Acclimating shrimp

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hatcheridiot

Call me crazy...Crazy
Apr 19, 2007
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Hi all,

I'm expecting a shipment of CRS today or tommorow and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions/opinions on the best way to acclimate them.

I've heard you want to do it slowly. Ok, that doesn't help....slowly isn't an amount of time. All my research has come up with directions such as....be careful, do it slowly, dont shock them. I honestly don't know who that sort of information might help.

Anything specific would really help! I'm waay excited about these shrimp as these will be my very first invertebrates.....aside from a very short lived mystery snail.

Thanks in advance for any help!
 

jrh

AC Members
Sep 4, 2007
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Alexandria, VA
I'm drip acclimating some now. Use a piece of airline tubing as a siphon hose. Use a flow control valve, or tie a knot at the bottom of the tubing to give yourself a couple of drops per second. After an hour, increase the flow rate. After the water volume doubles, you should be good.

Or at least, that's what I do.
 

hatcheridiot

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Apr 19, 2007
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Thanks a lot for the advice. That's useful info and very clear! Much appreciated!!

-Eric
 

malken

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Aug 31, 2003
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This isn't helpful in any way but. That has to be the best sig pic I've seen to date.

The Labrasparrow, Nice
 

jrh

AC Members
Sep 4, 2007
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Alexandria, VA
I used to have a link for a great tutorial, but I can't find it at the moment. You can remove water from the container as needed if it becomes full. At the end, you want your flow rate to be enough that the temperatures have a chance to equalize as well.
 

nquint1

Now if only this was my job...
Feb 26, 2007
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I'm assuming your shrimp will be shipped in a Kordon breather bag. This is an article I found on planetinverts.com about acclimating shrimp. I think it is very specific.

Important:
Do not put the bag of shrimp in the tank in an attempt to let the water temperatures equalize in the bag. This is what you would do if you went to the local fish store and bought a fish. The bag that the shrimp are shipped in are specialized "breather bags" which do not require air inside of the bag. The bag actually "breathes" allowing oxygen in and CO2 out. Submerging the breather bag with the shrimp in it will cause a lack of oxygen, suffocating the shrimp.
Acclimating Shrimp before putting it in your tank:
It is important to acclimate your shrimp when putting them into their new home. Shrimp are sensitive to water conditions. You cannot immediately pour the shrimp into their new tank straight from the shipping bag. Following a few steps can ensure that your shrimp will adjust well to their new home by slowly acclimating them to the new water conditions.
Tools needed
(all tools must be clean and completely sterile. no residue at all!)
(1) Small Tupperware bowl (or similar transparent type bowl)
(2) Plastic Cup (to gather new tank water)
(3) Plastic Spoon (or similar)
Removing the shrimp from the bag:
It can be difficult to remove the shrimp from the breather bag. The breather bag is not wide enough to attempt to put a net in and scoop out. Also, if you try to just pour the water out of the bag into a container you run the risk of getting shrimp stuck in the bag, and it is difficult to remove them when this happens. I have tried numerous methods at removing the shrimp from a breather bag, and this is by far the best method. I do this every single time I receive new shrimp and consider it the only way to do it.
(1) Carefully open the box and do not rip it open. Use a knife or scissors to cut the tape at the top and open the box. Remove the top insulation and the paper. You will then see the bag of shrimp.
(2) After removing the bag you should see the shrimp inside swimming around franticly (they haven’t seen light in a few days). There is also a piece of moss in there. Put the unopened bag inside of the tupperware bowl.
(3)Take a pair of scissors and starting at the top of the bag, cut down the side of the bag (below the knot), allowing the water to pour into the bowl and keeping the bag in the water at the same time as it pours out. This allows the shrimp to be submerged in the water the entire time without having to remove them from the bag and into air.
(4) Still keeping the bag submerged inside of the bowl, cut the top off of the bag (below the knot). This will allow the bag to fully open and collapse directly into the water. The shrimp will also swim right into the bowl at the same time. Now, using a plastic spoon (or similar), "clean" out the inside of the collapsed bag ensuring that there are no remaining shrimp in the bag. Note: keep the moss as well. The shrimp will cling to the moss so just move it into the bowl.
(5)Remove the bag when you are sure that there are no longer any shrimp inside. All of the shrimp should have swum out of the bag into the bowl either on their own, or with your help.
Now you should have a plastic bowl with the package water, moss, and shrimp. The hard part is over: Getting them out of the bag and into the bowl!
Acclimating with tank water:
(1) Take a cup to scoop your tank water into. Look at the amount of water in the bowl and estimate how much water volume you think 10% is. Take the cup with the new tank water and pour the equivalent 10% into the bowl that you estimated. Basically you are increasing the water by 10% inside of the bowl with new tank water, slowly acclimating the shrimp.
(2) Pour the same amount you poured the first time (original 10% estimate) into the bowl every 2 minutes until you have tripled the water that was originally in the bowl (total of 40-45 minutes).
(3) Afterwards your bowl water is 1/3 old and 2/3 new tank water.
Your shrimp are good to go at this point as they have adjusted to the temperate and water conditions of your new tank having followed these steps carefully.
Placing the Shrimp into their new home:
I recommend taking a small net and scooping the shrimp out of the bowl and placing them in the tank. I do not recommend dumping the bowl water into the tank. Remember to keep an eye of the moss if you decide to throw it away, there may be shrimp attached to it.
Wait to feed the shrimp; do not feed them immediately. Let them get used to the tank first. Sometimes I don’t feed mine for the first 24 hours; I let them scavenge throughout the tank during that time.
Enjoy the shrimp in their new home =)
 

hatcheridiot

Call me crazy...Crazy
Apr 19, 2007
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Washington State
Thanks for that great article!

That is a specific article. One might even call it idiot proof if it had a warning about not eating the shrimp and drinking the water :).

I'm not sure if my shrimp are coming in a bag like that...I doubt it kinda because I'm not getting them from a typical shrimp dealer. However, I think that between all of the suggestions above, I feel much more comfortable about the acclimation process.

Can't thank you all enough!

BTW....that article would make a great sticky for this forum!

Thanks again
-Eric
 

Finley

AC Members
That is a specific article. One might even call it idiot proof if it had a warning about not eating the shrimp and drinking the water :).
-Eric
Sure is!!! My, how very complicated. I suggest just opening the bag and turning the edges in the usual fashion, floating it in the tank in the usual fashion, and adding tank water slowly...in more or less the usual fashion. Then let them out. Bet my favourite bobby socks they'll be fine. :)

Finley
 

hatcheridiot

Call me crazy...Crazy
Apr 19, 2007
370
0
0
47
Washington State
Sure is!!! My, how very complicated. I suggest just opening the bag and turning the edges in the usual fashion, floating it in the tank in the usual fashion, and adding tank water slowly...in more or less the usual fashion. Then let them out. Bet my favourite bobby socks they'll be fine. :)
LOL! I'm famous/notorious for making things complicated and worrying to death! I swear, my fish get more stressed out watching me stress than anything else.
 
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