Moving fish from one tank to the other - tips

[Beastije]

So, time has come to move my 10 sterbai corydoras from quarantine to the main tank.
I am interested in your opinions on the following:
1. should I do water change in the main tank before adding new fish
2. how important is to acclimate to the main tank, when in theory, the quarantine should have similar parameters and temp.

I plan to use a bottle trap to catch them, since I dont trust myself with a net that much and I feel chasing them around the tank would put them under unnecessary stress. Should I place them in a bucket with some of the quarantine tank water and drip acclimate to the new one still? Should I not use the bucket water when moving to the main tank? On one hand it would be much easier to release them from the bottle trap directly to the main tank, but not sure if it is the correct approach at this point.

3. I assume water change in the qt tank should be done after the fish are gone, I know stressed fish exclude some sort of hormones, so how large of a water change it should be, 75%? New fish will go in the qt tomorrow.
Thanks

 

[GaryE]

Never drip acclimate Corydoras. When stressed, they release a warning hormone which is poisonous to them. In the wild it spreads far and wide, but in a tank it stays concentrated. In drip acclimation, if they released the toxin, the Corys stew in it. It's specific to Corydoras.
It's why after catching them for transfer, a large water change on the qt tank is essential.
The water change idea for the new tank wouldn't hurt.

I just moved some trilineatus out of qt this week, and don't be surprised if the sterbai lie low for a few days til they become comfortable. They'll often stay closer to cover for a few days.

Don't worry about the toxin in normal life, btw. Fishtank water picks up the rich world of fish chemical communications, a good reason for water changes even if someone were to make the balanced aquarium myth real. There's enough water in a healthy tank to spread it out.

 

[Beastije]

I have 10 original and 10 new, will not be able to tell which ones are stressed and which are not, so no worries there. Had to take all the plants out of the tank and net them anyway, cause the bottle trap worked only on two of them. So typical
I ended up doing a water change on the main tank during my placing the new fish in, so should be ok.
I also did a 75% change on the quarantine, just to be safe
All and all, am looking forward the progress on both

 

[sharkweek178]

Never drip acclimate Corydoras. When stressed, they release a warning hormone which is poisonous to them. In the wild it spreads far and wide, but in a tank it stays concentrated. In drip acclimation, if they released the toxin, the Corys stew in it. It's specific to Corydoras.
It's why after catching them for transfer, a large water change on the qt tank is essential.
The water change idea for the new tank wouldn't hurt.

I just moved some trilineatus out of qt this week, and don't be surprised if the sterbai lie low for a few days til they become comfortable. They'll often stay closer to cover for a few days.

Don't worry about the toxin in normal life, btw. Fishtank water picks up the rich world of fish chemical communications, a good reason for water changes even if someone were to make the balanced aquarium myth real. There's enough water in a healthy tank to spread it out.

How should you acclimate corys then?

 

[GaryE]

Pour them through a net and put them in the tank. Or, since you are going from a qt tank within your own house and with the same water, scoop and dump. I try to keep shipping water (Amazon, Congo or someone's fishroom!) out of my tanks, but a QT tank is your water already.

Honestly, I have worked in the business and kept rare and delicate fish for many years. I have never drop acclimated, because it leaves the fish in the small volume of water for too long. I have never lost fish in acclimation. Equal temps, and in they go.

 

[sharkweek178]

Pour them through a net and put them in the tank. Or, since you are going from a qt tank within your own house and with the same water, scoop and dump. I try to keep shipping water (Amazon, Congo or someone's fishroom!) out of my tanks, but a QT tank is your water already.

Honestly, I have worked in the business and kept rare and delicate fish for many years. I have never drop acclimated, because it leaves the fish in the small volume of water for too long. I have never lost fish in acclimation. Equal temps, and in they go.

What about when they are coming from the store?

 

[GaryE]

Pour them through a net over a bucket so you can discard the store water, and drop them in (temperatures being equal).

The hobby is full of people who think they can skip water changes for semi-magical reasons, or do all sorts of dodgy looking things. I know I may look like one of those people with this, but I have dealt with a lot of fish over the years, and acclimated thousands. These fish always deserve top treatment, and may also be very expensive or rare. I'm not going to put a hardwater fish in softwater, or vice versa. Taking the time to know what the fish are is important. But minimizing the time spent in small containers and small bodies of water is crucial.

And with the Corydoras toxin issue, it is really important for them.

I am supposed to be getting a shipment of rare tetras and uncommon Corys, and dwarf Cichlids today, if the airline hasn't messed it up. That is how I will handle them, and I hope to start breeding them all over the next few weeks.

 

[Byron]

Agree with what has been posted. Fish cannot be acclimated to different water in hours, or days, or even weeks. And some can never be "acclimated" if the parameters are significant to begin with. Temperature is something to fuss over, by floating the bag in the tank until the water is equal in temperature, then put the fish in the tank by netting individually or through the net/pail Gary mentioned, whatever works for you.

As for moving from QT to display tank, I always net the fish out. Presumably your parameters will be the same (GH, pH, temperature). Fussing over mixing water is only going to add additional stress to already stressed fish, and you risk undoing the good of the QT.

Be cautious netting cories; they can lock the pectoral spine in place and get caught in the net and/or give you a painful puncture.