Temperature acclimation procedures...huh?

[Sierra_Bravo]

Just a minor rant. Most of the instructions I see for acclimating livestock tell you to float the bag for 15 minutes to temp acclimate. No problem. . . understood.

Then, in reference to drip acclimation, the next instruction is to put them in a bucket or container and begin the drip acclimation for upwards of an hour or more, depending on the livestock...at which point the temperature is back down again and when you place them in the QT/DT after dripping there is no temp acclimation at all. I've never seen any instructions mention adding a heater to the bucket.

So is it just me or does this not really make sense? Am I missing something? ;Wacky

 

[ca1ore]

If you have a 'typical' system, put the container with the fish in it in the sump ..... otherwise you are right, the temperature falls. Yet another reason to QT :D

Edit - or use an insulated container for the drip process; one of those small styro coolers, for example.

 

[Brew12]

Just a minor rant. Most of the instructions I see for acclimating livestock tell you to float the bag for 15 minutes to temp acclimate. No problem. . . understood.

Then, in reference to drip acclimation, the next instruction is to put them in a bucket or container and begin the drip acclimation for upwards of an hour or more, depending on the livestock...at which point the temperature is back down again and when you place them in the QT/DT after dripping there is no temp acclimation at all. I've never seen any instructions mention adding a heater to the bucket.

So is it just me or does this not really make sense? Am I missing something? ;Wacky

I think the feeling is that the constantly added water will help maintain temperature.

Personally, I never drip acclimate. I would only consider it for very specialized and delicate species. I do make sure I have a QT set up to the same salinity as the shipping water. I find this the safest way to receive most fish.

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

I do make sure I have a QT set up to the same salinity as the shipping water. I find this the safest way to receive most fish.

Agreed and this is how I do my fish purchases as well. If I don't know the salinity prior to receipt I'll leave my 20 gallon QT about 2/3 full of 1.021, then easily adjust up or down once I test the bag water. Afterwards I'll let it evaporate naturally and bring it up slow by topping with my normal 1.025 salinity water.

 

[Makers Marc]

Just a minor rant. Most of the instructions I see for acclimating livestock tell you to float the bag for 15 minutes to temp acclimate. No problem. . . understood.

Then, in reference to drip acclimation, the next instruction is to put them in a bucket or container and begin the drip acclimation for upwards of an hour or more, depending on the livestock...at which point the temperature is back down again and when you place them in the QT/DT after dripping there is no temp acclimation at all. I've never seen any instructions mention adding a heater to the bucket.

So is it just me or does this not really make sense? Am I missing something? ;Wacky

It's funny. 6 months ago I also came to that realization and no one was discussing it.

So I ended up floating it in the sump while drip acclimating. Had to use a few heavy duty clips to prevent the bag from submerging or moving.

 

[PatW]

With the drip method, I do not take an hour. I pour out half of the water in the bag. I drip until I am back to the original volume and repeat thrice. With each iteration the drip is set faster. The process takes about 20 minutes. My house temp and the tank temp are pretty close so the temp in the bag will be very close to the DT temp.