so, as mentoned..keep an extra sponge running in a filter..use it for a filter pad in a cheapie filter..get a rubbermaid tub (it will fit under most beds)....presto instant qt tank.
Do we really need to acclimate new fish?
- Thread starter Tycoon
- Start date
The way i look at it is this, is it really worth not spending 15-20 minutes getting your fish used to the new PH / Temp levels when your dealing with fish worth $$$$.
echoofformless
Peat Advocate & Defender Of Snails
This somehow doesn't make sense to me - if I have my new fish in the fish store water, and water from my tank is slowly running into it while I am intermittently removing a cup at a time, how can the ammonia possibly build up? You're essentially replacing all of the fish store water with your own tank water over the period of half an hour or so. And let me say, if your tank water contains ammonia, you have bigger worries than acclimation.
What makes even less sense to me is the notion of drip acclimation raising the pH of the fish store water. How can that be possible if the water from my tank is the same or lower pH than the water from the fish store? Is there some sort of new science that dictates pH will rise if two different pH levels meet?
Sounds completely counterintuitive.
All I know is last year when I bought some cardinal tetras and didn't bother to acclimate I lost them all within a week. This time around I did it right and I haven't lost a single one out of the twenty. It's been two weeks and they are gorgeous.
I'll stay with my very easy to do drip acclimation. The benefits outweigh the costs tremendously. How hard is it to put a bucket on the floor, empty the new fish into it, run the airline tube and check back every few minutes to dump out a little water?
I keep my "QT", in the form of a 10G tank I picked up for free at a local yard sale, in my garage.
When I purchase/rescue a new fish I simply get this out, use an extra heater I have and take the small extra filter I run on the bakc of my other main tank and wholla - done. Place this on my coffe table for a few weeks and that's it.
Even if you don't have a filter this will work, just fequent large water changes are needed (ie. 90% or so every few days)
No space requirements, no mess, no extra equipment --
P.S.
Before I found the 10G I used a large tubberware storage bowl (clear) that my wife has used for freezing picked strawberrys. I think it's ~4-5G of water full to the top. It's the size of a cake pan, but 7-8" deep.
In your case it wouldn't, since you're removing water as well. Many/most don't.
It can if your pH is higher than that of the source. If your tank water is known to be low, it's not an issue. Not everyone is so lucky.
Here's the essence of the problem:
Fishie is breathing on the way home, increasing the co2 dissolved in the bag water, lowering the ph. It is also producing ammonia, BUT at lower ph's, ammonia is in the form of ammonium, which isn't terribly harmful. (http://www.dataguru.org/misc/aquarium/AmmoniaTox.html)
So, you open the bag, and start adding tank water. 2 things happen - the disturbance of the bag water causes dissolved co2 to come out of the water, and the co2 is also reduced through dillution (assuming your tank ph is higher). So, ph is on the rise, and depending on the ammonia level, could reach a toxic level.
I've really only heard about that being an issue in the cases of having fish shipped. I suppose if you have a really really long drive and/or you have a bunch of fish in a small amount of bag water, it could be a problem.
I used to drip acclimate all of my fish. I found that it has no statistical impact on the likelihood of survival on the fish, vs just flinging them into the tank, except for one type of fish - angels. Certainly, I don't have the depth of experience with many different types of fish. I suspect, for instance, that discus are probably in the same boat as angels. But, I have never had discus.
In the end, I highly doubt you'll run into the scenario I described above, so I think there probably isn't a lot of harm in a slower acclimation.
Just a couple of bits of advice (caveat: I'm still learning)
- Ask for the sales person to put extra water in your bag of fish. I've never had one refuse - normally I phrase it like this: "Can you put some extra water in there? I have a really long drive home and I want them to be comfy for the trip".
- Aside from angels (which are picky buggers, IMO), the only water parameter that has a statiscally significant impact on survival of fish is GH. (Assuming sane values for the nitrogen compounds)
