I stopped equalising water for fish.

[atoll]

Many years ago a well respected knowledgeable guy working in an LFS told me he doesn't equalise water parameters when introducing fish to the store. All he did was to float the bags for 15mins before releasing them.
He assured me it was no problem for the fish and that getting it out into decent water quality asap was more important.
Since then I have always done the same with no apparent ill affects to any of my fish.
Controversial I know esp to those who drip acclimatise their fish.
Tell me why he and I are so wrong not to mix water before releasing fish into the DT etc.

 

[kbnh]

By any chance do you know the salinity of the water of the fish you receive vs what your tank is?

 

[atoll]

By any chance do you know the salinity of the water of the fish you receive vs what your tank is?

Nope. Is osmotic shock a real thing for fish?

 

[Kmst80]

It is a good question. I would have said salinity is my concern. But then i remember when i got my live rock a few weeks back, 2 days old fresh from the reef. In the bottom of the boxes were brittle stars, star fish, sea cucumbers, worms and so on in the smallest amount of water. I put them in the tank no acclimation and they are very much alive.
So does it matter after all?

 

[Aqua Man]

All he did was to float the bags for 15mins before releasing them.

This is how I also acclimate fish, coral too. My oldest fish will be 9 years soon. I do know that the LFS I purchase from has similar salinity to mine.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I do think osmotic shock is a concern but it depends on how far apart the salinity is...here they sell fish at 22 or 24 ppt salinity so i think it would be an issue...even if osmotic shock is overblown, why take the risk? If it's only a few ppt off i wouldn't be worried either but a good 10 ppt or more isn't worth the risk for me personally.

 

[michael_cb_125]

For the last 15 years this is exactly how I have acclimated my fish.
I check the temp in the bag, if it is within 2 degrees of my system the fish are picked up and placed directly in the tank. If there is a larger temp. difference, I will float for a few minutes. Ammonia is much more stressful than a small salinity and pH change.

I have never lost a fish due to acclimation, and I have kept some very delicate species.

~Michael

 

[brandon429]

post #71 is a video of harm we can see from this recommendation.


Don’t make it seem like a blanket ok for all reefers due to luck Atoll

i see acclimation stress deaths for sure. They get blamed on a broken cycle in the tank. Do this, so your thread is investigated properly

on cell video, set up a holding tank with active bio media in a filter or a huge chunk of live rock moved over, like an emergency hospital tank

have it set to .018 like LFS do to suppress disease in fish

take out any fish from your reef salinity display, and instantly moved it over to the .018 tank

have this on cell video so we can see any reactions, take a few short videos throughout the first few hours, the drop should not be all that bad I suspect it will act normal

let it go two days in the .018 water and then move it back into your reef, do updated vids just a couple so we can see if it changed behavior on the upswing

on video show with a swingarm what your display and hospital tank is at. I wouldn’t think a quick switch from .018 to .025 or any decent reef salinity would be easy on the fish, it’s a known insult to osmoregulatory systems unlike the made up notion of a stuck cycle in the display tank

show some fish doing well on video with a known large salinity jump

 

[Lineatus]

I feel like the hardiness of most of the animals we keep is majorly down played. I only temperature acclimate both my fish and my corals.

 

[thepotoo]

Don’t make it seem like a blanket ok for all reefers due to luck Atoll

Yes, this is a dangerous thread. It very much depends on the fish, what's fine for a tang may not be fine for an anthias. And inverts are a completely different story since many are from tide pools and see frequent changes in salinity.

In the freshwater world, you would be a fool to do anything but scoop and dump discus fish - osmotic shock doesn't bother them, but they need clean water. But another fish from the same area, cardinal tetras, must be drip acclimated unless your water has the same hardness or you'll lose most of them due to osmotic shock.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I've noticed LFS's will either have copper in the water to fight off disease, or will use low salinity method.

My favorite LFS uses copper method, so I just float the bag for 15 minutes and drop the fish.

My second favorite LFS uses low salinity, so I usually spend a few hours to equalise salinity.

 

[michael_cb_125]

I love how when an unconventional idea is brought up, people are quick to dismiss or bash said idea.

I have acclimated everything from Bandit angelfish to ventralis anthias with this method.

I have seen more people kill fish by acclimating too long, than I have from a quick addition.

 

[Tamberav]

Many years ago a well respected knowledgeable guy working in an LFS told me he doesn't equalise water parameters when introducing fish to the store. All he did was to float the bags for 15mins before releasing them.
He assured me it was no problem for the fish and that getting it out into decent water quality asap was more important.
Since then I have always done the same with no apparent ill affects to any of my fish.
Controversial I know esp to those who drip acclimatise their fish.
Tell me why he and I are so wrong not to mix water before releasing fish into the DT etc.

This is how I do it as well. Actually how many LFS do it too.

If you watch reef beef episode called don’t drip fish, they talk about why it is a bad idea. Also BIOTA says not to drip their fish.

Unless the salinity is quite low. You are just adding extra stress with that drip method.

 

[Tamberav]

Yes, this is a dangerous thread. It very much depends on the fish, what's fine for a tang may not be fine for an anthias. And inverts are a completely different story since many are from tide pools and see frequent changes in salinity.

In the freshwater world, you would be a fool to do anything but scoop and dump discus fish - osmotic shock doesn't bother them, but they need clean water. But another fish from the same area, cardinal tetras, must be drip acclimated unless your water has the same hardness or you'll lose most of them due to osmotic shock.

FYI, I am not saying to not acclimate fish if they come in low salinity. I still add them to fresh clean water matched to their salinity (just add rodi to saltwater on hand until matched) and add them after a float and bring them up for there. However, people dripping fish when salinity is close are just adding stress for no reason.

They are not discus. In fact there is debate that the drip method came over from discus and freshwater and shouldn’t apply here.

 

[Mr Fishface]

I too have been using this method. I am sure that someone, somewhere, has lost fish trying it but for me so far it has worked. My lfs is not too far off with salinity though. If the salinity were to be a big difference, I might do a very fast acclimation where I take maybe a full cup of water from the bag, add in a cup from my tank, give it just a couple of minutes then net and release into the tank.

But again, locally is not an issue. They all use copper in the water for disease so I think getting the fish out asap is most important. There is usually a couple of minutes of shock entering a system without copper but they seem to recover very fast so far.

 

[brandon429]

Michael good and fair call. Not bashing, I just want to see it on video

 

[atoll]

Michael good and fair call. Not bashing, I just want to see it on video

If you want to seeing on video do it then. It's been a long time since I added a fish and I don't see me adding any any day soon. Why do people always have to carry out experiments or show videos for others? My post is what I now do and all my fish have been fine plus many as you will know will disappear into the rockwork as soon as introduced. Theyvare likely to be at least a little stressed due to travel and being in a small amount of water probably containing some ammonia so a little gasping etc is to be expected and not unusual.
My fish live long lives and as far as I am concerned am more or less maxed out fish wise.
Adding fish is a bit like drinking alcohol. Knowing when it's time to stop.

 

[fish farmer]

I too have been using this method. I am sure that someone, somewhere, has lost fish trying it but for me so far it has worked. My lfs is not too far off with salinity though. If the salinity were to be a big difference, I might do a very fast acclimation where I take maybe a full cup of water from the bag, add in a cup from my tank, give it just a couple of minutes then net and release into the tank.

But again, locally is not an issue. They all use copper in the water for disease so I think getting the fish out asap is most important. There is usually a couple of minutes of shock entering a system without copper but they seem to recover very fast so far.

I use the splash method with everything. Fish I'll float in tank, exchange water during that float maybe 30 minutes tops. Corals and snails similar. I'm usually inspecting the snails and dipping to corals so I'm setting up containers with the water they are going in so the acclimation may not be in a floating bag.

I don't believe I've lost hardier fish this way, clowns, damsels, wrasses, tangs. I also try to buy fish that don't look like they are on death's door.

 

[Tamberav]

I just posted on a thread recently where a person dripped their clownfish for two hours inside the bags they came in.

So two hours inside some dirty bag water with no flow, no way of good oxygen exchange.

Both fish died.

I can’t 100 percent say with a fact it was the drip but you can’t convince me it is beneficial to keep a fish in a tiny amount of water like that without flow.

If you want to drip, that is ok but do it safely. Do it in a bucket of new water (ideally, especially if shipped) to match with an airstone or at least agitate the water now and again if it is going to be a long drip. Otherwise keep it 30 min tops by adding scoops of water instead.

 

[HomebroodExotics]

Plop and drop is the way. Corals and fish.