Why drip acclimate fish?

[Dave-T]

I've been dutifully drip acclimating all my fish acquisitions, but I don't fully understand the factors that go into what makes this a good method. Are there any parameters in particular that need to be brought into sync, between the water the fish came in from, and the water it's going into? Temp? PH? Salinity? ... Anything else? I can imagine that salinity, for example, could be important, but if you test the salinity in both water samples and they are close, then salinity would be off the table. Same for the other parameters...

It's stressful for me to watch fish obviously struggling in the drip bucket, when I'm anxious to get them out of the stinky water that they've been living and pooping in on their way to me.

 

[PeterEde]

I leave mine in the bag for 30 minutes and fill a 50ml syringe with tank water and inject the 50ml over the 30 minutes.
Not lost a fish yet

 

[Lavey29]

I just splash mine as soon as we hit the tank but I know my LFS maintain very similar parameters to mine.

 

[Dave-T]

I leave mine in the bag for 30 minutes and fill a 50ml syringe with tank water and inject the 50ml over the 30 minutes.
Not lost a fish yet

Same idea as drip acclimating - to try to gradually get the fish used to the parameters in the new water. I’m asking - which parameters are important?

 

[Lavey29]

Same idea as drip acclimating - to try to gradually get the fish used to the parameters in the new water. I’m asking - which parameters are important?

Mainly Salinity and alkalinity to a lesser degree along with temp of course if it shipped.

 

[AydenLincoln]

Salinity and temperature are the biggest but honestly I only drip acclimate sensitive inverts not fish.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I've been dutifully drip acclimating all my fish acquisitions, but I don't fully understand the factors that go into what makes this a good method. Are there any parameters in particular that need to be brought into synch, between the water the fish came in from, and the water it's going into? Temp? PH? Salinity? ... Anything else? I can imagine that salinity, for example, could be important, but if you test the salinity in both water samples and they are close, then salinity would be off the table. Same for the other parameters...

It's stressful for me to watch fish obviously struggling in the drip bucket, when I'm anxious to get them out of the stinky water that they've been living and pooping in on their way to me.

Im not a fan of dri acclimation but not a method that is ineffective either
I generally:
Float for 20-30 minutes
Transfer fish and water into a clean bucket
Then . . . .
Measure the Ph, salinity and temperature of the bag water. If you can, make up some water in a container that has exactly the same measurements as the bag readings and move the fish right over, then you can add a cup of tank water to bucket every 15 mins 6 times (almost 1.5 hours)
Then check salinity in bucket and compare to tank. If no match or very close, add a cup of water every few mins until youve reached salinity and trap fish in same cup and pour off water and release into display. 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. Sometimes, the fish will die right in the bag

 

[PeterEde]

I have also read the fish are more stressed in the bag/bucket than they would be if just added

 

[Carl Rode]

I am using Safety Stop from Blue Life and am very pleased with the results. No losses in over a year.

 

[Syntax1235]

I follow Dr. Reef’s fish acclimation… float bag for 15 minutes, open and check salinity, if 1 or lower difference put them in the tank.

i use a fast drop for greater than 1 difference. I have a manifold above my sump so I’m able to float and drip at the same time. I dump 2/3 of water out, a couple drops of prime then begin dripping.

 

[IamChrismWard]

It depends on how I receive the fish, If I ordered them online and they were in a bag for an extended period of time, I leave the bag sealed, acclimate the temperature and then straight into the quarantine tank. If I purchase them locally then they get drip acclimated.

 

[Bruce Burnett]

For fish I float for 15 minutes remove and into tank. Bag is high co2. A few degrees or a couple points in salinity no big deal. Alk if you are keeping fish or corals your parameters are already close enough for fish.

 

[Spare time]

I drip and dose prime. My main concern is pH and salinity

 

[tee89]

I dont drip acclimate anymore, float, dip coral in coralrx, then a quick hydrogen peroxide dip and straight into the tank. Inverts and clams temp acclimate and drop. Only time I drip acclimated it was a wrasse.

 

[Slocke]

I almost lost a fish to osmotic shock but I agree stress is more dangerous. I float the bag and drip from a raised bucket simultaneously for 1 hour. (Unless its shipped overnight in which case float sealed bag and immediately add as stated above.)

Corals don't need to be dripped as I understand it.

 

[slythy]

I always use my 5 gallon bucket with a heater and fill it with new salt water. As the fish is floating foe temp acclimating i use a needle and poke a tiny hole in the water portion so the air doesnt leak out and measure the salinity. I then use electrical tape to seal up the pin prick.

i add ro water until i match the salinity and then just dump the fish into a net over another 5 gallon so the store/bad water doesnt get in the new one. Then with 1 cup i remove water and with another cup i add the same amount of water from my tank. This way none of that water goes into the tank. I do that every 10 mins or so. Fish seemed to take it well.

only way i would drip acclimate is if the store was close to me and it wasnt in the bag long enough to get ammonia issues. i have temp matched and thrown in a fish. My lfs does this and says they get way less loss than if they dripped everything. Drip method is not good on fish that have been shipped. Ammonia burn on gills kill them up to a couple days later

 

[Dave-T]

OP here. Like many threads, this one is veering off topic. I was asking people who drip acclimate, what they thought were the important water parameters that drip acclimation helps the fish adjust to. I wasn’t asking whether or not people drip acclimate, how they drip acclimate, or whether or not you should drip acclimate. Just saying…

 

[Gatorpa]

OP here. Like many threads, this one is veering off topic. I was asking people who drip acclimate, what they thought were the important water parameters that drip acclimation helps the fish adjust to. I wasn’t asking whether or not people drip acclimate, how they drip acclimate, or whether or not you should drip acclimate. Just saying…

Thing that I care about is the salinity.

All my LFS run 1.019-1.020
I run 1.026

Thats a big change IMHO to just temp correct and dump

 

[joekidwell]

It's only a good method if you pick the fish up from the store, if they have been in a bag for a day or two then they go straight in after floating the bag, a couple people also said ph and salinity are the factors that make it a good idea but only if the fish weren't shipped, they gave you the answer you were looking for.

 

[Tamberav]

I've been dutifully drip acclimating all my fish acquisitions, but I don't fully understand the factors that go into what makes this a good method. Are there any parameters in particular that need to be brought into sync, between the water the fish came in from, and the water it's going into? Temp? PH? Salinity? ... Anything else? I can imagine that salinity, for example, could be important, but if you test the salinity in both water samples and they are close, then salinity would be off the table. Same for the other parameters...

It's stressful for me to watch fish obviously struggling in the drip bucket, when I'm anxious to get them out of the stinky water that they've been living and pooping in on their way to me.

If salinity matches or close, then in they go.

I do tank transfer method of QT with new salt all the time anywho.

ticked out stressed out fish in a bag for no reason? nah. pass.