On Sep 15, 7:24 pm, "Reel McKoi" wrote:
"Tristie" wrote in message

oups.com...

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.

- - True, but sometimes there's such a difference in PH and/or hardness or
TDS it takes longer. I've found, through sad experience, that fancy GF need
a slow acclamation. This is why I no longer buy from Petco in the city.
Our water is so different that the fish suffer stress just being acclimated.
If they're not acclimated s-l-o-w-l-y they're gasping at the surface, and
dead in 24 to 48 hours.

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 know almost nothing about SW fish so wont comment on them. If the
water parameters aren't vastly different (FW) this will defiantly work. :-)
I always cover the non-translucent container to give them more of a feeling
of security. And airstone aerates them.

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.

- - That's a great idea if you can latch onto an IV drip.

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.

- - What a geat idea!!!!!!!!! :-) I love it. I tried bending rigid
tubing one time after heating in hot water but it would kink. It refused to
make a nice U curve. Darn..... I can't remember what I was bending it for.

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.

- - I tested the water coming out of the faucet and it's zero on nitrates.
--

RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:http://tinyurl.com/9do58
Zone 6. Middle TN USA
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

place end of ridgid airline tube in a pyrex measuring cup of bnoiling
hot water for a minute or two, and pull it out and lay over a form
such as a tall tapered beer glass or a rolling pin etc. It will just
about form itself. A little kink in the bend is not gonna hurt
anything, and it does best if yu do not try to bend it into to sharp a
radius unless yu havea form made to support the sides of the tube to
keep it from kinking. It should easily bend into a 1" radius which
gives approx 2" between each leg which is more than sufficient to
place over any aquariums top edge. I never aereate any fish in the
acclimating container, as they are continually getting an influx of
fresh water. I also keep the area shaded or dimly lit as well. No real
big difference in SW or FW, other than the water they swim in, the
principals are still the same......but SW fish certianly do not like
aeration by way of an airstone, thats why yu never really see
airstones used in SW setups. Corals etc do not tolerate that type of
aeration either, but that is neither here or there with fish and
acclimating them., since 99% of the LFS simply do nothing more than
temp acclimate bty floating the bag until they get around to dumping
them in the tanks......Just as a little bit of info. Shrimp etc are
much harder to acclimate, yet with a drip acclimation as such they do
very well. When a single cleaner shrimp costs $30 you certainly do
not take chances, so drip acclimation works very well. Hmmmmmmmmmm.$30
for a single shrimp.but you can get a ton of shrimp for a [party of 2
at Red Lobster for that amount and have money left! Tell me fish
keepers are not quite wrapped tight! ;-)