Acclimation Continued...

Drip System for Acclimating Fish

Start a siphon from the aquarium they are going into, through an airline tubing, into the acclimation bucket. Put an airline valve in-line to control the drip rate. If you don't have an airline valve, then you can tie a knot in the airline and tighten or loosen it to control the drip.

Acclimation Procedure for Fish

Drip water from the aquarium into the fish-bucket, at the rate of one drip/second for every 3 cups of water in the bucket. This means that 6 cups of water in the fish-bucket gets dripped at 2 drips/second.  Every 20-30 minutes, double the drip rate. When the water volume in the fish-bucket has doubled to tripled, add one fish to the aquarium and observe it’s reaction. If it looks worse, then acclimate the rest of the tropical fish for another hour and then try adding one more. If the transferred fish look okay, it is then safe to add the rest. Any individual fish that haven't been added to the tank, and look overly stressed during acclimation (spinning, erratic movements, on it's side), should be acclimated quicker. Put them in a separate container and take at least 10 to 15 minutes to gradually double the water volume and then add the stressed fish to the tank one at a time. If the first one added improves, the others can be added in the same manner.

Critical: Part of acclimating your new tropical fish is to not feed smaller fish for at least 24 hours and preferably 48 hours for larger ones. When you do start feeding, start with no more than one or two bites of dry food. Normal sized feedings can make your fish sick or even cause newly shipped fish to die! Remove all uneaten food within 2 minutes. If you cannot get them to eat dry food, try a very small amount of a live food. However, it is best to not feed live foods during the first week. Do not feed frozen foods for any reason during the first week after their arrival!

Having fish shipped in, can be a good experience when you're prepared. Good luck with your new fish and please let us know the outcome on our Facebook page. Thanks.

<<previous
acclimation: 1 2 3 4 5