Will hopefully be moving 11 fish (6 tetras, 5 small Bolivian rams) from their 20 gal isolation into my 55 tomorrow. Seems like it would be a huge pain to bag all of these fish so I was hoping that I could put them and some of their old tank water in a 5 gal bucket, then gradually add some from the 55. My concern is that this may not be enough space for 11 fish. They'll only be in there an hour, 80 min at most, so I'd think they'd be fine but anybody else have thoughts?
acclimating 11 fish in 5gal bucket?
- Thread starter hbeth82
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
fishboy444
Aquarium Advice FINatic
If the temperature,ph,etc is basically the same you could probably just net them out.I'm not sure about the bucket but you should add some filtration,heater,etc.
CaptainAhab
Thanx but no.....
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2008
- Messages
- 2,333
Still probably more room than a bag, even if they are individual bags. Wouldn't worry about filtration. If you're really worried...add a drop of Prime every so often but fish get transported long distances in bags. Now, perhaps an airstone
Thanks, those were all pretty much my thoughts but helps to hear them echoed! The biggest difference between the two tanks will probably be pH (though nothing drastic) but feel like I should acclimate them. As my apartment's pretty warm I'm not too worried about temps, mostly just crowding. I have some fake plants on a fake log - would it help the fish to throw that or some other hiding spots in the bucket or would it just take up space?
mfdrookie516
Aquarium Free - 2+ Years
i would just fill the bucket about 1/4-1/3 full, put the fish in, then drip them for an hour or so letting the water get about 3/4-2/3 full in the bucket, then put them in... that will rule out any shock due to differences in water parameters
I'd not yet been able to get the drip method to work, so typically I use the little API test tubes and drop 10ml or so in every 10 minutes, but I imagine that a bucket would need far more.
How do you start the drip method? REALLY don't want to (for lack of a better description) suck-start it.
How do you start the drip method? REALLY don't want to (for lack of a better description) suck-start it.
mfdrookie516
Aquarium Free - 2+ Years
well sucking on it is the only way to start it unless you have a syrenge or possibly something like the little bulb that they clean babies noses out with?
Has anyone tried to adapt a turkey baster for this? Seems like you could if the tubing was big enough to fit over the end of the baster. Eh, tank's going to get a fairly-major overhall and water change before I add them, should be mostly tap water 
mfdrookie516
Aquarium Free - 2+ Years
how bout this?
Blueiz
Aquarium Advice FINatic
What is the PH difference?
You could always fill your syphon tube with water, put your thumb over the end you are going to put in the bucket and the other end in the tank and let gravity work.
You could always fill your syphon tube with water, put your thumb over the end you are going to put in the bucket and the other end in the tank and let gravity work.
Think I'll have to play with it for a while before putting the new fish in the bucket. When I tried this before, I think I may have traumatized my new cories almost as much as if I'd shaken the bag - was thankful that all survived the trial!
Thanks for all the advice!
Thanks for all the advice!
FishEggs
Aquarium Advice Addict
just submerge the drip line in the 55 and get all the air out of the tubing. put finger over the end to go into the bucket. once end is in the bucket remove finger and wahlah siphon started. of course this only works if bucket is lower level than tank.
sieski
Aquarium Advice Freak
How do you "drip"? seen this mentioned a few times but haven't a clue lol. Luckily All my tanks have identical water readings. Though I'm about to add a lot of bog wood to one tank so that might change.
Ok I read the other posts after posting this. It's a slow syphon? how do you get it to go slow then?
Drip acclimation is just making a siphon with airline tubing to slowly add water from the tank to the bucket, matching water conditions more slowly and gradually than is possible by dipping it in with a cup. You can slow the flow rate with a valve which you can get for about a dollar at a pet store, but usually those cheapo valves leak quite a bit. You can also take a rubber band or twist tie and crimp the line to adjust flow rate. It isn't necessary in most cases to get it down to an actual drip, although I have drip-acclimated for as much as 36 hours with a sensitive brackish fish going into a measurably different salinity.
sieski
Aquarium Advice Freak
Acclimation seems to have gone fine and everyone appears to be doing okay. Since I couldn't get the flow down to a drip had to take a few cups of water out after 30 min or so but other than that, it worked. Looking back, I think using a big Rubbermaid bin might have been better as that would have given them a bit more space, have several that fit inside each other. Thankfully though, they're all pretty easy to catch in a 5gal bucket!
Similar threads
