Best Way to De-Bag Fish?

[Lionfish Lair]

Because of tone being misread...... picture us sitting around the table having a nice polite conversation. I'm not challenging anyone. My husband and I have very different views on the hobby, so I'm always having "discussions", but I know it doesn't come across well online.

OK, that being said I wanna say this......., if you bring them down over 2 days and up even slower, why? Why not over an hour? Isn't that enough time to acclimate?

 

[hybridazn]

when you raise the salinity it can actually dehydrate the fish if increased too quickly. Also water that is having a rapid increase in salinity holds less oxygen so it makes it harder for the fish to breate.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Right, so what would be your rate of adjustment for acclimation of a new fish?

How fast do you think it should be risen or decreased to prevent undo stress/other issues?

 

[mtfish]

Going to higher salinity can be more stress. If I am going from higher salinity in the bag to lower in QT, say 1 or 2 ppt, then the fish goes straight in. If it is the other way around, then I would acclimate maybe 30-45 minutes. If salinity is over 5 ppt different, then this time could extend to one to two hours. This is why I really like to have water matched to the bag before I receive the shipment if at all possible.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

I don't worry about salinity, as mine is always lower than the shipping water. I don't acclimate to lower, but I do for higher.

Are we really serving any purpose acclimating even over 1-2 hours? Or is just a feel good practice, that really doesn't help get rid of the negative byproducts of acclimation.

Right now in one study I'm reading, it's talking about the fish still acclimating at day 7.....

 

[E048]

I float and drop the coral right in... Never lost a thing

 

[mtfish]

Renee, I am old! Not sure if we are doing anything by adjusting salinity over a short period of time. Like you said, just the way I do things and it always works. I really never acclimate more than 15 minutes, and just for temperature, as I always (usually) know what salinity the fish is coming in with. Always my main concern it getting the fish out of the nasty-ish water it was shipped in and in clean water in my QT.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Found this interesting...

"For acclimation, two temperature treatments (three tanks per temperature) were chosen to expose fish to either a mean winter temperature +/- 0.2C, or a mean summer temperature of 21 +/- 0.1C. Once acclimation temperatures were reached, fish were held at their prescribed temperatures for six weeks. The responses of whole-animal performance traits by acclimation in fish can be observed by 4-6 weeks of exposure to the new external condition. Additionally, mitochondrial oxidative capacities were altered within two weeks of warm and cold acclimation. Therefore we believe the six week seasonal temperature exposure duration used in this study would have led to complete acclimation of N. celidotus.".

Iftikar, F., Morash, A., Cook, D., Herbert, N., & Hickey, A. (2015). Temperature acclimation of mitochondria function from the hearts of a temperate wrasse ( Notolabrus celidotus ). Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology, 184, 46-55.

 

[cmcoker]

I have stuck a needle in the bag to pull water out and duct tape over. Float bag and Adjust qt to the specific gravity of the bag, one advantage of using a qt tank. And not opening the bag to test keeps the pH from changing rapidly and toxifying the water since it's my understanding that opening the bag cause ammonia to rise with the pH change..

 

[robert]

Fish: Cut the top off the bag - reduce bag volume by pouring off 25% and immediadely replace with this 25% with water from thier new home - wait 5-10 minutes - pour off 50% and replace 50% as above - wait 5-10 minutes - if the temp is now close - hand scoop fish wearing nitril glove to new tank if possible - pour into net for larger or dangerous fish. If the temp is not close, I migh do another 50% change. I go as fast as possible - 10 to 20 minutes from getting home to placing it in the tank.

Corals - pretty much the same - except I will add revive to the initial dilution and many corals will spend some time out of the water while pests are removed by scraping or remounting.

Shrimp and snails - theses are the delicate ones where a slow acclimation pays off. I will reduce the shipping water volume by as much as I can and slow acclimate to 3-4 times this original volume over 30-45 minutes. Too fast with shrimp and I've seen them die before they hit the bottom of the tank...

The longer the animal has been in the bag - the faster I tend to go. I never-ever allow anyone elses water into my tanks - ever.

I don't see much point in testing - I figure the faster I can get them out of an unheathy bag into a healthy system the better off they are.

 

[Greenstreet.1]

Float bag in qt for 30min cut bag open scoop out the fish then put into qt.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

ARGH! I erased my own comment!

 

[Wiz]

I open and dump out most of the water. Leaving just enough for the newcomer to have some wiggle room then float bags for 20 mins using my cover to hold them up. Then I use my tank water to double the volume in the bag 3 times about 15 mins apart. Dump bag in sink and newcomer in my hand. In they go.

 

[zim2323]

I float and drop the coral right in... Never lost a thing

I float and drop everything in as well, coral, inverts, fish, everything. I do 30min and then poor contents. No QT. I buy directly from trusted store though. I would do more if i was buying mail order because of the conditions ive seen.

That said i doubt stores drip acclimate when receiving their mail order. My stores all float for 60min and then slice the bag and let float another 60min before dropping in.

I have yet to lose anything.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Actually, all the stores around here drip them.

 

[E048]

I qt every fish...

Corals get a dip

Inverts drip and drop

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Do you acclimate to your QT?

 

[E048]

Yeah I drip fish I don't float fish or inverts

 

[Greenstreet.1]

Just got back from the airport floating them now then in.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

I'm not sure if we were kind of done with this conversation or not, but just in case a few were wondering.......

I'm making my way through 1217 journal articles under the search of "fish acclimation". What I've found out so far, is that acclimation is very crucial for fish. Problem is, they don't acclimate in the amount of time we give them. The process is barely beginning in an hour or even a day. It seems to be an industry standard for temperature acclimation to be assumed completed in 30 days.