Equipment for drip acclimation

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pkremer

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Apr 30, 2004
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Fargo, ND
I would like to be able to drip acclimate my shrimp and cleanup crew when I get them soon, but I am not sure exactly how this works? What equipment will I need to be able to do this?

LiveAquaria recommends it, but I'm not sure where to look on their site to find the necessary equipment for this...

Also, I'm still curious what kind of equipment I need for the water change method Brenden suggested to me...just a power head and some tubing? What size tubing if I went with a MaxiJet 600 or 900?

Thanks!
Paul
 
Drip acclimation - a CLEAN bucket (never been used for cleaning the house, never had soap or detergent in it, etc) and some airline tubing. Tie a loose knot in the airline tubing. Place the livestock to be acclimated in the bucket, along with the water it came in. Put one end of the airline tubing in your tank, and suck a tiny bit on the other end to get a siphon going. Adjust the tension of the knot you tied in the tubing so that the water drips about 1 drop per second. Let drip for 1 to 2 hours, depending upon how much water you started with in the bucket. Then place the livestock in your tank, NOT using any water from the bucket.
 
Here is what I used when drip acclimating, it's basically the same as 20 20's explanation, but I added just a couple items to make it all the more easy.

-Airline tubing, enough to reach into the tank about mid way down go over the side and down into the bucket about 1/4 the way down.
-Airline holders (little suction cups with a clip (kinda like you see on the submersible heaters) that holds the airline in place in the aquarium)
-airlline valve (looks sort of like a plastic Tee, but there is a screwin valve on one of the ends, makes it very easy to adjust the drip rate)
 
reefrunner69 said:
-Airline tubing, enough to reach into the tank about mid way down go over the side and down into the bucket about 1/4 the way down.
-Airline holders (little suction cups with a clip (kinda like you see on the submersible heaters) that holds the airline in place in the aquarium)
-airlline valve (looks sort of like a plastic Tee, but there is a screwin valve on one of the ends, makes it very easy to adjust the drip rate)


Same here .... I tried the knot in the tubing and found I had to always go back and adjust the knot. With that valve thing ... once it is set you don't have to wory about it!
 
I drip acclimate as above but I do it twice. I put the fish in a bucket with the water from the lfs. Then I drip until the water level doubles. Then take out half the water and discard it. Drip again till the volume is doubled. Then move the fish to the tank, a qt hopefully, nd discard the water in the bucket.

Good Luck,
Brian
 
Ohhhh, I'm gonna go and get me a couple of air valves! That's a great idea, I hate trying to adjust the knot to get the drip I want. Thanks!
 
I saw an already made dripping tube in Wal-Mart, it looke liked it had a reverse flow on it as well. I hard a hard time checking it out due to the packaging. It was over by the fish. Make sure there is not metal on it. Next time I am there, I'll take another look....
 
I made a special spray bar with 4 adjustable valves and hoses to drip acclimate to my tank. It is overkill but I found that the air hose will kink tighter and adjust your flow so you have to keep a constant eye on it. Now i just clamp the bag to the side of the fuge and adjust the rate and lay the hose in the bag. Works great. I posted a picture of it a while back. I will see if I can find it.
 
ferretttt said:
I used a drip set form an IV setup.

This is what I use. well, the wheel control from an IV setup anyway. The rest is just... well a bucket and a piece of airline tubng. :)
 
Sounds simple! What size tubing should I use?

And what size tubing should I use for the water change if I use a Maxi-Jet 600 or 900 to pump the new water in?

Paul
 
I am going to start doing this as well, could be the reason I lost a Shrimp!

Where is a good place to purchase this tubing and the airline valve?
 
You'll also find tiing the toobing in a loose knot will work quite well. Loosen or tighten to alter the drip speed. Fancy's fine, I just like cheap better. :wink:

Cheers
Steve
 
Airline tubing only comes in one size, and if I ever knew what it was...I've forgotten, I want to say 3/16ths but I'm likely wrong. As for putting on a maxijet pump...try 1/2 ID nylon tubing, if it were me...I'd go to the LFS and try a couple different sizes on...either ask them to use one of their maxi jets (out of the box) or bring your own, doubt they would have a problem with it if you buy the tubing from them.
 
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