its safe to buy fish over the net..
acclimation is very important and if not done right it could kill the fish.
Ph and salinity (s/g) are very important.
Going slow is the most important part of acclimation.
I like to float the bag for 15-30 mins then I pour them into a bowl and check the salinity level of the
LFS water, then I check my tank. If they are the same that is great. I use a drip line and then drip water from the tank into the bowl for an hour then release. I like to have a drip every 2-3 seconds, some times slower if the salinity is way off of my tank, you want a real slow acclimation if its way off.
if the water from the
LFS is lower or higher then my tank I drip for an hour then check the salinity and if its the same I drip for an additional 30 min then release, if its still not the same pour off water from the bowl and drip for another hour. It can take several hours to acclimate a fish properly if the salinity is 3-4 points off.
One
LFS keeps his
SG at 1.018 and my reef is at 1.025 so it usually takes me 2-3 hours to acclimate these fish. I prefer 3 but if the drip is too fast it goes faster.
Some people float the bags and pour a shot glass of water into the bag every 15 min and then toss the fish in after an hour of this,
IMO that is not the best way to acclimate fish. It may work on the hardy fish but not them all and If I just paid 20 for a fish and 35 for shipping I am going to do every thing I can to make sure that fish lives.
Just remember slow is better...