How stressful is not acclimating new fish? After all, isn’t a fresh water dip the exact opposite, but yet fish appear to survive it?

[DaddyFish]

Because I have a lot of puffers, I routinely use freshwater dips as a first-line treatment for diseases or parasites. I use water directly from my household water filtration system just prior to the final RO and DI stages for the dips. I adjust temp and pH to exactly match the tank the fish is coming from. 5-minutes maximum time in the fw dip and right back into the tank. The only exception is if the fish is dying and the fw dip is a last-ditch effort before medication begins in QT.

Over the past year I too have become a big fan of the float/1-cup/1-cup water exchange acclimation. Ammonia levels on shipped fish rapidly rise as soon as the bag is opened and the fish becomes active. If you don't believe it, save that bag water next time and check it for Ammonia levels. You will be shocked, especially if it's a big messy fish like a puffer.

Moving puffers is tricky and keeping them submerged at all times is critical. Nets are not a good option and I think nothing good comes from using my hand. Some puffers are FAST to puff. So an incoming puffer gets floated, transferred to a bucket, and the 1-cup/1-cup acclimation. Next step is a bucket flush with destination tank water, drain off all but essential water in the bucket and finally submerge the bucket in the tank to allow the puffer to swim out on their own.

 

[ClownWrangler]

My guess is it has to do with osmosis. There must be some concentration of water in the fish’s body. If you put the fish in a higher salinity, osmotic pressure would cause water to move out of the fish (at the cell or organ level?). Perhaps this results in organ failure? I’m curious to know myself. Going from FW dip to salt is ok because the fish remains hydrated.

What an interesting thread. I usually acclimate with some Prime and a couple cups for big salinity/temp changes. I’ve never worried about pH. I haven’t drip-acclimated since the 90’s.

+1 on the osmotic pressure change. I heard that shrimp and crabs are more susceptible than fish in terms of the organ damage from osmotic pressure changes. Also, some fish live in areas where there are high salinity gradients from freshwater outflows so are adapted to constant changes. This is why you can literally just drop a molly from fresh water into saltwater or vise versa and it doesn’t even phase it. Salmon are the same way. Temperature acclimation I think is a bigger deal. Going from cold to warm is worse than the other way around because there is less dissolved oxygen. The other day I notice one of my QT tanks the heater was unplugged and the temperature was 66F. Initially I got scared because the clowns and coral beauty were very lethargic and I didn’t know why. They didn’t return to normal until 2 days later after the heat was turned back on. My BTAs expand like balloons if I let the water level get too low from evaporation then add water, which is amusing because they are always fine afterward. When I give clowns a FW dip, they always act drunk and cant swim. I have to poke them every few seconds to keep them awake.

 

[JaimeIsNew]

For those who find this interesting, but a tad confusing, here are a few links r/t osmotic pressure, etc.
1.) https://nursing.ceconnection.com/ovidfiles/00152258-200609000-00010.pdf
2.)

CK12-Foundation

flexbooks.ck12.org

3.) https://www.researchgate.net/figure...r-fish-A-in-freshwater-fish-lose_fig6_8627018

 

[ClownWrangler]

Another interesting point about salinity acclimation of fish is the fact that the best practice for receiving a new fish is to set up a new QT for it, so why acclimate the fish to the tank? Just match the tank parameters to the parameters of the water in the bag. If your worried about ammonia, use a syringe and blunt needle to remove some of the water from the bag to test, adjust the parameters of the water in the QT tank while the bag is floating, then open the bag and transfer the fish immediately.

 

[Fish man]

I do drip acclimate but if you've ever been in a lfs on fish arrival day I've rarely ever seen them do anything except temp acclimate.

 

[Cell]

It's all about tolerance and longevity matters.

You can jump in an ice cold lake for a few minutes and will be very uncomfortable, but ultimately unharmed. Stay in the water for a hour and you are probably dead.

You can put your hand over a flame for a few seconds and be unharmed. Hold it for a few minutes and you get burned.

Dips are short and temporary.

 

[Davey-Jones’-Locker]

My personal experience with a low stress, 1 hour drip acclimation vs just a temp acclimation is that the rapid change in chemistry stresses the fish out and totally changes the their temperament. I’ve had this happen with multiple breeds (even a firefish that got super aggressive and beat his pair to death). I feel that the drip method not only allows the fish to slowly adjust to the DT chemistry but also adjust to its new surroundings and not go into “war” mode when added to a new environment. This is just my experience/observation

 

[CavalierReef]

My method may be overkill but I haven't killed a fish yet. I float the bag to adjust temperature, I release fish and shipping water into a one gallon bucket and drip acclimate until water volume is doubled. I then remove a gallon of tank water and use Safety Stop 2 part (methyln blue/formalin)
following their directions. I would never put a fish in my tank straight from the shipper's or LFS's water. I also don't play Russian roulette. But that just me. Many methods. Do Whatever you are comfortable with that is good for the fish.

 

[Buckster]

I don't have an LFS nearby that is reputable therefore fish and coral are shipped. I have performed both methods of acclimation. Either way I float the bag to temp acclimate. I got two mandarins that I drip acclimated and lost them 3 days later. All fish that I added immediately after temp acclimation survived.

 

[neo1738]

I test the water the fish came in after a 20 min float to temp acclimate, if within a couple tenths they get put right in. So far so good.

 

[maugustine]

I have never dipped any of my fish .. should I be? I float then add.. I only purchase from local places .. have never ordered on Online..

besides a new fish.. when does dipping apply? If fish is sick? Sorry if my question sounds stupid.. I have never heard of dipping a salt water fish in fresh water so would love to know when/if I should be doing so!
Thanks

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I have never dipped any of my fish .. should I be? I float then add.. I only purchase from local places .. have never ordered on Online..

besides a new fish.. when does dipping apply? If fish is sick? Sorry if my question sounds stupid.. I have never heard of dipping a salt water fish in fresh water so would love to know when/if I should be doing so!
Thanks

Freshwater dips are used as a diagnostic tool to look for fluke parasites. They can also be used to buy some time when dealing with an external parasite issue, before starting a more effective treatment.
Jay