My personal method of acclimation (Based on my experience ONLY)

Again... You should NEVER buy newly introduced fish. You have to reserve them, and let the store keep them for atleast a week, to make sure that the long trip hasnt been stressful to the fish. That way, you'll make sure they're not diseased. I know, but i've used this method and never had problems, EVER. Again.. NEVER BUY NEWLY INTRODUCED FISH. I cannot stress this enough, cause this is very important. Its even important without using this method, to make sure that the fish are not newly transported!

 

And the only reason you dont want to add LFS water to your tank, is because of the medication that your LFS might have been used, and that there might be traces of it left in the water. Now i totally get this, i would never do that either. But in my case, my LFS DONT USE MEDICATION. Its illegal over here. Period.

 

Dude. You are 6 months into the hobby. How many total fish have you purchased? Your sample size makes this all moot. I currently have 11 fish that cost me over $1,000 US combined. And yet this is a drop in the bucket compared to what others have purchased or have on hand. I would never tell anyone that the way I do things is the only way to do it. I am still new, being just over a year into the hobby. I am still learning and have a very long way to go. Some of the people on this forum have been in this hobby longer than I have been alive. And yet they still learn new things all the time. Please stop making blanket claims based on your very brief experience.

And getting back to your point, it does not matter if the particular fish you want has been at the LFS or a week, a month, or a year. There are still other fish being introduced into their system(s) probably 2-3 times per week. I actually have bought multiple fish that I left at the LFS for 2 weeks. And guess what, even though one of them looked awesome there when I bought it, and then I brought it home two weeks later and into a QT by itself, 3 days later it showed signs of Ich. Again, part of the hobby.

 

In total i've had about 15 - 16 fish. Where over the half of them died to disease, due to the drip acclimation method. As i said, i've been through alot of harsh things through these 6 months. That ich might have been showing up because of the fact that you used the drip acclimation method, at a spot where its more cold. I've never had problems, by using these steps. All the fish i have acclimated using this method (7 fish) have had no signs of disease, and they're all happy. All the fish that i've used the drip acclimation with, are all dead of disease and parasites. So i'm doing the right thing for my tank, since this is the only thing that works for me. Again, this is based ON MY EXPERIENCE, and it works, so why make such a big deal about it? If it works, it works, if it doesnt, it doesnt. But this works. I've never had any fish losses with this method, EVER.

 

My fish store gets new arrival every month, so for me, thats not the case. Also, fish only get attacked by parasites if they're stressed, and they have a weak immune system. Secondly, i dont say that this is "The only way". I'm saying that this is the "Only way" for me. Not you. Or anybody else. I'm just saying that it works, and that i've personally never had any good experience with drip acclimation other than with some invertebrates and corals. Again, why make such a big deal about it? It works, so take it or leave it.

 

Ugh...what?

 

Yup, true story. Half of the 16 fish i've bought in these 6 month total have all died to disease becaue of drip acclimation method, due to the temperature swings, go read earlier in the discussion to get more info on that particular subject. However, the other half of the fish i bought, i have used this method, and no fish have died. If used this method in about 3 months now, so... Sorry i'f my english is bad, but i'm a dane. I do have decent english skills, but not enough. Many people misunderstand me sometimes.

 

Ok your from denmark, I get that. Its cold in denmark, i get that. Im from detroit michigan, It gets cold here too.
Are you using a chilled mug to drip acclimate into? Or is the inside of your house 25 degrees? Probably not. Not sure how it being cold in denmark is effecting the temp of the water your acclimating too. Do you know what a drip acclimation is?
Not trying to be rude here but your reasoning is a bit off.
Also letting your lfs water into your tank is NEVER, YES I SAID NEVER, a good idea. Even if they say its "perfect" and they dont use medications.

 

Sigh this is not right. The drip acclimation method you used is most likely not what killed your fish. Many of us use this method and have never had an experience such as you have described. In fact your the first person i've ever heard of having this many losses with acclimating using a drip method.

My second point and please clarify if i am wrong but you have described in your posts as having a 20 gallon tank? 7 fish in a 20 gallon is over stocked so I am just curious if you have a larger tank than what you have wrote as well.

 

But wait; by virtue of your own logic, all the fish at your LFS are disease free, and their system is perfect. Where might then these diseases/parasites have come from?

Please provide in detail how one can assess a fish's happiness.

Nope; grossly incorrect. A weakened immune system certainly makes a fish more susceptible, but a healthy fish can get parasites just the same.

The odds of winning Russian Roulette are better than the odds of losing too.

Because you are putting inane ideas in beginners heads.

I believe we are all understanding you just fine. It seems you are not understanding us, else unwilling.