KNOWLEDGE SHOULD BE PERMINATLY POSTED ON THIS BOARD, IN SEVERAL PLACES.

 

That is why at the HMSC/OCA Tour it was one of the area spoken about for the longest period of time. What happens with the blood gases when you put a fish in a plastic bag at ship it for nearly a week in a qt. of water. With Extremely Low PH and High Ammonia Levels how long would you live sitting in a box waiting for anyone to let you out and be acclimated slowly and given an honest fighting start to a new and different life. (enforcer)

 

I will never have that problem ever again. I have put together an acclimation rack with tanks, heaters, filtered powerheads and bubble wands. I hope that during this stage that itr will make for a better transition.

 

I will post photos in the week to share what I am attempting to do. My goal is to improve the quality and health of all of my fish before I ever place them in my display tank.

 

 

Thanks For Your Interest In This Read

 

Kevin

[andy]

I'm not challenging the content of the link, just pointing out that you posting it in several different forums at once makes it clear that you are a big, BIG fan.

[Kevinmc]

I am only a big fan of proper treatment and acclimation of fish, inverts and such only because of my failed experiences.

 

If I find other post of view I would like to post it in this same thread, as it is only one persons point of view, and DOES NOT IN ANYWAY MEAN IT IS THE "RIGHT WAY" OR ONLY WAY TO DO IT. If some one have a better point of view that they would like to share, I would welcome your post on this thread.

 

I look at this board as an educationial resource. many on here have knowledge to share, while others have opinions good and bad, we just live with what is posted on here. Let's make the most and best of it.

 

Thanks For The Read

 

Kevin

[WAVES]

I have a few remarks. For one I agree with everything in the tutorial.

 

I do agree with floating then simply releasing corals. We dont drip acclimate any corals. Just dont float the bag under your T5's or halides as you will cook the coral.

 

Kevin I would urge you NOT to use a bubble wand during acclimation. This will "blow off" too much CO2 too quickly and cause the pH to go up very quickly. The main reason for the acclimation is to slowly reduce CO2 with the drips. Putting an air stone of any kind is a bad idea during acclimation.

 

Also, acclimating fish from the LFS does not have to be any where near as involved. Most people are home within an hour of purchasing fish locally. This means there hasnt been enough time for the CO2 to build up, and the acclimation can be much quicker. Its much easier on the fish when bought locally because you dont have the same pH issues as shipping a fish overnight.

 

Also I dont know what they were talking about at OCA, if they have fish in a bag for "nearly a week" as you stated, they have a serious problem with there importing. Even from the most remote places in the world they arent in the bag for much more than 36 hours because they are reoxed in LA (typically). When they reox they use fresh made seawater, add CO2 to match the incoming shipments pH and use full O2 in the bag. This way the CO2 and the O2 mix and the pH in the bag actually rises between LA and PDX.

 

my $.02

[mrgreenthumb]

Pretty good tutorial. Although i would never suggest to someone to just float corals for 30min then dump them into your tank.

 

 

How do you acclimate yourt corals??? I've always just immediately placed them in the tank and never had any issues. I've always bought corals local so they are usually only in the bag for 45mins-1hour. Just curious as to the purpose of acclimating a coral.

[R-3]

How do you acclimate yourt corals??? I've always just immediately placed them in the tank and never had any issues. I've always bought corals local so they are usually only in the bag for 45mins-1hour. Just curious as to the purpose of acclimating a coral.

 

I think what Miles is talking about is doing some sort of preventive pest dip like TMPCC, freshwater etc... Miles don't like no pests

 

I also agree with Joel on the NO bubble wand. Just a simple drip setup like in the video works well.

 

If I know they are pest free i usually just float and then check for salinity. As long as thats all in check I just dump them in there. Later Ryan

[Kevinmc]

Thanks Waves,

 

(FROM WAVES) Kevin I would urge you NOT to use a bubble wand during acclimation. This will "blow off" too much CO2 too quickly and cause the pH to go up very quickly. The main reason for the acclimation is to slowly reduce CO2 with the drips. Putting an air stone of any kind is a bad idea during acclimation.

 

(REPLY) This was only a thought to add more CO2 in the water, but after reading further, I have decided against it, thanks.

 

(FROM WAVES) Also I dont know what they were talking about at OCA, if they have fish in a bag for "nearly a week" as you stated, they have a serious problem with there importing. Even from the most remote places in the world they arent in the bag for much more than 36 hours because they are reoxed in LA (typically). When they reox they use fresh made seawater, add CO2 to match the incoming shipments pH and use full O2 in the bag. This way the CO2 and the O2 mix and the pH in the bag actually rises between LA and PDX.

 

(REPLY) This was a topic that was brought up at HMSC, it was having to do with blood gases and ammonia levels, also the change in PH for the bag to your tank (CUSTOMERS TANK). This is only if you but direct, not from a shops tank. This is something that (club VP) John has more information on, as it was a subject of discussion mentioned be a few members concerning fish purchased straight from the box to the customer.

[impur]

How do you acclimate yourt corals??? I've always just immediately placed them in the tank and never had any issues. I've always bought corals local so they are usually only in the bag for 45mins-1hour. Just curious as to the purpose of acclimating a coral.

 

Yep, like Ryan said, DIP EVERYTHING!!! Can't say that enough. Also, i acclimate corals similar to how they do it wih the fish in the tutorial. Then they go to QT for at least a few weeks.

[180Brandy]

I agree dip everything !!!!!!!!! Better safe than sorry later!!!!

[mrgreenthumb]

What do you use to dip with?? I occasionally dip corals from untrusted sources using a basic iodine dip, but i get the majority of my corals from upscales and I know he has already dipped and checked for bugs long before I buy it and it goes into my tank, one of the reasons I really like to go there. I guess if I had a bad experience I would be more cautious and I probably should be anyways. I guess my main question would be how many dips, what kind of dip, and how long of a quarentine is going to guarntee a pest free coral. I just really like to hear what other people do and why.

[impur]

What do you use to dip with?? I occasionally dip corals from untrusted sources using a basic iodine dip' date=' but i get the majority of my corals from upscales and I know he has already dipped and checked for bugs long before I buy it and it goes into my tank, one of the reasons I really like to go there. I guess if I had a bad experience I would be more cautious and I probably should be anyways. I guess my main question would be how many dips, what kind of dip, and how long of a quarentine is going to guarntee a pest free coral. I just really like to hear what other people do and why.[/quote']

 

I dip everything in TMPCC - Tropic Marin Pro Coral Cure. I dip corals in at least 2X the recommended strength for about 15min. Then in QT for observation for at least 2 weeks.

 

All it takes is 1 little tiny AEFW, or 1 little monti-eating or zoa-eating nudibranch, or 1 little redbug and they will multiply and overtake your corals in a short time.

[Kevinmc]

Thanks you everyone for your continued interest and support in this thread. I can see the all members don't agree, but, one thing is for sure, it sould like thereis a lot of different points of view.

 

This thread was nothinf more then information and to share points of view.

 

I am curious as to what products are used during this process to dip, acclimate, and medicate for any porblems that may arise. What do you use, and what do you use it for?

[dsoz]

but i get the majority of my corals from upscales and I know he has already dipped and checked for bugs long before I buy it and it goes into my tank' date=' [/quote']

 

You can not be too careful. Even "good" LFS can have a pest every now and then. I made the mistake of having the attitude that I was getting a zoa frag from a "good" store (I will not mention the name in public), so it should be free of pests. I did not bother to QT it. After a day in my tank I counted 15 small aptasia. I did my best to inspect it, and kalked all the little buggers. I even tore it apart into 20 or so pieces so I could get in between the polyps.

 

I then left on vacation.

 

When I retured from vacation, I had an infestation of zoa eating nudibranchs. The frag that I got from the store was the only zoas that I added in the past 4 months. Coincidence??? I don't know.

 

I do know that now I will QT all zoas and SPS that go in my tank. Then also dip in something. I have the potassium permanganate, and before I get any more SPS I will get some TMPCC that Impur is so fond of. I even have a friend that is a vet that I may be able to get some interceptor.

 

dsoz

[JManrow]

I believe Dr. Tim Miller-Morgan had mentioned that fish were sometime held in holding tanks when first captured for up to a week.

Yes, Ideally fish are usually shipped in less than 36 hours world-wide, but temperature, handling, and condition of water used in bag can affect how stressed the fish are when they are received. Normally the pH will be low and ammonia high. The addition of tank water can cause the relatively lower toxicity ammonia to become highly toxic. This, IMO, causes a dilemma of wanting to slowly acclimate fish, and wanting to get them out of sometimes very stagnant water. Check the specific gravity of the bag. It is much less stressful to put the fish into the same or lower salinity, than a higher one. Acclimation to a higher S.G. should always be done gradually. If the bag water is really nasty, and fish are still living, be all means get them into new water and forget acclimation! Anemones and snails shipped with little or no water need to go right into a tank. Again, I am not talking about fish and inverts bagged up at the store for the hobbyist. I am talking about shippers that may sometimes pack boxes a day or two ahead of actual shipping, especially places that ship out several hundred boxes at a time. This happens no matter what they would like you to believe. To this, add a few more hours of waiting on airport loading docks. It is my opinion that acclimation using drip/water additions to bag or holding containers be done in no more than an hour. If a the transfer between bag and tank is 1.014 (when hyposalinity has been used) to 1.025 it will take a few hours, or ideally have a lower S.G. in a quarantine tank, then increase gradually. Having lights off will also reduce stress.

[JManrow]

Using a quarantine tank is always good.

There are many methods of medicated dips, freshwater dips, quarantine techniques, including hyposalinity, that I did not mention. This leaves great deal of territory open to discussion.

[Kevinmc]

Thanks VP. I have posted this thread is hopes to open this topic up for discussion as a form of education to new hobbyist as well as members.

 

We do not always do things alike, and I wanted to see who had success with different methods, as I have had very bad luck with bagged fish when buying from shops that do not acclimate, but rather, sell straight out of shipping bag an hour or so from arrival to LFS.

 

As a new hobbyist I am very limited as to my availability to buying fish.

 

Thank you for your reply and for sharing this knowledge for educational purposes. I hope that it is a common concern for all who purchase sea life for LFS or online. We owe it to the captured to treat them with care and respect.

 

Kevin