Acclimating new live stock

I have read several different ways to acclimate new live stock into a tank. I have a ten gallon I am getting ready to stock and I do not have a drip setup for acclimation. Any suggestions?

 

Depends on what your aclimating. Corals I usually only float for 15 mins then add, fish and inverts I drip aclimate for around an hour or 2 depending on how fragile they are.

~will.

 

do you have any ideas for a drip setup is it hard DIY? I will be adding an invert this weekend for the first time.

 

I've never used "drip" acclimation, exactly.... I have some delicate livestock and they've always done fine with this method:

1) turn off all lights
2) float the bag in the water for 30 mins for temperature purposes
3) untie the bag and roll the top down (as if you're rolling up a long sleeve shirt), and tape the edge to the top of the tank, so it floats next to the side. If you have a jumping fish, it's best to place some sort of mesh over the bag or something. I just keep the top down on my aquarium and let the weight of the lid hold the bag in place.
4) Every 5 mins or so, remove a small amount of water (10ml) from the bag and discard it [DON'T put fish store water directly in your tank unless you have to]. For every 10ml you discard from the bag, add 10ml from your fish tank. This will slowly acclimate the fish... I do this process every 5 mins for about an hour. Having a turkey baster here makes it a lot easier.
5) After about an hour, net the livestock and transfer it in to your tank. Discard the LFS water.

 

Also, ask the LFS opinion... lots of inverts don't need to be dripped really... I recommend doing it anyway, as it's good practice and you'll definitely need to do it in the future. Crabs and snails and such I just float for 30 mins then net them into the tank. Same with peppermint shrimps and such.

Hope this helps!

 

I appreciate that info i was thinking about the best way to do the water transfer & I do have a turkey baster so I might have to do it that way

 

i just pour the livestock into a styrofoam cooler (tilt it if nessasary) and tie a knot in some air line tubing to control the flow and syphon away... very simple

 

turkey baster float bag every 20 mins take ur tb and take water out the bag and add some more for 2 to 3 hours

 

Heres how I do it. First get some small plastic tubing, then a tupperware that is the appropriate size for the fish (Water in bag). Clean the already clean tupperware with a little tank water wipe it down dry it. Now pour the fish and LFS water into the container. (The lid can be put on slightly askew). Now take the tubing, start a simple loopknot but do not tighten it. Start a siphon in the DT then tighten the knot. Adjust tension to control speed(should be adjusted in accordance to the delicacy of the fish). A chip clip or a clothes pin or somethin like that can be used to hold it in place. Now sit back and wait. I dip about half the water out and fill the container like three times. After this is done simply pour the fish into a net with care and drop the net into your DT. Wholla!

 

I differ from the rest on continually removing water as you go. Another thing to be aware of is that people will give a variety of acclimating procedures and they think there is only one way but in reality acclimation depends on the environment the fish came from (LFS) and where it is going (your tank). For example, if you get a fish (or other denizen of the deep) from LFS and his tank is at .021 SG and 76 degrees and you are at .024 and 79 degrees, those (to aquarium life) are big differences not to mention alkalinity. Therefore the acclimation would be 1 hour to 1 hour and fifteen minutes instead of say 45 min. if both environments were close. I have always emptied out about 1/3 of the water in the bag before I start and then floated the bag (to acclimate temp) and add about 20 ml. every 15 min. After the third time of adding water and 45 min. has elapsed I then pour out as much water as possible and gently release the captive creatures. This is for fish and inverts. Coral, I just float for about 20 min. for temp and then add.