How to Acclimate a New Fish

The process of acclimation is best described as a gradual process in which the conditions of the bag are meant to gradually change until factors such as temperature, pH, and hardness are virtually identical both in and out of the bag. It is important to note that there is significant disagreement on what method to employ for fish acclimation. Some favor a quicker method where water has little opportunity to transfer. This is commonly referred to as the plop and drop method. Others such as the author of this article actually prefer a more gradual approach. The two types of acclimation will be described in this article.

1.) The Plop & Drop Approach:

• The plop and drop approach is a speedy way that reasons that the best environment for a fish is a wide volume of clean water with a mature filter rather then long periods of time in a stressful bag potentially collecting damage from ammonia burn while in the unfiltered bag. The strength of this approach is that fish who are often not prepared at all for transport are relatively quickly removed from the stressful low oxygen and high ammonia conditions often found inside of the water in those bags that are usually fouled by the animals inside. Another benefit of this approach is that minimal water transfer occurs from bag to tank as in the plop portion the contents of the bag are emptied into a net allowing the water to fall through to a bucket, the fish is caught in the net. The net is then deposited into the clean water of the hospital tank that is already filtered by an active filter and is aerated by the flow of the filter. The tank should also have hides in it where the fish should immediately gravitate to and help settle its nerves after transport. The drawback of this approach is that the fish is placed into the fire. It has to quickly get used to swings in pH, in hardness and sometimes depending on the conditions even temperature. This alone can be shock inducing to the fish but it does keep the fish from spending an excessive amount of time in fouled water. In the end the overall condition of the fish should still be high if the fish can acclimate to a radical shift in environmental conditions.

2.) Gradual acclimation:

• The gradual acclimation is a slow way of trying to get the fish used to its new environment. When the fish arrives at its new home it is usually floated for 15 minutes to allow temperatures to equalize between the bag and the tank. The bag is then opened and carefully the water inside of the bag is drained until only enough exists to barely cover the fish. Then over the course of 15 minutes approximately three cups of water are added to the bag until the conditions inside of the bag closely match the conditions outside of the bag. The bag is then tipped over and the fish is allowed to swim into the hospital tank when it is ready. The strength of this approach is that it tends to be very gentle upon demanding fish. The draining of the water is key as it very quickly eliminates fouling water and with the first addition of tank water allows for the dilution of any ammonia that might remain. Over the course of 10 minutes two additional cups of water will be placed into the bag. This is the benefit of this approach ensuring that highly oxygenated and treated water is allowed to enter and with each addition it brings conditions such as pH and water hardness closer together allowing the fish to gradually get used to its new conditions. The drawback of this approach is that ammonia is toxic in any level. While it may be initially diluted, a diluting poison is still a poison. It may be weaker but it will continue to do damage until the fish is removed from the conditions and the water is treated by the filter. This means that even in the most optimistic outlook on the situation some damage is occurring and this will need to be healed later. It can also weaken the fishes immune system allowing any pathogens that it may be carrying to seize the opportunity to induce a full blown infection.