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Acclimating your new arrivals
L&M Tropicals recommends the "Squirt and Dumb Method" on acclimating your new arrivals:
We use this method with great success on all our new arrivals.
You'll need a few squirts of Amquell and Novaqua.Note:All our fish are shipped in sturdy plastic containers instead of bags to avoid leakage and crushed bags.The actual method used is as follows (retailers are strongly encouraged to
follow this method to reduce the stress on newly arrived fishes):(1) Set the boxes of newly arrived fishes on the floor in front of the tanks
into which the fishes are to be placed.(2) Open all boxes and inspect them for punctured and deflated bags; if any are
found these must be dealt with first (a sort of triage).(3) Fishes from bags with no water in them must be placed into their new tanks
as soon as possible (even fishes which appear to be on death's door will often
revive). Since there is no water in the bags simply squirt the NovAqua and
AmQuel into the new tank and place the fishes into the treated tank.(4) Open the remaining bags, roll down the tops, if possible, to form a sort of
cuff and leave them standing in their boxes. For smaller bags a helping hand is
advised to prevent the bags from spilling their contents. When no help is
available the use of suitably sized containers (like large coffee cans or
half-gallon ice cream containers or small buckets (like those sold in paint
stores for mixing paint)) will work very well.(5) Squirt the NovAqua and AmQuel into the opened bags (measuring isn't
necessary) and into the tanks into which the fishes are to be placed.(6) As soon as all of the bags and tanks have been dosed with the NovAqua and
AmQuel return to the first bags and start transferring all of the fishes to
their tanks (obviously dead fishes should not be placed into the tanks, but when
in doubt (remember, some shippers use tranquilizers) place them in the tanks).
Use bare hands when practicable; use nets when not.(7) After all bags have been emptied of their fishes double check them for any
missed occupants and then discard the water down the drain (in those areas where
the sewage isn't sterilized before being discharged into rivers or lagoons,
treat the water with chlorine bleach before letting it go down the drain).(8) Temperature considerations are important only if the tank water is colder
than the water in the bags (except for cold water fishes, such as goldfish and
koi, where it is better if the tank water is the same temperature or colder than
the water in the bags). Using hot or cold tap water in the tanks quickly
corrects the temperature differential if needed (remember, the NovAqua and
AmQuel completely conditions any added tap water).(9) Fishes acclimated with the "squirt and dump" method are often ready to feed
in a matter of 15 minutes or so. Fishes that were near death in their shipping
bags will often revive and will be happily swimming about in a similar time
span.(10) The reasons for not floating bags are quite clear and reasonable:
(a) floated bags warm up increasing the oxygen requirements of the fishes in
them(b) it has been suggested that there is a certain amount of atmospheric gas
exchange between the water in the bag and the air outside; this gas exchange is
stopped when the bags are immersed in water(c) bags can be expected to carry contaminating microorganisms on their outside
surfaces; floating them allows contamination of the tank water(d) adding water to the bags almost always increases the pH and thereby
immediately increases the toxicity of the ammonia the fishes have excreted
during their transportation(e) aerating the bags will increase the dissolved oxygen concentration and it
will drive off some of the accumulated carbon dioxide, but as the carbon dioxide
is driven off the pH can be expected to rise, and as in (d) above, the ammonia
becomes more toxic(f) allowing water from the bags to enter the tanks is, of course, a totally
irresponsible practice; this introduces not only the pollutants that have
accumulated in the bag water, but also disease-causing organisms are introduced
to the tank(g) finally, keeping the fishes in their polluted shipping water longer than
necessary is a poor husbandry practiceFor more information about this method please contact EECHO Systems:
jfkuhns@sound.net or jfk@cis.compuserve.com.