sixline acclimation tips??

ok so after reading all the replies to my other sixline post and reading every online blurb available about sixline wrasses, I really think that i am doing the acclimation process for this fish the wrong way. Regardless of some quarantine tank issues i may have had, the water parameters all check out and I had plenty of oxygen in the water; seeing as I had a previous sixline perish in about the same amount of time in my display tank (before i had my q tank setup), i really think it has to do with this fish's sensitivity to acclimation, which until LENGTHY searching i knew nothing about.

I have read that this is a relatively hardy fish, BUT only after acclimation (i was very confused on this, but i think i have it straight now). More than two sites (including online fish stores) recommended a 4 hour acclimation. It is also not covered by many online sites' arrive alive guarantees as it is classified as a fragile shipper. It seems that this fish requires a special acclimation.

How did you acclimate your sixline? I have heard that too long of an acclimation can be stressful. If a 4 hour acclimation can be done, how do I go about it? drip?

(And for those of you who were wondering, i spend 30 mins to an hour in acclimating.)

and since someone always asks, my main tank is 7 months old

 

I plan on getting one and I am going to drip acclimate any thing I get now. Here is another post I started on this technique. It is a good article on how to drip the right way.
http://www.3reef.com/forums/general-reef-topics/acclimating-process-51324.html

 

this is how i acclimate everything i get... fish, corals, or inverts.

let them float 1 hour, then start introducing a half of a cup of your water every 5 minutes, i do this for maybe 30-45 minutes(sounds like alot but its worth it) i ALLWAYS moniter the animals behavior, if a coral is completely closed i let it sit for longer to adjust(sounds wierd i know) and if a fish has rapid breathing i do the same. but all in all i have never had anything die right after acclimating them so i must be doing something right ;D

 

Sorry to hear about your troubles... personally for me, i ordered a sixline from my lfs, the next day he got it in for me, i went after work and picked him up. anyway, i didnt even try to quarantine mine because i was worried about their sensitivity and esp. since i picked it up the same day it was shipped to my lfs. i just let the bag float in my tank for a bit, adding a cup of water every 10 minutes or so, taking a cup out once the bag was filled etc. i did this for about 1 - 1 1/2 hours. i also check the gravity from both my tank and the bagged water until they are the same. once they were the same i figure everything else must be so i just let the bag fall to its side mixing with the tank water, i held it there for about 10 minutes till the sixline finally made his way out of the bag and into the tank. during the whole process i never noticed any real stress on the fish, it appeared to be breathing fine and actually shortly after being released into the tank ended up getting into it with my purple pseudo. Happy to report its now been a week later, all aggression has calmed, sixline is healthy and eating great.

perhaps i just simply got lucky idk... but from my exp. i didnt notice any real difficulties with acclimation.

goodluck!

 

I acclamated mine similarly to Dsilowka3. I brought him home, floated the bag for about 30min. then started adding about a half cup of water every 15 min. for about another 45min. They release. Very simple and straight forward, my 6 line is doing great, never had any problems

 

all great advice thanks guys; i'll be sure to keep monitoring everything to make sure its not a water problem...maybe ive just had bad luck. it happens.

hopefully i'll be able to get one and KEEP IT soon