bosk1
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I drip acclimated my new fish last night before introducing them into the tank. Since they are already in, some of this is after the fact, but I wanted to get people's take on some questions for future reference:
1. Do you "float" your fish while they are being acclimated? I know this was the preferred method years ago, but I was advised that it is not really a good idea. As I understand, it is much more important to acclimate fish to the water conditions, so drip acclimation is key, and you can't really drip acclimate very well while floating the bags because once you open them, they are likely to sink. Also, I was told that the lights can warm the fish too much while they are floating up at the top in their bags. Of course, turning off the light would solve this. Anyway, I dripped, but did not float. Thoughts? (actually, I poured a bit of water every couple of minutes--didn't actually drip, but you all know what I mean...)
2. Do people have sort of a preferred formula for drip acclimation? Do you add a certain amount of water at set intervals? I am not under the impression it is any sort of exact science, but just want to know what others do. I just gently poured in a little tank water every 2-3 minutes, and did this for a little over 20 minutes until the bag was almost 1/2 tank water.
3. What's the best way to net the fish to get them into the tank? The bags I got were relatively small because the fish were small. I didn't think about asking for bigger bags until I got home. Anyway, the net wouldn't fit into the bags. I was told to NEVER pour the fish store water with the new fish into the tank because you never know what's brewing in that water, and that it is perfectly fine to net the fish. So my solution was to pour the water and fish into the net, letting the water be caught in a bucket underneath. Okay, fine...except one of the loaches decided he didn't want to go, and stayed in the bag after the water was all gone. I got him out without hurting him, but it freaked me out a little. Is there a better way?
4. Lights out! I was told it is best to keep the lights off during and after introducting the new fish to minimize their stress. How long afterward? Should the lights stay out for a couple of days, or just a couple of hours?
5. Am I obsessing too much over this?
1. Do you "float" your fish while they are being acclimated? I know this was the preferred method years ago, but I was advised that it is not really a good idea. As I understand, it is much more important to acclimate fish to the water conditions, so drip acclimation is key, and you can't really drip acclimate very well while floating the bags because once you open them, they are likely to sink. Also, I was told that the lights can warm the fish too much while they are floating up at the top in their bags. Of course, turning off the light would solve this. Anyway, I dripped, but did not float. Thoughts? (actually, I poured a bit of water every couple of minutes--didn't actually drip, but you all know what I mean...)
2. Do people have sort of a preferred formula for drip acclimation? Do you add a certain amount of water at set intervals? I am not under the impression it is any sort of exact science, but just want to know what others do. I just gently poured in a little tank water every 2-3 minutes, and did this for a little over 20 minutes until the bag was almost 1/2 tank water.
3. What's the best way to net the fish to get them into the tank? The bags I got were relatively small because the fish were small. I didn't think about asking for bigger bags until I got home. Anyway, the net wouldn't fit into the bags. I was told to NEVER pour the fish store water with the new fish into the tank because you never know what's brewing in that water, and that it is perfectly fine to net the fish. So my solution was to pour the water and fish into the net, letting the water be caught in a bucket underneath. Okay, fine...except one of the loaches decided he didn't want to go, and stayed in the bag after the water was all gone. I got him out without hurting him, but it freaked me out a little. Is there a better way?
4. Lights out! I was told it is best to keep the lights off during and after introducting the new fish to minimize their stress. How long afterward? Should the lights stay out for a couple of days, or just a couple of hours?
5. Am I obsessing too much over this?