Best way to acclimate a new fish..????

First topic message reminder :

I've always wondered what everyone's own way to acclimate a new fish is. I have my own way but i doubt it's the best way, so maybe for me and others what is the best way that YOU'VE found out?

strikingthematch wrote:

There is no "right" answer here. It is whatever works for you.

This has been debated a million times and the outcome is always the same. I doubt if anyone has ever bothered to test most of the theories as to stress/toxins/ survivability on a decent size test bed. In other words the few dozen even hundreds that most of us have brought home is not sufficient for data collection. It has worked either way and with repeatable results in both cases. That being said without a large test bed and controlled test there is no true way to make a call for the best method.
Which takes this all back to the first statement there is no right answer and it is whatever works for you.

strike the match- yeah i hear ya. i was just curious as to how you all do it, for conversation purpose, but also to maybe help me or others to find a better way.

i am having trouble seeing the bag part though, once open how do you slowly add water, wont it sink or move around the tank, how is it staying? magnet?

You can either tie the bag off to part of the tank (like the center brace) with something small like a paper clip or just use magnets to hold the bag in place. I have also done it where (if the bag is long enough) you roll it down and form little air pockets that will keep it up right. The bag won't sink unless it is completely filled with water. I always found that add/removing water from a bag in the tank was a pain. I ended up just doing it in a bucket. I simply kept adding more water and when the bag start to overflow it was no big deal it all went in the bucket. I added water every 20-30 mins and all was well.

After all that though I finally decided that it was way to big of a pain and did away with that. Now I simply get the temp the same in the bag, net the fish out and in the tank they go... Not saying it would work for everyone but I will say that I have done this with every fish to include the discus juvies and no one died.

wildbeanerz wrote:

Float fish bag for @10 min to match temp. Open bag and add small amounts of tank water. If bag gets too full, remove some bag water before adding next batch of tank water. Do this every 10-15 min for about an hour. Release fish by netting. But now that I see someone actually picks up their fish in their hand, I may try that because netting can be difficult.

Thats how i do it. FLoat the bag in my sump with the lights off on the sump for about twenty minutes. Then open bag and take some of the water out, add half a cup of water from the sump to the bag and every 5-10 minutes add a little more for about 45 minutes then catch and release into the display tank. Have had no fatalities doing this way.

As far as the bag sinking ... here is what I do. My LFS twists the bag shut and uses a small rubber band to close it. I remove the rubber band and let water out/in then retwist and put rubber band back on. No mess or fuss. Bag can float all it wants. :)

This is strictly my opinion only. But I believe there is a time for both methods. Going betwwen my own tanks I use the bag float method. Coming from a LFS I watch all tanks and if there is anything on hold or quarentined.....definately the bucket and scoop method. If the fish are shipped, more then 3 hours in a bag or a place I am not famialiar with definately a bucket method. Also someone I have a hunch to be not a good source is a bucket method. So this could be debated until we all parish and our kids take over the debate from how they was taught and learned whatever technique.

Final result....Absolutely no winner or method is best. Only what you believe is correct for the situation. Then only you can judge or deal with the results.

It looks like we all agree it doesn't matter which way you acclimate a fish as long as you acclimate your fish. Great topic

+1 Elrollo
here is a tool I use all the time, I submerge it into the tank at water level it securely suction cups to the glass then I open my fish bags and set them in the isolation/acclimation station. the bags cant float away, then I use my turkey baster to add my tank water over a period of about 20min depending on the fish, this thing is also great for keeping problem fish in the tank yet isolated until I can re home them. I have also used it when adding new tangs so the other Tangs can see the new fish and get used to him being there over a period of days before he is released into the tank. the fish traps they sell are also A+
http://coralnuggets.com/product_info.php?cPath=130_159&products_id=568
I also use it to hold corals until I get a chance to glue them up.
here is the fish trap, it has a hole in the top to squirt food in to lure the fish. they always fall for it. when the fish I want go's in the door is weighted so I can hold the string and when the fish I want go's in I let go of the string and the door slams shut. lol in this pic I was using a Gorg as bait because the fish I wanted was eating it:)

this pic is of a problem fish, he's in the station in the sump waiting to be picked up.

hey that isolation station is pretty cool. how much are they. (save me the time to email that link)