Fish Acclimation

[Donners_99]

Hello All, was hoping to find out the pros and cons of different acclimation methods. I’ll be adding some fish to a now cycled fresh water tank. Will be looking at adding some zebra danios to start. What method would you recommended please ? And any tips for helping them acclimate once added.

Thanks

 

[Byron]

Float the bag in the tank to equalize temperature, then net the fish out into the aquarium. Or sometimes it is easier to empty the bag through a large fish net to catch all the fish, then release them into the tank.

There is actually no point in any sort of "drip" or mixing water--even though I admit to doing the latter once or twice. Fish cannot adapt to changes in parameters in hours, nor even days, it take weeks.

Temperature is a significant issue though, even though some aquarists ignore this. But a lowering in temperature can cause trouble for some fish, so equating the temperature is easy enough to do and should take only a few minutes.

The only time this can be trouble is if the tank is in trouble itself, through neglect. If the parameters of the tank water are pretty much those the fish prefers, there should be no issue.

 

[Naughts]

nd any tips for helping them acclimate once added.

Have live plants (including floating plants) so the fish can hide/ shelter in them. Leave the light off for a few hours to keep them calm. There is no need to feed on the first day, whilst unsettled they won't benefit from food.

 

[GaryE]

I want to do two things, beyond simply acclimating.
I want to keep store water out of my tank. There are just too many pathogens there, given the necessary crowding and mixing in shops.
I want to get the fish out of accumulated ammonia, stress hormones etc as soon as I can.

I use my infrared temperature 'gun', which I have tested against traditional thermometres to know is accurate. If the bag is warmer than the tank, I float the bag. If the tank is the warmer source, then I hook a net around the edge of a container and pour off the water into it. The fish in the net go into the tank immediately.

The tank in question will be a quarantine, fully cycled and roomy. It will have been designed for the needs of the fish I'm getting.That may be general, in that I may not know exactly what I'll bring home, but it's set up for what I hope for and have space for. QT is an entry method for mts...

Drip acclimation can be necessary if you buy from a hardwater source and have soft water, but in that case, I doctor the water in the QT tank. Using the drip method leaves the fish in a tiny, likely polluted body of water for too long, and often gets store water into the main tank.

 

[Donners_99]

Perfect Thanks for the replies luckily it’s my local fish store so we share similar water parameters in terms of GH and KH. The fish tank is at the parameters the fish needs so I shall float the bag temperature March and then add them in without adding bag water to the aquarium. Thanks for the help