Simple QT Acclimation question

[eb2292]

Hi there,

I'm starting a QT tank for a batch of fish (couple wrasses and an anthias) that will be arriving in the near future. I am assuming the fish will be coming in hyposalinity water like usual and I am planning on using using BRS's 80/20 QT method.

When I first get them, do I want to drip acclimate to the 35ppt QT water? Or should they just get a temp/ph acclimation and then add them in?

 

[Gill the 3rd]

You should check the acclimation procedure with the vendor you are purchasing these fish from. They should hopefully also tell you the salinity they are being shipped in.

Drip acclimation for fish shipped in a bag can be dangerous. When fish are shipped in a bag they are producing ammonia and CO2 which lowers the PH. The lower PH makes the ammonia not as toxic. Once you open the bag and the CO2 escapes, the ammonia will become toxic again. Your fish will be sitting in that water for a prolonged period of time while you dip acclimate which can damage them.

You can lock the ammonia with products such as prime (unless they ship with copper in the water) or make a batch of saltwater the same salinity as the water the fish are being shipped in. That way you can just float the bag to get to temp, plop the fish in new water of the same salinity, and then drip acclimate from there to get to you desired salinity.

You could also just make your QT the same salinity as the shipping water then just plop and drop. Then raise the salinity in your QT tank over time.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi there,

I'm starting a QT tank for a batch of fish (couple wrasses and an anthias) that will be arriving in the near future. I am assuming the fish will be coming in hyposalinity water like usual and I am planning on using using BRS's 80/20 QT method.

When I first get them, do I want to drip acclimate to the 35ppt QT water? Or should they just get a temp/ph acclimation and then add them in?

No, you should not drip acclimate from hypo to full SG. That needs to be done more slowly, over a few days. The best thing to do is drop the SG of the receiving tank to match the incoming fish, get them out of the ammonia water and acclimate them over. Then, raise the SG gradually. I posted an article about this:

Acclimation Methods

Acclimating Animals to Aquariums Jay F. Hemdal c.2020 Introduction to acclimation techniques Most beginning aquarists hear that they must “acclimate” any new animals they add to their aquarium. Acclimation (sometimes termed...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

I too am not into drip acclimation. I float my bags to adjust temperature and then empty contents into clean buckets then add tank water to adjust and equalize salinity at minimum. Release under LOW light before lights out. Fish in shipped bags produce carbon dioxide and ammonia. The carbon dioxide lowers the pH of the water in the bag, That in turn makes the ammonia non-toxic to the fish. When you acclimate them, if not done just right, you drive off the carbon dioxide faster than you are diluting the ammonia. That raises the pH of the water in the bag, and that in turn, makes the residual ammonia very toxic to the fish.
Jay's wriye up offers options as we all have our methods

 

[eb2292]

Thanks so much guys. I appreciate the info and the article. Always nice to reaffirm the info about the relationship between lethal ph/ammonia/shipping water.

So just for confirmation, it sounds like my plan will be:
- Match the QT salinity to the bag salinity (they're coming from LiveAquaria)
- Remove fish from bags, add fish, trash the bag water
- Slowly raise salinity over a 2-3 days with 30-40% water changes.
- Begin the meds

 

[Gill the 3rd]

Thanks so much guys. I appreciate the info and the article. Always nice to reaffirm the info about the relationship between lethal ph/ammonia/shipping water.

So just for confirmation, it sounds like my plan will be:
- Match the QT salinity to the bag salinity (they're coming from LiveAquaria)
- Remove fish from bags, add fish, trash the bag water
- Slowly raise salinity over a 2-3 days with 30-40% water changes.
- Begin the meds

That sounds like a good plan. Make sure you float the bags so they can temp adjust before removing the fish. You probably knew that already but wanted to make sure. Good Luck with everything.

 

[MnFish1]

Thanks so much guys. I appreciate the info and the article. Always nice to reaffirm the info about the relationship between lethal ph/ammonia/shipping water.

So just for confirmation, it sounds like my plan will be:
- Match the QT salinity to the bag salinity (they're coming from LiveAquaria)
- Remove fish from bags, add fish, trash the bag water
- Slowly raise salinity over a 2-3 days with 30-40% water changes.
- Begin the meds

FYI - agree with the rest - just to clarify for the rest of the readers (I know your fish are coming from Live aquaria). If you're driving your fish home from an LFS, or a local source, the ammonia issue is less. The longer the fish is in the bag being transported the more likely ammonia is to be a problem if drip acclimated.

I would measure the salinity in the bags so you know how to match it (or if you have to match it) - not every company uses hyposalinity. The key again is not to allow the air in the bag to equilibrate with the room air as that can raise pH. The simple way to do it is to use a syringe, take out a water sample (using a small hole in the bag, then tape the hole while you do the other measurements. Lastly, I'm not sure you need to wait until the salinity is up to the same level of the tank to start copper treatment

 

[eb2292]

FYI - agree with the rest - just to clarify for the rest of the readers (I know your fish are coming from Live aquaria). If you're driving your fish home from an LFS, or a local source, the ammonia issue is less. The longer the fish is in the bag being transported the more likely ammonia is to be a problem if drip acclimated.

I would measure the salinity in the bags so you know how to match it (or if you have to match it) - not every company uses hyposalinity. The key again is not to allow the air in the bag to equilibrate with the room air as that can raise pH. The simple way to do it is to use a syringe, take out a water sample (using a small hole in the bag, then tape the hole while you do the other measurements. Lastly, I'm not sure you need to wait until the salinity is up to the same level of the tank to start copper treatment

Great tips, thank you!

I read somewhere along the way that the concentration of copper changes based on salinity. So I was going to wait until the salinity was a bit closer to 1.025, but I could totally be wrong lol

 

[MnFish1]

Great tips, thank you!

I read somewhere along the way that the concentration of copper changes based on salinity. So I was going to wait until the salinity was a bit closer to 1.025, but I could totally be wrong lol

Note - I wasn't suggesting to completely increase your copper immediately. But it shouldn't take 3 days. The general comments on R2R suggest that at specific gravities between 1.020 and 1.026 are ok. Here is a quote from @Jay Hemdal on another thread about this issue: "That isn't true with copper power or coppersafe (coppersafe can actually be used in FW). I don't know where Cupramine stands.

This idea stems from using ionic copper, back in the day. It is toxic in soft, acidic water, with low alkalinity, it isn't the salinity per-se that makes it less toxic, just that higher salinity water also has higher alkalinity.

My reason for not using hypo along with copper is that it increases the stress on the fish, plus hypo has been shown to increase the chance of Uronema, so that is an added risk.

Jay"

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks so much guys. I appreciate the info and the article. Always nice to reaffirm the info about the relationship between lethal ph/ammonia/shipping water.

So just for confirmation, it sounds like my plan will be:
- Match the QT salinity to the bag salinity (they're coming from LiveAquaria)
- Remove fish from bags, add fish, trash the bag water
- Slowly raise salinity over a 2-3 days with 30-40% water changes.
- Begin the meds

Commercial dealers will also adjust the pH to match the incoming bags, and then acclimate for pH and temperature, with the salinity adjustment over more time.

Jay