Aclimating fish into high salinity...

[MattP725]

I was wondering how people aclimate their fish into a high salinity situation. I bought a yellow tang tonight and the poor thing died so quickly from the shock. First I let the bag float to get the temp situated and then I dripped it for approx an hour or so. The thing still went into shock and died after it was added later. How is it possible to aclimate this fish? My water is fine but it is at 1.23 for the LR. My fish are healthy but they were slowly aclimated to the higher salinity at a rate of .01 or so a day (I added the LR after the fish so the salinity didn't have to be high when they were first introduced). I really want to get another yellow tang but I am scared it will die quickly. What should I do? I can't really leave the fish in the bucket for a day or so can I? Even still that is like a .05 jump from what most FO tanks are. The only thing I could think is to set my QT up to a mild salinity like 1.21 or something so that I can gradually step it up.

 

[darb2]

I put a heater in a bucket. Then drip for 4 hrs. Longer for corals

The only thing I could think is to set my QT up to a mild salinity like 1.21 or something so that I can gradually step it up.

If you start your qt at the same as the lfs. Move it up slowly. Like you said.

 

[indy]

I'm guessing your water is at 1.023 and not 1.23? Personally I've always done a fairly fast acclimation, and haven't had any problems.

 

[MattP725]

Ya it is 1.023. When I first started the tank I made the mistake of just temp aclimating and then added the fish and they all came out 100%. Funny how when you try to do it the correct way it gets screwed up.

 

[Atari]

I'm not sure I understand the question.. why do you refer to it as high salinity? 1.023 is actually lower than NSW. Do you happen to know what salinity the LFS water in the bag was?

 

[MattP725]

Well maybe lower than NSW but higher than the fish was most likely held in. I was told by my LFS that they keep their tanks rather low. Apparently they believe that low (but tolerable) salinity keeps certain diseases at bay. I refer to it as high because I am used to my tank being in the 1.09 range or so. I only recently (two weeks or so) upped the salinity to 1.23 over a few days. I didn't check the bag because I never had this problem so obviously it is something to consider for next time.

 

[Atari]

Sheesh, the LFS should know better than that.. I wonder how many fish bought from them make it through the usual hour of acclimation.

I think your QT plan is good.. start it out at the same salinity as the water in the bag and take several days to bring it up to normal levels and you should be fine.

 

[seaham358]

When acclimating fish you should check the salinity/SG of the LFS water and then check yours. Then you acclimate your fish slow until the bowl/bag the fish is in matches your tank water.
I use a drip line and have my fish in a large tupperware bowl, I drip my fish until the LFS water/the water in the bowl is the same as my tank, this process can take 2-5 hours depending on how much of a difference there is. Once the water in the bowl is the same as my tank I let it go another 30- 60 min then introduce the fish. IMO a drip line is the best way to go. You will have to dump out the bowl several times during the process.
I have a LFS that has a SG of 1.014-.018 and my tank is .025 so it takes at least 3 hours to acclimate his fish.
The just add water/acclimate for 1 hour is a standard for Fresh water not salt......
I have not lost a fish while following this process........ (knock on wood)
good luck with the next fish....

 

[indy]

I am personally amazed that fish live to get to our houses. I've seen almost every fish store I've ever been to do nothing but temperature aclimation and then dump the fish into the tanks. Then, like you said, you do it the right way and the fish dies.

 

[HoopsGuru]

I refer to it as high because I am used to my tank being in the 1.09 range or so.

This is far to low for any saltwater livestock to live in full term. This is more along the lines of a temporary treatment known as hyposalinity.

Most LFS keep the specific gravity of their fish holding tanks low for several reasons (it's cheaper, fish handle it o.k., may reduce chances of parasites, etc.). It is important as mentioned to not acclimate for a given time period, but rather to acclimate until the specific gravity in your bag (or other holding container) matches that of the display or better yet, quarantine tank.

As a general rule, fish can enter an environment of lower salinity much more easily than entering one much higher. This is because their osmoregulatory system (removes salt from their bodies) is not taxed as much (and why fish at LFS can go right into the tanks, they are normally lower SG). A jump of more than .02-.03 immediately or even within a few hours can be quite dangerous. Without knowing what the SG was after dripping for an hour, one can only assume that the water did not closely match, or something else killed the fish.

 

[MattP725]

It actually was above 1.019... it was (used to be) about 1.022 or 1.021... I knew where it used to be on my hydrometer but for some reason I thought that 1.019 was the bottom of the safe range... I was wrong I believe 1.020-1.021 was. I will eventually give it another shot and let it go for about two hours or more. Do I need a heater for the bucket? Would like a 50watt or so be sufficient?

 

[HoopsGuru]

Sorry, we may have had some confusion here. One of your earlier posts stated that your specific gravity was all the way down at 1.09....which I interpreted at 1.009 but I now think it was obviously just a typo and should have been what you stated above. 1.019 is low for a reef, but most fish could live in this without issue.

I will eventually give it another shot and let it go for about two hours or more.

Don't worry much about "x" amount of time. Measure the specific gravity of your tank water (QT tank preferred!) and compare it to the measurement of the LFS specific gravity. When they are close, the fish should do just fine.

I normally place the bag in the QT tank and drip water right into it (removing some and discarding as it fills). This way the temperature matches that of the environment. If this is not possible, a heater would help as long as it is set and monitored to be holding the correct/desired temperature.

One of the other important notes in acclimation is to NOT add LFS water to your tank, this is a common way of introducing parasites and other nasties.

 

[MattP725]

One of the other important notes in acclimation is to NOT add LFS water to your tank, this is a common way of introducing parasites and other nasties.

Ya this much I did know. Ya I am still getting used to terminology so I screwed the number a bit. I got my 6 stage RO/DI today and I plan on doing a descent water change tonight so maybe tommorow I will try another tang or maybe back to another clown. My lfs just got a whole bunch of Nemos in and they are pretty cheap.

 

[blorkiemom]

I'm sorry about the tang--hope it goes better next time. I bought my first SW fish a couple of weeks ago and just as I was leaving it came to me to ask what they keep their tanks at--1.017. If I had put the fish into my 1.023 QT, I don't know what would have happened. Anyway, it was a simple matter to lower the SG of the QT water; I raised it over the next week or so and now it's back up where I want it. I'm surprised that none of the fish books I have make a big deal out of this issue--I would think it stresses/kills a lot of fish!

 

[MattP725]

Well I went back to the fish store today and got another tang... he is actually temp acclimating as we speak and then I will do the drip... I had the sales guy check the salinity and guess what it was... 1.014! No wonder my poor fish died so suddenly... that was a huge dif to my 1.023-1.024. Poor thing. Well this guy is going to take the rest of the night (I will go for atleast 3-4 hours).

 

[seaham358]

WOW!!!!!!!!!! .014 thats low....
Use you hydrometer to check the LFS water also.... It may be off so that way you know how much it is off..... Or on because the LFS may be off with his ......
Good luck and keep us posted......

 

[MattP725]

Well when I got home it tested off the chart on my hydro... mine goes no lower than 1.012 so I don't know who's was right... I suspect mine because when the guy tested his he never rinsed it out and I even saw him test their reef setup seconds before. That may make his more like 1.01 or 1.009. Anyways now the little holding cell (little plastic hang on) with the tang in it was aclimated to 1.14 over the last few hours and the tang seems to be breathing heavily. I stopped the drip for now... How long can the guy stay in this thing? I can't imagine it being safe for him to move up to 1.024 tonight... That is a huge jump.

 

[Atari]

Normally you would need to take a few days to make that kind of increase.. anything more than 0.002 in a day is quite stressful.

 

[steve-s]

You actually had the best solution in your first post IMO.

The only thing I could think is to set my QT up to a mild salinity like 1.21 or something so that I can gradually step it up.

With no other fish in the QT, it would be much easier to adjust the salinity in the QT to match the LFS very low SG. The fish can then be introduced without much stress and then the salinity can be raised slowly as suggested. Dropping salinity is not nearly as stressful to the fish as raising it and should be done no more than 0.001-002/day. Be sure you monitor alk/pH with such a low salinity as well.

Cheers
Steve

 

[MattP725]

I wanted to do the QT thing but I just added some playsand a week ago and the thing still has a crapload of silt on the top and the water is cloudy... I even rinsed it for 20min beforehand. I don't have a super powerful filter on the QT... just a 20-30g HOB and a 10-15g HOB (it is a 20g tank). I did drip him for hours (atleast 4-5) and I finally added him very late last night. He is doing great right now. He is following my trigger around... they seem to be getting along great. Seriously everywhere the trigger goes the tang goes. Not in an aggressive manner either. He does seem very scared of me when I walk by but atleast that means he is active. I think he will work out this time. I will def do the QT thing next time as I can't imagine every fish taking that much of a climb very well... especially more expensive ones.