RCS acclimation question

[blt831]

I received my RCS in the mail & have started the drip acclimation process. They were mailed on Monday. Should I feed them while they're acclimating?

[neilanh]

No, they can wait the few hours for acclimation to complete.

[bs6749]

You don't need to drip acclimate them. The most I'd do is float the bag in the tank for 20 minutes adding a cup of tank water to the bag every 5 minutes. After that you can net all of them out and dispose of the water in the bag. It won't make any difference if you drip acclimate them and it's completely unnecessary IMO/IME.

[neilanh]

store bought, I'd agree... Shipped for 3 days in a cold box in the dark, I'd acclimate.

[bs6749]

Shrimp should be shipped with a heat pack in a styrofoam box this time of year. Anyway, floating the bag in the tank as I suggested will equalize the water temperature inside the bag to that of the tank over the 20 minutes, especially when tank water is being added to the bag. I've never acclimated my shirmp (RCS, yellows, snowballs, CRS) to any extent other than using the process I mentioned earlier and they were all fine. Caridina sp. are a little more finicky than the Neocaridina sp. and probably wouldn't survuve the trip if the temps in the bag dropped to the 50's, whereas the Neocaridinas can live in near freezing water but they will stop breeding in about the 50's.

[blt831]

well, I drip accilamted them, probably overkill but its my 1st tank & 1st time getting shrimp. And since its a tank in my office at work & I was busy, it was actually easier to use the drip than to add water every so often.

Happy to report that today they were all happy & active. Several of my coworkers were dubious when I told them I was getting shrimp but all I heard all day was how cute they were.