# Acclimating.......drip or dump?



## Shades9323 (May 7, 2003)

Sorry for the cross post, I need all eyes I can get on this one. Getting fish in 45 minutes or so. Demasoni and yellow labs. My ph 8.0. Ph of water fish are arriving in 7.2. Is the drip(increased ammonia) or dump(possible ph shock) the preferable method?


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

I vote for: let the sealed bag bob in your tank for 25 minutes to allow the fish to acclimate to the temperature. Turn off the light. Net your fish and put them in the tank without dumping the dirty bag water in.


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## demillso (Feb 4, 2008)

I usually do it over about an hour. Float them in the bag and add a little of your tank water to the bag every 15-20 minutes or so. Then net them into the tank so you don't mix whatever was in their water with yours. I have had no problems using this method. Good luck!


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## Dewdrop (Nov 20, 2007)

I don't use the drip method, only the float and have never had any problems with healthy fish. I did have some that didn't acclimate to well but they didn't look healthy to begin with. I think how long your fish were in transport has something to do with it too(especially the ammonia concern). Good luck. I hope someone that knows about pH can help more. I never knew what the pH was of the water my fish came from.


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## Shades9323 (May 7, 2003)

I spoke with the supplier. She told me to just net them out of the bag and put them in the aquarium. She has been doing it that way for 60 years, so I listened to my elder!


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## Corey (Jan 4, 2008)

it doesnt really make a differnce unless the fish are real small i have done both **** i even forgot cut the bag and dump every thing in, with no issues.


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## stslimited84 (Oct 5, 2007)

What I normally do is float the bag for approx. 20 mins. Then add some prime to detox any ammonia in the bag, and then add some tank water every 10 mins or so until the water volume doubles to help ease the fish to their new water parameters. Then net out of the bag and release them into their new home.

I find this method to work well, and its always better to take the necessary precautions when dealing with fish that usually cost more (sometimes alot more) than your average tropical community fish from the pet store. :thumb:


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Float and dump for freshwater, drip for saltwater.

Kim


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## Desi&lt;3 (Feb 13, 2008)

I just float the bag about 15 min then net them out and put them in the water! No probs yet!


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## lotsofish (Feb 28, 2008)

When there is a significant difference in the water, I will drip acclimate. If the fish is in hard water with a high pH and I am putting it in one of my soft water tanks--it will die without acclimation. I know this for a fact because it happened several times before I started testing the bag water and comparing it to my tank water.

Generally this is not a problem when putting fish in African tanks because they are hard water, high pH.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I just modify my quarantine tank to match the water they were in, then over the 3-week quarantine period, I adjust the pH.


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

If the water parameters of the bag water and the tank water are the same then there's no need to acclimate. If they are not then it's best to slowly change the bag water into tank water so that the fish doesn't stress over the sudden change.

You can have problems with the drip method when a number of factors come into play. Ammonia in the bag, bag ph is _low_, and the drip (tank) water ph is _high_. Ammonia becomes extremely toxic at higher ph but is virtually harmless at lower ph levels. So in the case where there is ammonia in the bag, dripping the higher ph tank water into the bag can make the ammonia suddenly and fatally toxic to your fish.

A way around this is to use a good declorinator while doing the drip, such as Prime. What I also do is to dump the fish and bag water into a small bucket. Then I add a few cups of tank water to the bucket and immediately remove a few cups of water from the bucket. I repeat this every five minutes or so until the bucket water has become tank water. That way as I'm slowly acclimating the fish to their new water parameters I'm also removing any harmful ammonia.

Robin


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## Shades9323 (May 7, 2003)

I let them float for about 20 then netted them out and put them in the tank. All see to be doing great after 24 hours. Fed them little this morning. They are ferocious. :thumb:


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