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I was wondering how to accliminate these fish for my tank when I add them. Do you drip water into the bag for 2 hours? I have to quarantine them first, so should I do the process for both the tanks? what is the best and safest way to do it?

thankyou very much!

Labrakitty

kitty, you could send a pm to john.stone, he knows this method very well, and I think he has pictures of it as well.
I have never used this method of acclimation myself.
I do a similar method though, I let the fish sit in the bag - OPEN, for 30 minutes, then I take a shot glass and remove 1 oz from the bag and toss it in the houseplants. then add 1 oz of tank water. I repeat this every 30 minutes making for 1 hour and 30 mins total, and each time I add water I add 1 more oz to the bag and take out 1 more oz. so first time 1 oz out 1 oz in, 2nd time 2 oz's out 2 ozs in, third time 3 out, 3 in.
Seems to work very well for me.
I cant set up a drip method because of the manner of my aquarium hood, but I can tell you either way seems to work well.



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Thankyou for replying so quickly! I will try this method maybe iwht some less delicate fish first. Tahnkyou for th eidea!

Labrakitty

Ok... The drip method...

You need to empty the bag of water with the fish into a bucket, you may need to tilt the bucket to make sure the fish are completely covered with water. Then you need to take some airline tubing and put 2 loose knots in it on either side about 4 inches into the tube. Put one end in the aquarium and suck on the tube the get the water flowing. Once you get the water all the way through the tube put the end in the bucket and adjust the flow using the knots to about 3-5 drips per second.

The amount of time I let them drip is determined by the difference in pH and temperature from the bag to the aquarium. With fish like these water stats should be matched to the best of your ability before hand. Temperature should match exactly and the pH should be no more then 0.4 off any more and you could have some stress related deaths. Start your fish to drip with a thermometer in the aquarium and in the bucket, let them drip for 1 hour at least.

As soon as the pH and the temperature match, gently net them with a soft mesh net (not the evil green ones) into the aquarium. Turn the room and tank lights off for 24 hours and do not feed them during this time.

For more information about dripping...
Acclimation Procedure Guidelines (Scroll down to the drip method.)

edit: Some pictures of my drip system...



Last edited by john.stone at 18-Dec-2004 01:38[/font][/font]

thankyou for that amazing reply! That has helped me a lot!

labrakitty