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I don't acclimate at all, and I have never had any problems with it. Since I work at the store, I know all the water parameters and I know I'm not getting diseased fish.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

I used to go through the whole thing - floating, opening and adding a little bit at a time for around 2 hours. I've generally stopped that now.

All I do is float the bag for around 10 mins, and then open it and roll the edges down and let it float a few more minutes. After that, as long as the temp is the same I let them in the tank. I have to say that I gently catch them wiht a net as opposed of letting the bag water in the tank. This way, I've never had any more Ich problems.

I generally do this to most of my new purchases so long as I am aware that the water parameters are the same. I also have read somewhere that for a fsh to acclimate properly, it will take longer than a few hours in the bag so puttng them in a tank, QT or main will not make a lot of difference unless the pH and temp are way out from the ones they come in (the bag). Usually, local shops will have the same water parameters anyway so I suppose it's just like moving a fish from one of your tank to the other.

Just my opinion.

I just float most of the fish i get and i've never had a ich outbreak.

But if it's a sensitive/or exspensive fish i usually do the drip method. I normally only do it for 3hours though.





Last edited by PJ at 14-Dec-2004 06:05

I dont acclimate my fish.

I float the bag for 10 minutes, then add the fish.

I learned this from my dad who has never gotton ich by doing this method.

PhilipV

The only reason I do that is too many years ago I was informerd by a Aquarium owner and a person with several aquatic degrees. Tried to explain to me that with the climatic change, and stress of changing it can cause more problems, it is something to do with their stomach.

Up until then I had fed and lost a few within a few days. I dont buy many fish today as it is not necessary. The same goes for on the 10% water change no feeding either.

I always go by what suites me and experience.


Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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Sensitive fish can die from as little a .2 pH change...

acclimating fish into there new tank should only take 15mins so the water temp can change, right?

or is there some other reason why its better to acclimate for hours?

but if the tank the fish are being acclimated into test close to the readings of the original tank, then it should only take 15 mins for the temp to change.

(correct me if im wrong)

Lot's of different and varied answers. Looks like there is no real right way, or a wrong way. It seems like what might be good for the goose, might not be good for the gander
Keith, you might be an Aussie , but you look like you have more experience than me, with fish that is! You say you don't feed till the next day? I fed the Cardinals about 1 hour after release and the little guys were happy and munching with the rest.
For me that is a sign that the little ones are happy in their new environment
Yes, No ?

I float the bag in the tank it can vary from one hr to 4hrs (that night I was busy and forgot)
I usually float with the bag unopened for about 30 min then I open it and add about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of tank water over the next few hrs. I also add a few drops of a anti stress mix.

When I am ready I strain them through a net and then add to the tank. I never feed until next day. The water is thrown out never aded to the tank.

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

I do the bag float type of acclimation. Know I should QT but, don't have the tank space to do it...the time I take to acclimate depends on what is going on If I've been running and bought the fish on impulse, and have to run out again really soon, I'll only float for 10-15 min...but, I've been known to float for an hour or more, just because... But, I always tell people that they need to acclimate their fish before setting them free... Heidi

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

I think it was Adam (correct me if I'm wrong) who made a comment last week that he does'nt acclimatize new fish at home.
I would just love to know what other people do. I bought 8 new cardinals yesterday and took them home. Bloody warm day here, +/- 30C (86F), so took them home in a cooler box. The store's water is at 25C (77F), my water @ home was 28C (82.4F), told you it was a warm day!!
So I let the guys flout for 20 minutes while I did a water change. Opened the bag and let the little guys swim out on their own steam. And we all lived happily ever after .... Here's the question:
Do you acclimatize your new fish, whether into a tank with other fish in it, or whether into a QT tank?

is the drip mothed just adding water to that bag? What I do is pour the fish in a 1 gallon mini tank and slowly add water into the tank for the main tank. I do small water changes and after an hour or so net the fish and put it in the tank. I really just do this for cories since they need air to breath

now don't you think 8 hours is a bit much for an otto? i acclimated them for less then an hour and all 5 of them are still alive and happy.

I only drip if the fish have come a long way and the Ph might be different. Otherwise I just float them.

Mike

I qt when i can too though at the moment my qt tank is being used i usally float them in a bag for a little if there fish that are less hardy ill drip them or something to that effect.

I do the whole acclimatisation and quarantine thing every time I get new fish. The time for acclimatisation depends on several factors...

- How different is the store water from my home water? (pH, temp, salinity, etc. I always ask the store for this info before I take the fish home)

- How delicate do I perceive the fish to be? This is a hard one and depends a lot on talking to people on here if I haven't kept this species before.

An interesting exception to this was ottos. I got 3 ottos about a year ago and spent a huge amount of time and effort acclimatising, quarantining and observing them. About 4 weeks after I moved them into my main tank, one of them died. More recently I bought two more and just dumped them into the main tank - the only fish I haven't quarantined. 3 months later they're thriving. So who knows? :%)

I Qtine when I can.

I always acclimate, generally a few hours. The ottos I spent 8ish hours acclimating.

Modified drip method:
Tank lights off, outside of LFS bag washed off.
Temp acclimate for 15 mintues.
Using a cup I pour about 1/4cup of tank water into the bag every 15 minutes. As the LFS bag gets full I pour that water off and use it on the house plants.
Then fish are netted and and allowed to explore their new home .
If I'm transfering from one of my tanks to another then I may take less time in the process but I still acclimate.

^_^
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I do a ten minute float then add some tank water float anouther 5-10 minutes then net them out and dump the bag of fish store water down the drain

The difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is like an bacon and egg breakfast: the chicken was 'involved' - the pig was 'committed'."

I drip all of my fish... At least 30 minutes, and as much as 3 hours.

I've noticed since I've started dripping that I haven't had a single case of ich, before I when I would just float the bag and add cups of water I would get ich every time I added new fish, even if I floated them for hours and added and removed 2-3x the bags volume in water.

I don't QT, but if I was a smart man I would, and I recommend everyone who keeps fish to. It can save you a lot of money.