Best way to acclimate fish

[Guppylover3x]

I’m wondering if I acclimate fish correctly. I’ve always let the bag float for 30 minutes added water from the tank and then released after another 10 minutes pouring all the water from the bag into the tank. I’ve read some are against this due to the potential risk of introducing disease from the water etc. Any advice is appreciated, thank you.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Floating is right - that gets the temperature right.

Every 10 minutes add some water from your tank to the bag...

Do this until you've got 50/50 water from the bag and from the tank.

Empty half the water out... and repeat. The process should take about 90 minutes or so...

Finally... NET the fish out and release into your tank. Do not pour the water from the bag into the tank.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

You can also go with a drip acclimation process... that's a little more complicated.

Just google 'drip acclimation' and you'll see the directions. Again... you want to net the fish out and release from the net. Do not add bag water to the tank.

 

[Guppylover3x]

Floating is right - that gets the temperature right.

Every 10 minutes add some water from your tank to the bag...

Do this until you've got 50/50 water from the bag and from the tank.

Empty half the water out... and repeat. The process should take about 90 minutes or so...

Finally... NET the fish out and release into your tank. Do not pour the water from the bag into the tank.

Many thanks for your reply. You say to remove 50% of the water and repeat. Would this not be difficult without risking the fish falling out too?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I'd recommend using a small scoop... like half a water bottle to scoop it out.

 

[Guppylover3x]

I'd recommend using a small scoop... like half a water bottle to scoop it out.

Thank you for your reply. I had no idea that this is the correct way to acclimate and went of what my local store told me. I agree that the drip acclimation method is more complicated after reading up. Thanks for your help.

 

[Byron]

I agree with eagles procedure, and basically do the same myself as far as mixing the water and netting out the fish. But not everyone agrees.

There are some very knowledgeable aquarists and biologists who only equate the temperature in the bag with the tank, then net the fish out without any mixing of waters. Their reasoning is that fish cannot possibly acclimate to substantially different water in the space of a few hours, it takes days and weeks. So while I still do the water mixing, I do so with the understanding that it may not do any good. Still I do it.

 

[Guppylover3x]

I agree with eagles procedure, and basically do the same myself as far as mixing the water and netting out the fish. But not everyone agrees.

There are some very knowledgeable aquarists and biologists who only equate the temperature in the bag with the tank, then net the fish out without any mixing of waters. Their reasoning is that fish cannot possibly acclimate to substantially different water in the space of a few hours, it takes days and weeks. So while I still do the water mixing, I do so with the understanding that it may not do any good. Still I do it.

Thank you for your response. Interesting I must say.

 

[AbbeysDad]

Byron is correct - it would take fish days or weeks to acclimate to different water chemistry - it just doesn't happen in an hour or two.
Experts seem to agree that 'plop and drop' is the best method, Basically, get them out of the bag as quickly as possible. Float the bag just long enough to equalize the temperature, then scoop out or pour through a net into a waste bucket and put the fish right into the tank. You don't want any of that bag water in your tank!!!
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The plop and drop method is especially important with fish that have been shipped or have been in the bag any length of time. In time the pH of the water in the bag lowers causing any ammonia to become less harmful ammonium. If you add your tank water to acclimate the ph increases and the ammonium converts back to ammonia which could cause irreparable gill damage and/or kill the fish.

 

[Colin_T]

I'm going against everyone here

Fish adsorb/ absorb (which one is it Byron) water through their skin via osmosis. This happens very quickly, within minutes. Adding tank water to a bag of fish allows the fish to absorb some of the tank water into their body and to get use to the conditions of the new tank water.

For fish bought from a local store and that have only been in the bag for 30-60 minutes, I recommend the following acclimation.
Float the bag of fish in the tank for about 30 minutes.
5 minutes after you start floating the bag you add half a cup of tank water to the bag. Every 5 minutes after that you add another half a cup of tank water to the bag.
Over the 30 minute acclimation period, you want to double the amount of water in the bag.
After about 30 minutes you pour the fish into the tank.

-------------------------
The plop n drop method is used for fish that have been in bags for a really long time (more than 12 hours).

When fish are in a bag of water for a long time, they produce ammonia and it builds up in the bag of water. If the ammonia goes up really high and you pour this ammonia water into the tank, you can get an ammonia spike in the tank and kill the fish. This is more of an issue in tanks with a pH above 7.0.

In this situation, you float the bag in the tank for about 15-30 minutes.
After 10 minutes, add some tank water to the bag to help dilute the ammonia in the bag. Do this a couple of times while the bag is floating. You want to double the amount of water in the bag.
Then get a bucket and put a net in the bucket. Carefully pour the bag of water and fish into the net that is in the bucket. Then put the fish in the tank and tip the dirty ammonia water onto the lawn.

-------------------------
If you are getting fish shipped to your house and the fish are going to be in the bag for a long time, you should find out what the pH, GH and temperature is at the suppliers, before you get the fish. Make sure your tank water is similar to the supplier's tank water so there is less stress on the fish.

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There is no need to float bags for more than 30 minutes because the temperatures match up quite quickly, usually within 15 minutes. If the fish is in a very large bag of water (10 litres or more), then you can float it for longer. However, the average fish is in 1 litre of water and that will match the tank water temperature pretty quickly.

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You should quarantine all new fish and this prevents unwanted diseases getting into the main display tank when you pour the bag of fish into the tank.

 

[Guppylover3x]

Byron is correct - it would take fish days or weeks to acclimate to different water chemistry - it just doesn't happen in an hour or two.
Experts seem to agree that 'plop and drop' is the best method, Basically, get them out of the bag as quickly as possible. Float the bag just long enough to equalize the temperature, then scoop out or pour through a net into a waste bucket and put the fish right into the tank. You don't want any of that bag water in your tank!!!
------
The plop and drop method is especially important with fish that have been shipped or have been in the bag any length of time. In time the pH of the water in the bag lowers causing any ammonia to become less harmful ammonium. If you add your tank water to acclimate the ph increases and the ammonium converts back to ammonia which could cause irreparable gill damage and/or kill the fish.

Message received do not add any water from the bag into the tank lol

 

[Guppylover3x]

I'm going against everyone here

Fish adsorb/ absorb (which one is it Byron) water through their skin via osmosis. This happens very quickly, within minutes. Adding tank water to a bag of fish allows the fish to absorb some of the tank water into their body and to get use to the conditions of the new tank water.

For fish bought from a local store and that have only been in the bag for 30-60 minutes, I recommend the following acclimation.
Float the bag of fish in the tank for about 30 minutes.
5 minutes after you start floating the bag you add half a cup of tank water to the bag. Every 5 minutes after that you add another half a cup of tank water to the bag.
Over the 30 minute acclimation period, you want to double the amount of water in the bag.
After about 30 minutes you pour the fish into the tank.

-------------------------
The plop n drop method is used for fish that have been in bags for a really long time (more than 12 hours).

When fish are in a bag of water for a long time, they produce ammonia and it builds up in the bag of water. If the ammonia goes up really high and you pour this ammonia water into the tank, you can get an ammonia spike in the tank and kill the fish. This is more of an issue in tanks with a pH above 7.0.

In this situation, you float the bag in the tank for about 15-30 minutes.
After 10 minutes, add some tank water to the bag to help dilute the ammonia in the bag. Do this a couple of times while the bag is floating. You want to double the amount of water in the bag.
Then get a bucket and put a net in the bucket. Carefully pour the bag of water and fish into the net that is in the bucket. Then put the fish in the tank and tip the dirty ammonia water onto the lawn.

-------------------------
If you are getting fish shipped to your house and the fish are going to be in the bag for a long time, you should find out what the pH, GH and temperature is at the suppliers, before you get the fish. Make sure your tank water is similar to the supplier's tank water so there is less stress on the fish.

-------------------------
There is no need to float bags for more than 30 minutes because the temperatures match up quite quickly, usually within 15 minutes. If the fish is in a very large bag of water (10 litres or more), then you can float it for longer. However, the average fish is in 1 litre of water and that will match the tank water temperature pretty quickly.

-------------------------
You should quarantine all new fish and this prevents unwanted diseases getting into the main display tank when you pour the bag of fish into the tank.

Thank you for your reply and useful information.
I have always added the water from the bag. I’ve learnt there’s so many different ways to do this now. Thanks for your help.

 

[Essjay]

Fish adsorb/ absorb (which one is it Byron)

I can answer that. Adsorb is where something attaches to the surface only, eg medication sticks to the surface of carbon. Absorb is where it penetrates inside so fish absorb water through their skin.

A well known UK chain of fish-only shops uses bags with acclimatisation methods printed on them. The first one is to use their special piece of equipment (well, they do want to sell stuff). The second is the same as Colin's method, except that they just say to release the fish rather than than net them put of the bag.
I have always acclimatised fish this way, though in recent years I learned to net the fish out of the bag.

 

[AWE]

After trying everything, I now stick to the dripping method, which is very simple. I take the plastic bag and transfer the fish and a small quantity of the water from the bag to a plastic bucket (which I use only for fish purposes). Then I place the bucket on a small table, near and below the aquarium level. I then take a narrow silicone tube to transfer water from the main tank to the small bucket, a few drops a second.
This way, the temperature becomes balanced with the one in the main tank and also fish adapt gradually to the water chemistry. I set it up so that the whole process takes around 30 or 40 minutes, after which I take the fish with a net and transfer them to their new home. Never had any issues or casualties when using this method.

I don't really like to submerge the bags in the tank because of the potential bag contamination due to it being handled by the shop guys and myself. Also no water from the bag will ever go to the aquarium, because it's another potential source for unwanted bacteria or parasites which nobody needs.

 

[AbbeysDad]