How To Add Fish?

[aquaticman1]

i heard that ur suppose to keep them in the bag that they come in for atleast 4 hours floating in the water is this true or no?

 

[tom_os]

no quite true, what you do it:

get home with your fish, turn off the tank lights and put the fish bag floating in the tank.

after 10 mins, open the bag and roll down the sides so it creats air so it floats, add a little tank water

add small amounts of tank water every 10 mins for 30-40 mins

then let the fish swim free

 

[cowboy507]

i heard that ur suppose to keep them in the bag that they come in for atleast 4 hours floating in the water is this true or no?

thats probably unnecessary, float them in the bag for about 15-20 min, then add some water from the tank, do this every 15 min, do this 3 times. then use a net to get them out, you do not want to pour the water from your LFS into the tank as this water might have bad things you dont want.

 

[alchemist]

4 hours seems extreme - you need to equalize the water temperature. Some people will say drop them straight in - others will say mix some of your tank water with the bag water - again to help equalize the water conditions. Personally I have been floating them in the bag for an hour and then let them out.

 

[WILDER]

Check bag water in ph and temp and this will tell you how long to climatise for.

 

[Curiosity101]

Also if you were wondering why we acclimatise instead of just popping them straight in the tank...I could only think of one good example.
Imagine if someone was going to go up to high altitude, such as the top of a mountain where there is less oxygen in the air. If they slowly made their way up a mountain then they would adjust to the lower levels of oxygen. If you just dumped them at the top of the mountain then they may be badly affected by the quick change in conditions. Finding it hard to breath etc.

The composition of your water and the fish shops water may be very different, so mixing in a little bit of water ever 10-15mins over an hour or so gives the fish a slightly longer amount of time to adjust itself. This extra time makes the move slightly less stressful.

4 hours does seem quite extreme. Perhaps the person who told you that was referring to a very sensitive species of fish. Or even shrimp, often they should be drip acclimatised over a longer period of time than fish.

 

[OldMan47]

4 hours is basically ridiculous. Almost any water mismatch that the fish are likely to survive can be acclimated in an hour or less. I always do a "drip acclimation" unless I am quite sure that the water is a good match to my own.

What you do is put the new fish into a bucket along with their shipping water. Then you start a drip going that will more than double the volume of the water in the bucket in less than 30 minutes. I find about a drop a second is about right in most cases. After you have 3 or 4 times the water that you started with, the fish have adapted to your tank's water and its temperature. At that point I net the fish and put them right into the tank. The water in the bucket goes down the sink or into a house plant. To control the drip rate you just tie a simple overhand knot in a piece of air tubing and tighten the knot to get the drip rate that you want.

 

[WILDER]

Where do you get the drips from oldman47.

 

[tom_os]

tank water i believe

 

[OldMan47]

Sorry, not clear enough. I am using an air line as a siphon from the tank that the fish are going into.

 

[WILDER]

Ok lol.
Thought you meant a hospital drip lol.

 

[WILDER]

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=207210

 

[keenonfish]

I normally take about an hour, with drip method. My last purchase from local MA had ph of 6!