Acclimating new inhabitants to nano

js_marra · Nov 30, 2019

Looking for some advice on how people in here with nanos, specifically around 20g and under do their acclimation. On tanks so small, even a cup of water can make a difference in your tank. I always struggle when acclimating new things, especially when I am acclimating a few different things at once because on such a small tank you lose so much water volume to acclimation that it really throws things off. Do you guys then add fresh saltwater back to your main tank? I feel like I’m doing a water change while acclimating new things and it’s frustrating to have so much going on at once. Thoughts?

Nate_Krohn · Dec 1, 2019

js_marra said:
Looking for some advice on how people in here with nanos, specifically around 20g and under do their acclimation. On tanks so small, even a cup of water can make a difference in your tank. I always struggle when acclimating new things, especially when I am acclimating a few different things at once because on such a small tank you lose so much water volume to acclimation that it really throws things off. Do you guys then add fresh saltwater back to your main tank? I feel like I’m doing a water change while acclimating new things and it’s frustrating to have so much going on at once. Thoughts?

When I acclimated my clownfish to my 10 gallon that’s exactly what I had to do. Just treat it as a water change. It’s a pain in the butt but it seems to be the only option. Plus the new creatures will appreciate the water change lol

Reef. · Dec 1, 2019

Been wondering about this myself, I guess it’s as you say. Just have a litre or so of salt water ready, as if you have an ATO it will be adding RO water which will bring down your salinity.
I wonder too about testing, as in the early days I will be doing a lot of testing, I guess it’s the same process for that.

Nate_Krohn · Dec 1, 2019

Reef. said:
Been wondering about this myself, I guess it’s as you say. Just have a litre or so of salt water ready, as if you have an ATO it will be adding RO water which will bring down your salinity.
I wonder too about testing, as in the early days I will be doing a lot of testing, I guess it’s the same process for that.

Yeah I use the Hanna marine testers for most everything besides ammonia and Nitrite. They sure make life a whole lot easier.

Reef. · Dec 1, 2019

Nate_Krohn said:
Yeah I use the Hanna marine testers for most everything besides ammonia and Nitrite. They sure make life a whole lot easier.

I plan on moving to those after setup, as said I’ll be doing a lot of testing, The Hanna testers work out 2-3 times more expensive per test and also I’ll understand more which ones I need when things settle down., as I don’t think I’ll need all 7 tests I have at present with Salifert.

Nate_Krohn · Dec 1, 2019

Reef. said:
I plan on moving to those after setup, as said I’ll be doing a lot of testing, The Hanna testers work out 2-3 times more expensive per test and also I’ll understand more which ones I need when things settle down., as I don’t think I’ll need all 7 tests I have at present with Salifert.

Yes they’re pretty expensive but they are more accurate than any other chemical test kits. I just own the Hanna testers for Alk, calcium, magnesium and pH as everything else is either easy to test for or not required to test for as often such as nitrates, nitrite and ammonia

js_marra · Dec 1, 2019

Nate_Krohn said:
When I acclimated my clownfish to my 10 gallon that’s exactly what I had to do. Just treat it as a water change. It’s a pain in the *** but it seems to be the only option. Plus the new creatures will appreciate the water change lol

I agree. Starting to save my water changes for the week to when I know I will be getting livestock because basically have to do that at the same time. Thanks!

Reef. · Dec 1, 2019

Nate_Krohn said:
Yes they’re pretty expensive but they are more accurate than any other chemical test kits. I just own the Hanna testers for Alk, calcium, magnesium and pH as everything else is either easy to test for or not required to test for as often such as nitrates, nitrite and ammonia

Right I didn’t know they were more accurate than the others, that makes the cost more acceptable.

Nate_Krohn · Dec 1, 2019

Reef. said:
Right I didn’t know they were more accurate than the others, that makes the cost more acceptable.

They also don’t require you to try and compare the colors like other ones do. They’re all digital

Reef. · Dec 1, 2019

Nate_Krohn said:
They also don’t require you to try and compare the colors like other ones do. They’re all digital

yeah not looking forward to that part, I’m setting my tank up on the 11th, Rock is cycling atm, so have only used the ammonia test which was easy enough to read but I believe the others not so much, I ended up going for all Salifert, most people use a mix but after I read 100+ threads on testing, no one could seem to agree on the best combo so went for all Salifert as that name kept coming up for most.

Nate_Krohn · Dec 1, 2019

Reef. said:
yeah not looking forward to that part, I’m setting my tank up on the 11th, Rock is cycling atm, so have only used the ammonia test which was easy enough to read but I believe the others not so much,I ended up going for all Salifert, most people use a mix but after I read 100+ threads on testing, no one could seem to agree on the best combo so went for all Salifert as that name kept coming up for most.

Yeah they’re all about the same quality in my opinion. I use the API kits for everything other than what I use the Hanna’s for.

cmoore806 · Apr 28, 2020

I am acclimating a few fish to my QT tank which has an ATO on it. Prior to fish arriving I unplugged the ATO and filled the tank a little higher than normal so I have some extra water in there. Floating bags made the water level at the brim but then it was back down to normal after all the water removed for acclimating. After fish are placed into the tank then I plug the ATO back in. I keep mixed saltwater ready and waiting in the event I need water changes/etc.

js_marra · May 4, 2020

cmoore806 said:
I am acclimating a few fish to my QT tank which has an ATO on it. Prior to fish arriving I unplugged the ATO and filled the tank a little higher than normal so I have some extra water in there. Floating bags made the water level at the brim but then it was back down to normal after all the water removed for acclimating. After fish are placed into the tank then I plug the ATO back in. I keep mixed saltwater ready and waiting in the event I need water changes/etc.

that is good advice. I also started mixing some fresh saltwater to have on hand to replace water lost when acclimating. That is also a good idea to overfill the tank before accilimating anything so the water is already in the system. Thanks!