acclimating corals?

[melosu58]

I had someone the other day ask me did you have to acclimate corals to your water. They said they knew you had to acclimate them to the lighting but not the water. IMO you need to acclimate them to the water. I personally think that there are too many changes between your water and the water in the bag. Changes like Salinity and temp and nutrient levels and many more. I really dont have any proof but that`s what my experience leads me to believe. Anybody have any experience or proof? What do you do when it comes to acclimating your corals?

 

[Innovator]

It really depends on what you are receiving and where you are receiving it from. For example, I will normally acclimate any coral if purchased from an lfs due to the extra time involved in shipping from the wholesaler and the expected poor handling from probable novice employees. Although I personally like to acclimate corals from the wholesaler, I trust them and the stock received that we've (at work) tested salinity and dropped corals directly into our holding systems after temperature acclimating. We have had success doing this with all coral varieties including Tridacna; although, soft corals, gorgonians, and clams tend to have very little recouperation time in comparison. All in all, if you want to be safe then I always recommend acclimating your livestock. I normally will temperature acclimate for 10mins. by floating a bag at the waters surface. Then opening the bag and emptying contents in a bucket, using an airline to stream water for about an hour. Every coral needs to be judged in how long it needs to be acclimated based on health appearances so 2hr acclimations are common. In emergencies, when bags come in brown, you may need to rinse the coral in saltwater or freshwater, make any fragments, and place in holding right away due to lack of proper water quality. As far as deleterious effects, most of the time if water parameters are not somewhat matching the coral may fall into a type of traumatized state internally/externally where its internal structure cannot handle the variance and begin bleaching or other maladies spring into play.

 

[melosu58]

Thanks James

 

[melosu58]

Anybody else want to tell us how you acclimate your corals?

 

[pat8you]

As long as this thread is started i was wondering what the deal is with people dipping corals when they put them in their system. I think its iodine ...errr something i can't remember. I've even seen actual coral dip products. What do they do and is it absolutely necessary like QTing your fish?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I always do a 30-90 minute drip acclimation, after floating the bag to equalize temperature for about 10 minutes. Length of acclimation depends on where I received the coral from (mail order or local) and also the difference in salinity between the store water and mine. I don't do any preventative dips, and don't quarantine my inverts.

 

[melosu58]

Thanks Kurt.

 

[ccCapt]

I can only comment on unmounted frags, since that's all I really buy. I float the bag to get the temp right, then just take the coral out of the bag, get out the super glue, glue it to some rubble and put it in my tank.

 

[Devilishturtles]

My habits change. If I'm adding a hardy coral I usually just temp acclimate and add them. When I added SPS or a similar more delicate coral, I've drip acclimated.

 

[lando]

No matter the coral or the source, I tend to float the bag for a half hour then place the bag in my sump and do a 2-3hr drip acclimation. This is followed by a dip in Seachem's Coral Dip, then a dip in some tank water prior to placement. From there it is a matter of obsevation. I may end up moving the coral after a few days if it does not seem too happy where I place it.

 

[tuesday]

10 minutes floating in the tank and then release into the tank. If the coral was shipped you don't want to keep it in the bag any longer than it has to.