Acclimation Advice

[BranchingHammer]

Hey everyone,
I have five fish coming on Thursday, but I am working and will not be able to acclimate the fish until 5 pm. I have someone at home who will bring the fish in and float the bags in my sump to temperature acclimate until I get home in the evening. After reading @Jay Hemdal 's article on acclimation, here is my plan for acclimation. Please let me know if you would change anything and whether you have any advice:

1. Temp acclimate fish for 6 hours in sump in the dark (from when package is received to when I arrive home)
2. Mix water that matches the pH and salinity of the bags in buckets
3. Remove fish from their bags and place in buckets of new water
4. Drip/flow acclimate or replace 20% of water every 5-10 min to match salinity in buckets to main tank (Difference between bags and display will be around 0.004 initially)
5. Introduce fish to aquarium with lights off to reduce aggression

Any advice or ideas to make this better?

 

[Uncle99]

Yup for #3 once the bags open, out of that water

Seems well thought out

Good luck

 

[BranchingHammer]

Yup for #3 once the bags open, out of that water

Seems well thought out

Good luck

Ok sounds good. I was planning on cutting them open and immediately transferring them to the new buckets with as little of the old water going into the buckets as possible.

 

[nereefpat]

Do you have a QT you can use?

If so, the best way is to just adjust the salinity in the QT to the bags, then float for temperature and dump.

 

[killer2001]

I don't even pay attention to water pH. For salinity, I assume the fish are being shipped in a lower salinity so I will take my tank water (not new saltwater) and dilute down to 30ppt with RODI and put an airstone in the bucket to aerate. Fish have a lot easier time going down in salinity vs going up. Once they are in the 30ppt tank water I will slowly raise them up to 35ppt by drip acclimating from my tank down to the bucket.

Basically as soon as I open the bag that the fish have been shipped in, I like to get them out of that water immediately and into the already prepared water. This is because as the pH rises that ammonia is going to become toxic. And the problem with your method is you need to crack open that bag to figure out what the water's salinity and pH is, then you have to mix a fresh batch of saltwater which is time ticking on the clock for that ammonia to become toxic.

I personally haven't had any fish deaths with the method above and I've done it for about 9 fish now.

 

[ReefGeezer]

That works. Careful not to change the temperature too much when diluting tyour tank waer. I'd be tempted to either leave the bags in the box or float them in a dark spot until I got home. Maybe ask the shipper what the Specific Gravity/Salinity should be in the bags so you can be prepared.

 

[killer2001]

Well in my case, everything is in the aquarium room which is temperature controlled so temps are the same in that regard. But I still float the bag for 20 minutes before beginning my procedure.

 

[BranchingHammer]

Do you have a QT you can use?

If so, the best way is to just adjust the salinity in the QT to the bags, then float for temperature and dump.

My quarantine tank hasn’t finished cycling unfortunately, and I don’t want to put all 5 fish in there bc of an ammonia spike. I’m definitely taking a risk, but the fish are conditioned and I’m hoping for the best.

 

[Uncle99]

Ok sounds good. I was planning on cutting them open and immediately transferring them to the new buckets with as little of the old water going into the buckets as possible.

It’s a good plan.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hey everyone,
I have five fish coming on Thursday, but I am working and will not be able to acclimate the fish until 5 pm. I have someone at home who will bring the fish in and float the bags in my sump to temperature acclimate until I get home in the evening. After reading @Jay Hemdal 's article on acclimation, here is my plan for acclimation. Please let me know if you would change anything and whether you have any advice:

1. Temp acclimate fish for 6 hours in sump in the dark (from when package is received to when I arrive home)
2. Mix water that matches the pH and salinity of the bags in buckets
3. Remove fish from their bags and place in buckets of new water
4. Drip/flow acclimate or replace 20% of water every 5-10 min to match salinity in buckets to main tank (Difference between bags and display will be around 0.004 initially)
5. Introduce fish to aquarium with lights off to reduce aggression

Any advice or ideas to make this better?

Temp acclimate for 6 hours? Not sure I understand. Temperatures in the bags and the tank will equilibrium in 30 minutes or so. You need to get fish out of the bags faster than that. Shipping mortality is skewed to the end of every shipment, so adding six hours to the process can be an issue.
Always best to try and match the salinity of the receiving tank as close as you can to the bay water.
Jay

 

[BranchingHammer]

Temp acclimate for 6 hours? Not sure I understand. Temperatures in the bags and the tank will equilibrium in 30 minutes or so. You need to get fish out of the bags faster than that. Shipping mortality is skewed to the end of every shipment, so adding six hours to the process can be an issue.
Always best to try and match the salinity of the receiving tank as close as you can to the bay water.
Jay

Sorry for the confusion, I want to acclimate the fish as soon as possible of course, but the company can only ship on a day that I work and I couldn't get off. I have someone at home who can remove the bags from the box and float them in my dark sump until I get home from work at 5 pm. I would then transfer the fish to water at the same salinity and temperature that I would have premixed the night before with an aerator and heater. I would then acclimate all the fish together in the new bin with new water. Do you think I would be risking fish mortality if I keep them in the bags until 5 pm? If so I can guide the person at home over facetime during my lunch break and give them instructions beforehand, but the don't have as much experience with fish. Unfortunately, I am introducing the fish to my display and cannot lower the salinity too much or I might shock my acros. I know this is not the best situation at all, but what are your thoughts on how to make it the least stressful as possible?

 

[BranchingHammer]

That works. Careful not to change the temperature too much when diluting tyour tank waer. I'd be tempted to either leave the bags in the box or float them in a dark spot until I got home. Maybe ask the shipper what the Specific Gravity/Salinity should be in the bags so you can be prepared.

I don't even pay attention to water pH. For salinity, I assume the fish are being shipped in a lower salinity so I will take my tank water (not new saltwater) and dilute down to 30ppt with RODI and put an airstone in the bucket to aerate. Fish have a lot easier time going down in salinity vs going up. Once they are in the 30ppt tank water I will slowly raise them up to 35ppt by drip acclimating from my tank down to the bucket.

Basically as soon as I open the bag that the fish have been shipped in, I like to get them out of that water immediately and into the already prepared water. This is because as the pH rises that ammonia is going to become toxic. And the problem with your method is you need to crack open that bag to figure out what the water's salinity and pH is, then you have to mix a fresh batch of saltwater which is time ticking on the clock for that ammonia to become toxic.

I personally haven't had any fish deaths with the method above and I've done it for about 9 fish now.

Thanks for the advice. I am now planning on premixing the saltwater the night before to the salinity that the company says it ships its fish in and keep a heater and wavemaker in the bin for temperature control and aeration. During acclimation, I will use an air stone to maintain oxygen, unless this would make ammonia buildup toxic during the acclimation process? I need to acclimate 5 fish total, and was planning on doing at least 4 in one container thats large enough (multiple gallons if not larger).

 

[BranchingHammer]

Also, just to note, the vendor said that as long as I don't open the bags before acclimation, the ammonia will remain in its less toxic form due to carbon dioxide buildup (which I already knew).

I just want to do what is best and least stressful for the fish given the situation at hand (which isn't perfect). Thank you guys for helping out here!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Sorry for the confusion, I want to acclimate the fish as soon as possible of course, but the company can only ship on a day that I work and I couldn't get off. I have someone at home who can remove the bags from the box and float them in my dark sump until I get home from work at 5 pm. I would then transfer the fish to water at the same salinity and temperature that I would have premixed the night before with an aerator and heater. I would then acclimate all the fish together in the new bin with new water. Do you think I would be risking fish mortality if I keep them in the bags until 5 pm? If so I can guide the person at home over facetime during my lunch break and give them instructions beforehand, but the don't have as much experience with fish. Unfortunately, I am introducing the fish to my display and cannot lower the salinity too much or I might shock my acros. I know this is not the best situation at all, but what are your thoughts on how to make it the least stressful as possible?

Actually, that brings up another possible issue. I have NOT studied this directly, but I've been told by a reputable aquarium chemist, that floating bags in water for long periods is detrimental. Turns out that carbon dioxide diffuses through the plastic bags to some degree. Floating the bags in water stops that diffusion. He advocated just holding bags in room temperature air, in the dark until proper acclimation can begin. He was part of the research team that developed those Kordon "breathing bags" , so I assumed he studied polyethylene bags during that time.

To be honest, you should not be acclimating shipped fish directly to your display. Even if you are buying pre quarantined fish, or if you choose not to quarantine, all shipped fish do better if you acclimate them to a receiving tank first. This allows you to match water quality to the shipping water more closely, but also give the fish a few days to recover from shipping before mixing them in with established fish.

Jay

 

[BranchingHammer]

Actually, that brings up another possible issue. I have NOT studied this directly, but I've been told by a reputable aquarium chemist, that floating bags in water for long periods is detrimental. Turns out that carbon dioxide diffuses through the plastic bags to some degree. Floating the bags in water stops that diffusion. He advocated just holding bags in room temperature air, in the dark until proper acclimation can begin. He was part of the research team that developed those Kordon "breathing bags" , so I assumed he studied polyethylene bags during that time.

To be honest, you should not be acclimating shipped fish directly to your display. Even if you are buying pre quarantined fish, or if you choose not to quarantine, all shipped fish do better if you acclimate them to a receiving tank first. This allows you to match water quality to the shipping water more closely, but also give the fish a few days to recover from shipping before mixing them in with established fish.

Jay

Thank you so much for the help Jay. I didn’t know that the bags could be gas permeable like that. I will keep the bags in the dark box at room temp without the cool pack. I have a 50g prop tank that’s been set up for a few months that I can lower the salinity in. I can use that as a holding tank and slowly increase salinity over a few days or week and observe fish. Not as good as a QT, but my QT is taking longer to cycle than I thought, I think the 50g will work well since it’s a separate system with no current fish and not much coral. Since the salinity will be lowered in this tank, I could have the person at home just temperature acclimate for 15 min and then release them assuming salinity matches shipping water. It would be a lot less stressful for the fish and less work for me. What are your thoughts? Again, thank you so much.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thank you so much for the help Jay. I didn’t know that the bags could be gas permeable like that. I will keep the bags in the dark box at room temp without the cool pack. I have a 50g prop tank that’s been set up for a few months that I can lower the salinity in. I can use that as a holding tank and slowly increase salinity over a few days or week and observe fish. Not as good as a QT, but my QT is taking longer to cycle than I thought, I think the 50g will work well since it’s a separate system with no current fish and not much coral. Since the salinity will be lowered in this tank, I could have the person at home just temperature acclimate for 15 min and then release them assuming salinity matches shipping water. It would be a lot less stressful for the fish and less work for me. What are your thoughts? Again, thank you so much.

Holding new fish in an isolation tank for even 72 hours allows them to overcome the jet lag.

Yes - temperature acclimation for 15 minutes is fine as long as the salinity is the same for the bags and the tank. pH shock is just not a thing for fish (but it can harm some invertebrates).

Jay

 

[BJEDVM13]

I have had fish shipped to my work and acclimated them in buckets there. I bring mixed saltwater, small heater, and air stone. You could also ask the seller what salinity the fish will be shipped at and premake the water to that SG.

 

[BranchingHammer]

Holding new fish in an isolation tank for even 72 hours allows them to overcome the jet lag.

Yes - temperature acclimation for 15 minutes is fine as long as the salinity is the same for the bags and the tank. pH shock is just not a thing for fish (but it can harm some invertebrates).

Jay

Ok, thanks again Jay. I am lowering the salinity in the holding tank to the salinity they claim to ship at. I will have my mom test the salinity of the bags when they come in as well if they are somehow way off. So as soon as the fish arrive at my door, they will be temp acclimated for 15 min and then released into holding tank assuming salinities match. Sounds good?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Ok, thanks again Jay. I am lowering the salinity in the holding tank to the salinity they claim to ship at. I will have my mom test the salinity of the bags when they come in as well if they are somehow way off. So as soon as the fish arrive at my door, they will be temp acclimated for 15 min and then released into holding tank assuming salinities match. Sounds good?

Yes - that is essentially the method used by Biota. Just be sure the tank lights are off during this and for 30 minutes or so afterwards.

Jay

 

[BranchingHammer]

Yes - that is essentially the method used by Biota. Just be sure the tank lights are off during this and for 30 minutes or so afterwards.

Jay

Hi Jay,
Unfortunately, one fish came DOA, and the others looking pretty stressed. I think most of them will make it, but lights are still off and they are hanging out at the bottom. My biggest worry is that when I was netting the mccosckers wrasse, his teeth got stuck on the net. I put the net in the aquarium with the fish to see if he would release on his own, but he didn't after 30 min. I ended up cutting the net so that he only has a small piece (less than an inch) stuck to his teeth, but it scares me. I don't know if he'll be able to get it off since its caught on the upper and lower jaw. He is upright, but on the bottom and breathing a little heavy. Any advice? My current plan is just to wait it out and see if he can release.

The christmas wrasse looks good but and hiding. Can't find the longnose hawkfish but I'm sure he's in there somewhere. The Lubbock's fairy wrasse looks the best out of everyone and is swimming/hiding.