Handling and Acclimation of livestock

Once you get your fish home, we suggest that you carefully acclimate the fish to its new environment.  We strongly suggest the "Drip Method". The procedure is as follows:

What you'll need before you start: 

• A clean aquarium safe bucket or other suitable container 3-4 times greater than the water in the bag. 
• Airline tubing, or a premade drip acclimatation like the one from Simplicity Aquatics.
• A clean aquarium safe cup, bowl, or other smooth sided container for removing the fish to the aquarium. (Nets are rarely recommended due to fish getting themselves caught)
• **Enough well mixed saltwater to replace what is used in the acclimation process.

1.  Turn off the aquarium lights and float the bag for 10-15 minutes. The water may have cooled or warmed during transport, and we've found it best to start with temperature correction. 

2.  Carefully pour the fish with the transport water into the bucket or container. Be sure that there's enough water for the fish to swim upright. If bucket is too big, try tilting it slightly by propping it up on one side, or just use a smaller container. 

3.  Start a siphon with the airline tubing and make a knot to adjust the flow down to 2 - 4 drops per second, a little faster (4 - 6 drops per second) may be acceptable for some larger specimens that start off in a greater volume of water. Pre-made acclimation kits use some sort of valve to adjust flow rate, which is much more accurate and preferred when applicable. 

4 - A. For locally transported fish - Let it drip for approximately 20 - 30 minutes. The goal is to at least double the amount of water you started with in that time period. I.E. If you start with one quart of transport water in the bucket, you want to drip in no less than one quart of aquarium water in that that 20 - 30 minute period. After the first 15 minutes, you can start removing small amounts of water as you go along. Do check the temperature and salinity to determine if the fish is ready to be removed to the aquarium. 

4 - B. For customers traveling longer than 3 -4 hours, we suggest a longer drip period of no less than 30 minutes and up to 2 hours. Just be sure the drip is breaking the surface for gas exchange and pay extra close attention to temperature. Every situation is unique, please let us know how far or long you'll be traveling for any further suggestions.  

5.  When finished, gently scoop up the fish*** with the cup or other suitable container, and carefully pour off all the *bucket water before introducing the fish to the display or QT tank. 

*Note - Do not add any of the bucket water back to the aquarium.  All of our Fish Only aquariums are treated as Quarantine Tanks, and as such, are medicated to ensure you leave with only healthy, disease-free fish. All QT medications, in volume, such as copper, formalin and malachite green, are toxic to coral and other invertebrates. The drip acclimation process greatly dilutes these medications, and the few drops of water on the fish, wall of the cup or net are nothing to worry about. With that said, all efforts to keep it to the bare minimum should be taken. 

**The well mixed saltwater is to replace the water removed during the drip acclimation process. Be sure to top off the aquarium before you start, and or turn off your ATO to avoid diluting your salinity levels. Also be careful not to run your pump dry! 

***Some fish shouldn't be exposed to open air such as puffers. Extra special attention is required to prevent injury. We suggest scooping them up fully submersed, then use another cup aquarium water to flush it out before placing them into the aquarium. 

• Always acclimate invertebrates separately from your fish

The acclimation of invertebrates such as Hermit Crabs and Snails is usually simple, but still dependent on little to no variation in temperature and salinity. Our invertebrates are kept at a Specific Gravity of 1.025 - 1.026, with an average temperature of 77 degrees F

• Floating the bag for 10 - 15 minutes will be more than adequate for temperature. As always, it is not recommended to add the bag water to the display aquarium. To reduce the chance of cross contamination, you should remove the Hermit Crabs and or Snails to a small bucket of aquarium water to "rinse them off" before introduction to the aquarium. 

More delicate animals such as Anemones, Shrimp, Starfish and Urchins can be drip acclimated for 15 -30 minutes.

After the drip acclimation is complete;

•  For anemones and shrimp, gently gather the animal into a cup, pour off the bucket water, and carefully introduce them to the aquarium. It's also advisable to temporarily turn of your wavemakers as to allow the anemone to settle in and attach. Further pump protection might be necessary. 

• For Starfish and Urchins, gently gather the animal (one at a time) into a cup or bowl (keep them submersed at all times, do NOT expose them to open air), then use some additional aquarium water to flush out as much of the drip water as possible. Once flushed, lower the cup into the aquarium and release the animal in the appropriate area. 

Coral acclimation is pretty straight forward. They are less prone to stress than fish are during transport and are quick to settle into a stable and well-maintained reef aquarium.  

For coral, it's a given that all standard water parameters be maintained at all times. The values given below are a widely accepted range, but ideal values tend to fall in the middle. Stable and consistent values are more important than those that fluctuate wildly.

Temp: 73 - 79 F  

Sp. Gr. 1.024 - 1.026 or 33 - 35 ppt 

PH: 8.0 - 8.3 depending on time of day

Alkalinity: 7 - 12 dkh

Calcium: 380 - 450 ppm

Magnesium: 1200 - 1400 ppm

Ammonia: 0 ppm

Nitrite: 0 ppm

Nitrate: 3 - 15 ppm

Phosphate: .03 - .1 ppm

• Start by floating the bag for 10 - 15 minutes to adjust temperature. 
• Prepare 2 appropriate containers with aquarium water for dipping your new coral. One will be for the dip, the other will be for rinsing off the coral dip.
• When ready, open bag and place the coral into the first container. Add the appropriate amount of dip (as per manufactures instructions) Don't overdo it! Use a pipette, baster or syringe to gently remove any debris and or unwanted hitchhikers from the specimen. A small, dedicated toothbrush can also be used for cleaning bare areas of skeleton or the frag plug. 
• After the dips recommended exposure period, remove the coral to the rinse bucket for final inspection. Allow it to sit in the rinse another 5 plus minutes to purge it of the *coral dip.
• Gently move the specimen to the aquarium.   If you're unsure of a perfect spot to place it, don't try to glue it in just yet. Set it up on a frag rack or piece of pvc pipe on the bottom of the tank. Give it time to settle in and open up. Once a good spot is chosen, attach or anchor the coral and allow plenty of space between it and other specimens to avoid aggression from it or other corals. 

*Properly dispose of dip water and rinse containers and tools thoroughly. DO NOT add dip or rinse water back to aquarium!