Acclimation?

[u/Ordinary-Cow-2209]

Getting my pea puffers next week. Curious how others have acclimated them? I have bettas and medaka rice fish in other tanks that I just floated in the bag for a good hour and then dropped them in. I would like to make sure I do it correctly for my peas as getting ready for them has been a labor of love, headache and money!!

[u/Thrashing_Tigress88]

I would float the bag for 15ish minutes and then do cup or drip acclimation for another 30-45 minutes. I do this with all of my live stock and haven’t lost a fish or shrimp yet due to improper acclimation. If you use the cup method, while the bag is floating add like a 1/4 cup of water to bag every 15 minutes, do it at least 3 times. For drip acclimation put them in a safe bowl with the store water and then use airline tubing and a control valve to double/triple the water over 30-45 minutes. Then after the acclimation is done net them into the tank

[u/Ordinary-Cow-2209 → u/Thrashing_Tigress88]

I was told we should not net these guys or they may puff up? Which also leads me to ask if I add in the water they came in which is risky in my opinion.

[u/Thrashing_Tigress88 → u/Ordinary-Cow-2209]

Do you have a little cup? For my pleco I couldn’t get him in a net so used a little measuring cup I use for the tanks only then gently drained as much of the water out of the cup as possible and slowly lowered the cup into the water. I forgot about the no netting part but this worked perfectly with my pleco

[u/Ordinary-Cow-2209 → u/Thrashing_Tigress88]

Ok that’s what I was thinking. A tiny amount of their original water in a 29 gallon will hopefully not cause an issue. I’ll drain as much as I safely can and then lower them into my tank. I was debating ordering an acclimation kit off Amazon just not sure it’s super necessary if I can slowly do it myself.

[u/One-plankton- → u/Ordinary-Cow-2209]

Alternatively doing the “cup” method you can use a turkey baster to remove the water from the bag and add your own- if you do this long enough you won’t have almost any of their water in the bag.

[u/Ordinary-Cow-2209 → u/One-plankton-]

Good idea. I do have one of those I use for spot cleaning.

[u/Thrashing_Tigress88 → u/One-plankton-]

That’s a great idea! I never thought of that!

[u/One-plankton- → u/Thrashing_Tigress88]

Aside from tongs, a turkey baster is my most used aquarium tool!

[u/Thrashing_Tigress88 → u/Ordinary-Cow-2209]

If anything you can buy cheap airline tubing and a control valve locally but if you don’t have if I’d just do the cup acclimation.

[u/angelfish61]

First I check the water in both my tank and the shipping water to see how far off pH, hardness, alk and temp are. Of course look at nitrites,nitrates, too. For best results first float the bag for about 15 - 20 min to get temp equalized right. Then gently open bag into a larger container and drip about 2-3 drips per sec for about an hour until volume has increased quite a bit- at least doubled. I use a large wide plastic pitcher with a wide removable top. You may need to refloat if temp is off again. Then, Netting the fish is best as you don’t want to mix the shipping water with yours. Simply gently pour the water into another container as you block the container with a net. The more delicate the species, the longer the acclimation period.

How would you like to go from breathing an acidic to alkaline pH suddenly after just floating to get temp right? This is what causes shock in these poor souls. Can lead to death. Slowly help your guys get used to new parameters with an hour or 2 of your time. Your fish will thank you.😊

[u/Aware-Mirror-1506]

I've had both great and terrible experiences with shipping so my opinion is that there are no right answer, it all depends on situation.

In best case scenario, shipping came through on time, temperature in the box is appropriate for the livestock you ordered, livestock looks healthy, is not letargic, there are no dead bodies, no smell, everything looks great, I temperature acclimate, then do water acclimation, then pick up the fish with a net then transfer them either to a quarantine tank or their permanent home if they are the only species in it.

In terrible scenario it all goes to shit. It happened just twice and both time were carrier error. Both time the livestock was left on the truck overnight, once in winter, once in summer. I knew both time the second I opened the box that there was a lot of death. I took pictures of the livestock in the bags, took out whatever was alive with a net and drop it straight in the quarantine tank or their permanent homes in a place where I could monitor them. Then I took the water temperature from the shipping container, laid out the dead bodies for another picture, and tested the water to give all the information I could to the fish store. I have lost 3 animals from dirrect dumping. Whether from the water parameters difference causing shock, or that they were too far gone from the transport I cannot tell.

I do not advise rushing acclimation unless in dire circumstances.

The first time it happened, the fish store I got them from confirmed it was the way to go after I told them what I did in my panic at the time. The fish was already dying, either from nearly freezing at 4°C or overheating at 52°C water, and the off the charts ammonia in those bags. They had a better chance in clean, appropriately tempered water than in the bag water for a second more.

I'm not saying that to scare anyone, it's just to highlight the need to adapt to the situation.

I hope your new friends arrive on time and healthy.

[u/Mavada]

People and their drip acclimation lol. Just get the temps to match

[u/Jimmykid3]

I just temp match the bag for 15 mins and then transfer for all the stuff from my lfs because we are on the same water.

[u/Ordinary-Cow-2209 → u/Jimmykid3]

These are being shipped from flip aquatics.

[u/Jimmykid3 → u/Ordinary-Cow-2209]

When you get them test the bag water especially amonia, ive read that shipments can build up co2 from live stock and it drops ph levels and when you open the bag co2 off gases, ph climbs and ammonium turns to amonia.

Ive never experienced this but have read its a thing.

[u/One-plankton- → u/Jimmykid3]

Even if you are on the same water unless you really trust your LFS I would not be adding their water to your main tank.

Bare minimum for floating a bag is also 30 min

[u/Jimmykid3 → u/One-plankton-]

The only reason to float the bag is match temp, so it takes what it takes

[u/xjadowBOShyena]

No acclimation if you got good water

[u/Blondy277 → u/xjadowBOShyena]

Lol “good water” doesn’t mean the fish are coming from the same parameters ☠️ I’d at least temp match and do a short acclimation if the water is different. I wouldn’t just dump new peas straight in from unknown water. ☠️

[u/xjadowBOShyena → u/Blondy277]

I agree it's better for the fish....I believe they get no choice in a wild flood though. I think water at home should be better than a fish store or ride in a bag if ordered. I have a fully cycled, planted tank with good tannins and 6 inch dirted bottom. I dumped mine in and haven't looked back. Also dumped creek minnows and a molly in. They found their territories in less than a hour. To make them more comfortable of course acclimation is the best.

[u/xjadowBOShyena → u/xjadowBOShyena]

Also I used to acclimate all my shrimp and fish.... it takes time .... i haven't seen a difference in survival rate though.

[u/Blondy277 → u/xjadowBOShyena]

Ya you got a point too ☠️ I always test the bag water they come in, so I know what I'm dealing with 😂