On Sep 14, 8:42 pm, "Reel McKoi" wrote:
"Tristie" wrote in message

oups.com...
Interesting. The act of buying fish the day they arrive is a mixed
lot. I personally prefer to buy fish as soon as they arrive, if they
will dump out all fish except what I want and let my chosen fish stay
in the same bag in the shipped water. Hard to do with most FW fish as
they usually have a heap of them in the same bag, but with salt they
often more thannot pack one or two to a bag, so its not a problem
there.

- The bags are loaded with fish so I can't do that. It would be nice if
they shipped 2 to 4 in a bag. I'd take the whole bag before they're exposed
to the shop water.

I have them add a shot of amquel to neutralize any ammonia that rises
once the bag is opened, and carry them home. IO prefer to keep my fish
out of most LFS water if I can help it. My frieind who is a manager
at Petco will order me fish and when the fish gets ordered make a
request for "x" number or such and such to be packed
individually....... When fish arrive I am normaly there before the
truck delivers, so I just get my bagged fish and pay and
leave.........

- That's a good way to do it if you can. I try and get there the next
morning. By then those that came in in bad shape are already gone (dead and
removed) and the others more or less acclimated to the water in the store.

Lots of folks only temp acclimate, I acclimate with water form tank as
well as temp, by use of a IV drip set over a period of 45 minutes to
one hour. I use bottom halfs of plastic juice containers to place fish
with bagged water in, and slowly dirp water form tank into the juice
container. Once its up a bit, I syphon a good portion of it out,
leaving just enough water to keep fish happy...........and repeat as
often as needed until a period of 45 minutes to an hour is up, net the
fish and place in the QT tank.

- I use a 1g container. I keep adding a little water at a time over several
hours. When it's about 3/4s tank water I put them in the tank.

.....Glad you got a replacement, or will
be getting a replacement. Good to hear the neons are eating as well,.

- So far so good but one neon vanished?!?!?!? Gone. I looked all over and
couldn't find a body anywhere, even on the floor. If it died the pleco must
have completely ate it. I removed the pleco to take back to the pet store
tomorrow. He's gotten too big (4 to 5") and there are already algae eaters
in the 55g. I did a 40% water change, checked the Nitrate and it's still
at 80. I vacuumed the gravel again also. Then I set up another quarantine
tank because I had to put my celestial eye GF in the quarantine tank. She
can't live outside because she's almost blind and can't compete for food.
--
RM....
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:http://tinyurl.com/9do58
Zone 6. Middle TN USA
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

Hmmmmmmmmmm, you rasie still yet another interesting and often debated
acclimation process. Its also a hotly debated item as to weather or
not you can actually overdo acclimation, and further stress out a
fish. The majority seem to say it is, and depending on the fish or
item, usually a time limit of 45 minutes to an hour is sufficieint.
I speak mainly from saal****er enthusiasts, but I am sure things are
the same pretty well in FW too, plus it seems SW folks tend to go a
lot overboard since SW fish seem to go through a lot more stressfull
methods of capture, plus they usually cost a heap more than FW fish
do.......and they most always ensure more paramters are met than
fookls with FW fish do. I guess its allmy ywears with SW fish that
has me doing it the same for all FW like I do SW fish.

One easy way is put fish into container, out of bag. Take a contianer
of water equal to what is in the container the fish is in. Add one
third of that container of water to the container the fish is in, and
wait 5 minutes. Then add another 1/3 of that container of water to the
fish container.wait again 5 minutes..........and then add remaining
water to container with fish........wait 5 minutes.total elapsed time
is now 15 minutes since start of acclimation. Now pouor off 1/2 of
that fishes container of water, and once again fill up a container
with the same amount of water as in the fish container and repeat
process of every 5 minutes times 3...............and after that do it
one more time. Overall time will be 45 minutes..and fish shuold now be
able to be netted and placed into the tank.

I usually set an IV drip tube and let it drip into container until the
amount inthe container doubles in about 20 to 30 minutes time, empty
out half and repeat again, and then do it a third, then net fish and
place in the appropriate tank.

You can buy IV drip sets (no needles incuded) for under $6 at medical
supply places without a perscriiption, or I get them from a nurse
friend for free.......a suitable like item is easy and cheap to make
with a piece of the hard ridgid aiir line tube and a length of airline
tube. Use piece of ridgid tube and place in hot water to allow easy
kink free forming, and shape into a cane shape so it will hang over
tanks edge and extend intothe water approx 4 to 6 inches, and also a
few inches on the outside of the tank. Slip on a length of airline, of
approx 4 to 6 inches, and install a typical airline valve. The brass
or metal ones work best but most any will do. Then stick on another
length of airline that enables you to place a container for
acclimating in on a nearby stand or table etc, or what ever is
convienient. Now just start a syphon in the airline and adjust with
the air valve to get a couple of drips per minute flow. You can also
tie a single overhand knot in the airline and not use a valve and
either tighten uip or loosen the knot to adjust flow, but a valve is
so much easier to adjust. Now you have an acclimation tool that does
not require any attention for the entire process if a large enough
container is used to place fish in. I set a timer to remind me I have
fish acclimating as I have been known to get side tracked.

Does your LFS check for nitrate intheir water checks? If so I would
carry a sample in and bump their readings against yours. Sometimes
those kits even the drop or powder type do go crazy if they get hot or
near or over shelf life. I simply do not trust strip types.