best acclimatization method?

[Elle2]

I have recently read a few contradictory opinions regarding the best way to acclimatize new fish ie. float the bag, don't float it; open the bag but leave it at the top etc.

I am just about to get my second batch of new fish and was wondering what really is the best way?

Thanks

 

[SCFatz]

Don't know if its the "best" way but I just float the bag closed for 15-20 minutes.Then a pour the fish into my net over my bucket to keep the water seperate.Then I put the fish in the tank.

Work fine for me.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I float the bag for 15 minutes, then pour the bag into a pitcher. Then I'll dribble water from the tank using a glass into the pitcher til it's full. Then I empty half the pitcher and do it again. Will do this 3 times. Then I'll pour the fish into a net over the bucket and put them in the tank. I have never had a loss due to acclimation, not even GBR's. Total takes about 30 minutes.

 

[Elle2]

oh!... so you don't put the water from the bag into your own aquarium? Is this to avoid contamination from other tanks?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Absolutely. You don't want to bring anything but the fish home, right? If you get hitchhikers, they go down the drain. You definitely don't want cross-contamination.

 

[Elle2]

I am so glad I asked.. I had no idea and didn't do this with my first additions. Thanks!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Even though I bought nearly a hundred fish so far, lol, the lfs still keeps telling me not to dump their water into my tank. I told them they already told me 99 times, lol.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I float the bag in the water for 10 minutes. Then I add about a cup of water to the bag. Wait 10 mintues, add another cup. I do this three times. Then I either net out the fish (only if its big) or I'll pour the bag over the sink into the net. NEVER add bag water to your tank.

 

[DepotFish]

I make the quarentine tank the same temp as the bag water and pour them in. When the fish in quarentine are ready I adjust them to the temp of the tank they are going in.

 

[Laser]

I never add bag water to my tank but I've always wondered that if the fish were exposed to the possibility of diseases in the water what difference would adding the bag water make?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

If the tank at the lfs is being treated with meds, when the water is added to the tank, so are the meds.

 

[chiefs101]

i just float the bag closed in the aquarium for about 25 min. then i just dump the bag in the tank. some people dont like to pour the water into the tank but i have never had a problem if you are very careful then dont dump it in but it may change the water at little bit for maybe a day so unless u have very sensitive fish it doesnt hurt that much. it all has to do with personal stuff.

 

[DeFeKt]

Im a bag water adder.
but it helps when you know exactly who, where and what the fish come from.

 

[coolchinchilla]

I ask for extra water from the LFS. I float the bag for 15 minutes and put the fish and water into a bucket. I do a drip with a siphon air line hose from the tank into the bucket. When I'm half full, I remove some bucket water and continue to add tank water. Once I'm about half full again I net the fish and put them in the tank then refill the tank (1-2 gallons).

 

[J-D]

I'm a bag water adder too. But my lfs are really good, all my fish and plants have come from the same place and I know that they won't sell fish that they're not 100% sure (or at least as sure as you can be) are happy and healthy so there should never be anything in their water that I would have to worry about being in mine.

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

I use my special acclimatizer when I bring new fish home. The bag is dumped into a potato salad contains that has small holes at the bottom. The tank hood hold the container down in the water. Because the water level in the container is lower than the tank, water slowly flows in. When it starts to get full, I pull about half of the water out, wait for it to fill and either dump the container or repeat one more time if they are very sensitive fish. Fish moving out of QT are netted and placed in main tank water, then dumped right in. I keep both tanks at the same temp and pH (and GH and KH-easier if you are 100% RO) so there isn't a big shock.

 

[malkore]

I float the bag for 15 minutes, then pour the bag into a pitcher. Then I'll dribble water from the tank using a glass into the pitcher til it's full. Then I empty half the pitcher and do it again. Will do this 3 times. Then I'll pour the fish into a net over the bucket and put them in the tank. I have never had a loss due to acclimation, not even GBR's. Total takes about 30 minutes.

This is definitely the most 'secure' way to acclimate and introduce new fish. About the only thing you could add would be some kind of med for a 'quick dip' to decontaminate the fish. I don't feel its really necessary for FW fish, but I did do it with my SW fish twice, as I didn't have the space for a QT tank when I lost a clown and gramma at two different times.

Whether a quick dip like that is even effective can be debated...I would go with Lonewolf's routine. Some airline and an air valve will make a drip loop, so you can have it drip once a second, instead of having to manually dribble water.

Definitely net the fish and put them in your tank. LFS water may be fine, or may be foul. Since water holds very little beneficial bacteria, there's never really a good reason to dump it in your tank.

For the same reason, you should have a net for each tank you own...nets can cross contaminate.

 

[joannde]

Malkore - can you expand on the "quick dip" thing. What med would you use ? How long would you do it for ? And when you say you do it with your SW "twice" what exactly are you doing twice ? I currently don't have a QT and will be using only a 2.5G once I move the bettas to the new 10G, so I'm very interested in this.

 

[malkore]

By twice I mean...on two separate occasions, during my drip acclimation, I added a topical parasite killer to the acclimation water about 5 mins before I net the fish and put it in the display tank.

The med my LFS recommended is called Organi-Cure. I cannot say it helped the SW fish, but I can say nothing bad was introduced to the tank, and those 2 fish are still alive almost 2 years later.

 

[Alshain]

I do something similar. I do a temperature acclimation for 15 minutes and then pour a half cup of water from the tank into the bag every 4 minutes 10 times (40 minutes). If the bag starts to get full then I carefully pour it into a bucket till its about half empty and keep going. Afterwards I net the fish and put them in the tank without pouring bag water into the tank directly.