Acclimating shipped fish

[xandrew245x]

It all depends on the salinity of the water that the fish were shipped in.

if it's the same as your tank, then floating for temp is all that is needed.
but if the fish are shipped in lower SG water than your tank, you may need to acclimate them to salinity too.

When getting new fish, I lower the SG in my QT tank to 1.021 So that I only need to temp acclimate and then they can go right into my QT and start meds right away.

not QT'ing your fish at all is very risky.

I do plan on setting up a QT tank once I set up my 75 gallon, but for my 32 biocube I just risked it. I also see that having the qt makes the acclimation process way easier as well. I won't be adding anymore fish to my biocube.

 

[Troylee]

Fish typically ship in 1.020 water. Most wholesale keep their salinity 1.019 so having a bucket like you mentioned maybe 1.021 water and temp acclimate them there and then transfer to the bucket and drip it into the bucket from the display till you get 1.025 would be my go to. Getting them out of the shipping water asap is the best bet cause when you open that bag they will get ammonia burn as the ph rises instantly.

 

[Fish Fan]

It all depends on the salinity of the water that the fish were shipped in.

if it's the same as your tank, then floating for temp is all that is needed.
but if the fish are shipped in lower SG water than your tank, you may need to acclimate them to salinity too.

When getting new fish, I lower the SG in my QT tank to 1.021 So that I only need to temp acclimate and then they can go right into my QT and start meds right away.

not QT'ing your fish at all is very risky.

This is actually what I do because I also believe in QT'ing all new arrivals. It's then really easy to match the salinity of the QT tank to the fish's bag water, and adjust it slowly up over time if needed.

 

[xandrew245x]

Okay so I was able to get in contact them, they ship in 1.025 water. My tank is 1.024, so it should be fairly easy.

 

[JP Reef]

I would test it to be sure. I have never gotten fish from them in the past at 1.025

 

[xandrew245x]

I would test it to be sure. I have never gotten fish from them in the past at 1.025

I will definitely test it first to be sure.

 

[DmitryB]

I was having this conversation in my own head just yesterday. I got a fish order from Marine Collectors and their instructions said to drip acclimate. This was the norm back in the old days when you had to swim upstream both ways, but now it's just "float bag for 20 mins and drop the fish in." I decided to just do that despite MC's instructions and the 3 fish were out and about in front of the tank and eating within one hour. (Very happy with Marine Collectors right now!) So I say... float bag and then release the fish into your tank (without the water in the bag.)

 

[Fish Fan]

This is Jay Hemdal's article (former large public aquaria curator) on acclimation, this is a good read for anyone interested:
https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/acclimation-methods.903/