fish acclimation

[fishforu]

may have the opportunity to purchase fish direct from a wholesaler.

was told that wholesalers keep their livestock at a lower salinity.

what is the proper acclimating procedure? what's the difference than purchasing from a lfs if any?

thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

I think you'd have to follow the usual rules including gradual acclimatization to the salinity of your main tank. Of course, ideally, you'd put any new fish in a quarantine tank, which would make it easier to start it off at the same low salinity as the supplier (often done as a preventative measure against ich anyway) and then gradually raise it over several weeks until it's confirmed as disease free.

 

[livingstone]

I think you'd have to follow the usual rules including gradual acclimatization to the salinity of your main tank. Of course, ideally, you'd put any new fish in a quarantine tank, which would make it easier to start it off at the same low salinity as the supplier (often done as a preventative measure against ich anyway) and then gradually raise it over several weeks until it's confirmed as disease free.

Or to take it on down to true hyposalinity to drop the parasites.

 

[Anonymous]

may have the opportunity to purchase fish direct from a wholesaler.

was told that wholesalers keep their livestock at a lower salinity.

what is the proper acclimating procedure? what's the difference than purchasing from a lfs if any?

thanks.

Not terribly much lower, these animals are dropped right into retail systems most often, and the retailers I used to work for kept their fish-only systems around 1020-1023. I'll tell you what you need to be far more cognizant of and pay more attention to and take care with is the pH. Be SURE to test the bag water before you start your drip. Changing specific gravity a few degrees may stress but won't kill, whereas changing pH a point is much more likely to cause trouble.

Depending on the size of the fish and the volume of water you need for it, get yourself a tray or bin into which you can either drip (my favorite method) or slowly introduce the system water. I ALWAYS quarantined. Drips were done using gravity and airline tubing, but you can also make a ghetto rig with a plastic milk jug, silicone and some airline valves and tubing.