Acclimating Fish & Coral

No matter what type of fish or coral you purchase it is always good to acclimate it. Acclimation means that you are introducing the new inhabitants to the current temperature of you tank, and slowing introducing the new water parameters. If a fish is introduced to a new tank without proper time to adjust to the new levels it could possibly lead to illness or death.

Acclimation Is done in many ways and almost all work very well. Not all fish need to be acclimated the same but is good to always practice the best method. I personal use a method that can take up to 45 minutes. Sometimes its over doing it, but I feel its always better to be safe then to be sorry.

Here is how I Acclimate:
I simply come home and place the unopened bags into the tank to start the temperature transfer; Usually takes about 15 minutes to get it close. While the bag is soaking I get my Tupperware containers and place them next to the tank and fill them with a little tank water.. After the 15 minutes is up or I feel the bag is close to the tank temperature I will open the bag and place the water and the fish into the Tupperware. (The water inside of the Tupperware container should be around 20% of the bag water volume) After making sure the fish is ok I let it sit for another 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes are up I simply add about 50 percent of the total bag water volume to the Tupperware container and wait another 15 minutes, when this 15 minutes are up I take a net and retrieve the fish out of the Tupperware and place it into the tank.

It is never a good idea to pour water into your tank that came from another tank due to the possibility of contaminating your tank and possibly leading to illness or death to your tank inhabitants.

There are many different ways to acclimate fish and corals so just use your own judgment and figure out the way that suits you the best. Here is another way to Acclimate:

Simply place the bag into the top of your tank and wait around 15, open the bag and pour about ¼ cups of tank water into the bag and wait another 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes open bag and repeat process. When you are ready to stick the fish into your tank you can buy a small net and catch the fish out of the bag and place it into the tank. Again its never a good idea to dump water from another tank into your tank as it can create major problems.

Use your best judgment when acclimating fish. The faster they are acclimated the higher chance they have to become ill or cause possible death.

Acclimating Corals:
A few people say you don’t need to acclimate corals, However I believe they are living creatures and need to be acclimated almost as much as fish do. I acclimate my fish and corals the same way and both seem to be very healthy and happy soon after I introduce them into my tank.