Acclimation Procedure

Properly acclimating your newly arrived fish is key to making sure they adapt to their new aquarium quickly and successfully. Proper acclimation can make the difference between a thriving, healthy fish and one that struggles or gets sick after arrival. We have developed these acclimation procedures for your benefit,and to ensure the last step of the journey from the shipping bags to your tanks is as stress free as possible for your new arrivals. If you receive a fish or invertebrate that appears dead on arrival or struggling, please consult our guarantee for what to do next

Quarantine

Although we do our best to ensure your fish are healthy and thriving before shipping, we still strongly recommend quarantining ANY new arrival for at least 2 weeks in a dedicated quarantine tank. This will not only reduce the risk of introducing disease into your display tanks, it will also allow your new arrivals to recover from shipping and begin feeding in a stress-free environment.

Freshwater & Brackish

Allow 30 Minutes for Acclimation
Water parameters should be within the ranges given on our website under the relevant species’ description.

  1. Float the bags before opening them on the surface for 15-20 minutes with your lights off to let them temperature acclimate. Do not open them at this time.
  2. After temperature acclimation, open the bag and carefully drain the water from the bag out into a bucket while keeping the fish in the bag. After most of the water in the bag has been eliminated, immediately add the fish to the aquarium. Adding a small amount of bag water to the aquarium while transferring fish is not harmful.

  3. It is recommended to keep your lights off for the remainder of the day to allow your new additions to settle in with minimal stress. Generally, it is best to wait to feed your new fish until the following day.

Saltwater

Allow 60 Minutes for Acclimation
Water parameters in your tank should always be within the following range:
pH 8.2-8.4     Temp 76-80⁰F     Ammonia 0ppm     Nitrite 0ppm     Nitrate <10ppm     Salinity 33-35ppt

  1. Float the bags before opening them on the surface for 15 minutes with your lights off to let them temperature acclimate. Do not open them at this time.
  2. After temperature acclimation, open the bag and carefully pour the contents including water into a clean bucket. Make note of the water volume in the bucket at this time and add an appropriate amount of an effective ammonia binder like Seachem Prime.
  3. Use airline tubing to start a slow siphon into the bucket from your aquarium. Tie a knot in the line to reduce the flow as needed.
  4. Allow the bucket to fill until it is approximately 4 times the original volume. This should take around 45 minutes. If the bucket gets too full, you can discard some of the water.
  5. Scoop your new specimen out with a suitable container (cup or specimen container) and place into the new tank. Do not expose sponges, gorgonians, and starfish to the air.
  6. Keep in mind some organisms are sensitive to changes in lighting conditions and water flow. Make sure you take these factors into consideration and adjust placements and intensities accordingly. It is recommended to keep your lights off for the remainder of the day.

Ammonia & Drip Acclimation 

Unionized ammonia (NH3) is extremely toxic while ionized ammonium (NH4+) is essentially harmless to aquatic organisms. pH is the major determining factor of the proportion of NH3 to NH4+ in water. Higher pH values increase the amount of NH3 in the water.

Fish excrete NH3 and carbon dioxide (CO2) as a result of metabolic processes. CO2 dissolved in water forms carbonic acid (H2CO3) which can substantially lower the pH of the water during shipping. As the pH drops the waste (NH3) transitions to the non-toxic form NH4+. The longer the fish have been sealed during transit, the more waste is produced and the lower the pH will become allowing the water to remain stably non-toxic.

As soon as the shipping bag is opened, it begins to outgas, reducing the CO2 concentration. This off-gassing causes the pH to become higher and begins to swing the chemical reaction towards a heavier concentration of the toxic NH3. If drip acclimation is started from a higher pH source of water, this will exacerbate the pH climb and shift the new arrivals’ water towards ammonia toxicity.

NH3 activity is also influenced by temperature. We intentionally ship fish on the cooler side of the range to reduce toxicity. Increasing water temperature, pH, and out gassing can lead to ammonia poisoning for your aquatic organisms.

We have strict protocols to prepare shipments for success in transit. Please follow our acclimation instruction to avoid harming your new animals when they arrive.