Accudrip Acclimation times

[Calpoly2103]

Hi All,

I can't seem to find any good information on how long to acclimate my fish, inverts, coral.

I have the IM Accudrip system which I will be using. Does anyone have any suggestions on the speed of the drip, along with the time needed to acclimate each type of Fish, Invert, And Coral?

Thanks !
Stan

 

[James M]

1-2 drips a second
Fish: 20-30 mins
Coral/Inverts: 30-40

 

[Calpoly2103]

1-2 drips a second
Fish: 20-30 mins
Coral/Inverts: 30-40

Thank you ! This is exactly what I was looking for.

 

[James M]

Thank you ! This is exactly what I was looking for.

Yw. Here’s a link that goes in depth about acclimation and different ways
https://m.liveaquaria.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=157

 

[Blue Spot Octopus]

Does your IM Drip Acclimation unit work? My little bulb does not sock water through it.

 

[James M]

Does your IM Drip Acclimation unit work? My little bulb does not sock water through it.

Did you put the dial all the way up, so it’s not squeezing the tube and then try siphoning it

 

[Blue Spot Octopus]

I will give that a try. Thanks

 

[Calpoly2103]

1-2 drips a second
Fish: 20-30 mins
Coral/Inverts: 30-40

I've read that drip-acclimation could result in ammonia exposure for the fish. I got a couple clowns from a LFS and drip acclimated them for about 40 minutes in a specimen container. The fish was not doing too well a couple days after and some folks thought it could have been ammonia exposure from drip acclimation.

Do you know generally how long this would take to happen? My exact process was: Purchased 2 clowns from LFS, took 45 minutes to get home. Floated bag in tank for 20 minutes closed, then I emptied 1/3 of the bag into a specimen container and drip acclimated for 40 minutes until the specimen container filled up. Then put in fish into tank.

Just checking because I'm concerned I did something wrong and hurt the fish. Could they really have gotten ammonia exposure damage that quickly?

 

[Peace River]

I've read that drip-acclimation could result in ammonia exposure for the fish. I got a couple clowns from a LFS and drip acclimated them for about 40 minutes in a specimen container. The fish was not doing too well a couple days after and some folks thought it could have been ammonia exposure from drip acclimation.

Do you know generally how long this would take to happen? My exact process was: Purchased 2 clowns from LFS, took 45 minutes to get home. Floated bag in tank for 20 minutes closed, then I emptied 1/3 of the bag into a specimen container and drip acclimated for 40 minutes until the specimen container filled up. Then put in fish into tank.

Just checking because I'm concerned I did something wrong and hurt the fish. Could they really have gotten ammonia exposure damage that quickly?

Without a water test it is hard to make a definitive statement, but IMO it is unlikely that the issue was caused by ammonia build up in that short of time. Your process seems very reasonable to me when getting a fish from a local source. In my mind, the question that is less clear is do you temperature acclimate in the bag only or also drip acclimate over a period of time when the fish has been in the bag for days?

 

[Calpoly2103]

Without a water test it is hard to make a definitive statement, but IMO it is unlikely that the issue was caused by ammonia build up in that short of time. Your process seems very reasonable to me when getting a fish from a local source. In my mind, the question that is less clear is do you temperature acclimate in the bag only or also drip acclimate over a period of time when the fish has been in the bag for days?

I've actually never purchased a fish online, so the longest I've ever had a fish in a bag was probably 1-2 hours. The bag floated in the tank for 20 minutes or so to get temp acclimated, and then I drip acclimated for 40 mins (My tank is at 77 degrees, my house is at 70). So, 77 degree tank water was entering thru the accudrip into my specimen container of water at 77 degrees. Perhaps the temperature dropped a few degrees during the 40 minute acclimation......

I hope this answers the question !

Edit: I re-read your statement. Yes, it is actually quite a good question as well. I have similar questions on coral. When I buy them, should i drip acclimate to temp first, or coral Rx first? Pretty confusing. I plan to start another thread on this sometime.

 

[Tastee]

I've read that drip-acclimation could result in ammonia exposure for the fish. I got a couple clowns from a LFS and drip acclimated them for about 40 minutes in a specimen container. The fish was not doing too well a couple days after and some folks thought it could have been ammonia exposure from drip acclimation.

Do you know generally how long this would take to happen? My exact process was: Purchased 2 clowns from LFS, took 45 minutes to get home. Floated bag in tank for 20 minutes closed, then I emptied 1/3 of the bag into a specimen container and drip acclimated for 40 minutes until the specimen container filled up. Then put in fish into tank.

Just checking because I'm concerned I did something wrong and hurt the fish. Could they really have gotten ammonia exposure damage that quickly?

There are a huge amount of opinions on acclimation different people have. I personally think it’s important to separate the process into two - one process for fish or inverts from the LFS with a reasonably short time in the bag and a second for animals that have been shipped and in the bag for an extended period.

I am like you and only buy my livestock from LFSs. In my case nothing would be in the bag longer than 20 mins before being acclimated. I float the bag in the tank to temperature match and drip acclimate for 15-90 mins depending on the animal - short end for corals, middle for most fish, long end for delicate inverts like shrimp.

My main objective in drip acclimating is to gradually adjust the other parameters - pH/kH/Ca/Mg etc. Temp and salinity are always matched before I introduce them (I am ok with 0.005/1 ppt salinity variation but no more).

Personally I would think that anything in the bag under a few hours (assuming temperature is maintained) would be fine with what I do. The different approach seems to me to be appropriate for animals that have been shipped and as I have not had experience with that I will leave others to comment. The general feedback seems to be that short acclimation is better due to the potential ammonia spikes.