Re: Acclimating new fishes
JadeButterfly said:
I would like to know what is everyone's method of acclimating new fishes...
Lots of people will talk to you about quarantine ... with expensive fish, that's always a good idea for the new comers as well as your existing stock ...
But back to acclimatitaztion ... I am a very strong believer in lengthy Acclimatization procedures ... there are a lot of biological and philosological problems that can be introduced to already stressed fish if you follow my wife's belief in the "net and dump" philosophy (at least she doesn't pour the bag into the aquarium any longer) ...
I like to float the bag in the aquarium, adding about a half cup of aquarium water every 5 minutes until the bag is nearly full ... empty 3/4 of the bag down the nearest drain, and repeat the process ...
Rarely is the bag large enough to provide an adequate amount of space for the inhabitants to be comfortable ... but in the off chance that it is, I like to repeat this process one more time ...
There are probably a lot of people here who can give you all of the biological and physiological reasons why this is important ...
Of course ... that's just my opinion ... but that's they way I've done it for 30 or so years and I can't even tell you when I last lost a new fish anytime within the first few weeks ... good slow patient acclimitization and a healthy quarintine tank (hopefully) or a healthy existing tank (preferably don't put them in here) ... and even fish that look like they are DOA will almost always survive ...
Greg