Controlling temp during drip acclimating

Oldreeferman · 07/14/2019, 01:16 PM

Ive got a tip ill share that i never see or hear mentioned but is importaint if the drip is a long stressful one & its maintaining the proper temp during a drip acclimation. What I do if im going to drip acclimate something overly sensitive or way out of salinity is grab my 1 gal aquarium bucket, fill with old tank water that i keep all the time & add my mini 25 watt heater that is already set to 78 degrees, same as my display & my quarantine tank, AKA softy tank now. Next i place a plastic cup that is about 1/2 the size of my bucket held in place with a plastic bag clip in the heated water, now add your fish or coral along with its bag water & set your drip to begin, watch occasionally & remove water if its getting full & when it tests same as the your tank its ready to be placed in your tank, unless your dipping first which I do also using this same technique so stress is at a min. on fish and all corals especially during Winter as floors get cold & heat rises. Surprisingly this is never mentioned by online retailers since they will replace DOA items yr. round & yet fail to add this to the drip acclimation info which might just save the animal. Floating the bag you just received in the tank then placing it on the floor to drip acclimate again just changes the temp multiple times adding stress during cold temps. Makes me scratch my head why? LOL.

Uncle99 · 07/14/2019, 02:57 PM

I drip firstly until salinity matches, then float to match temp, then add just the inhabitant.

Tastee · 07/15/2019, 02:04 AM

I float the bag in my tank, and then drip into that. That ensures constant stable temperature throughout.

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hkgar · 07/15/2019, 01:45 PM

DO NOT drip acclimate. All you need is temp acclimation by floating bag for 20 minutes and then salinity match (within .002).

Read this Death in bags

Tastee · 07/16/2019, 02:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hkgar

DO NOT drip acclimate. All you need is temp acclimation by floating bag for 20 minutes and then salinity match (within .002).

Read this Death in bags

I’m sure this is good advice for those who ship animals, but I don’t really think it applies so much to those bought from the LFS and only kept in a bag for a short period. In my case as my animals are only in the bag 10-20 mins I do prefer to drip acclimate to match other parameters.

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Oldreeferman · 07/16/2019, 07:37 AM

Ive had issues with the bags bumping into corals if left in display, broke a pc off my tall Pavona, another reason I use the heated bucket since LFS keeps salinity at .016 have to slowly get it to .025 if its fish. Plus no chance of a bag spill this way. My main issue was with shippers stating to do drip for a long time with no temp control so just covering that issue incase one goes this rout.

07/14/2019, 01:16 PM	#1
Oldreeferman Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2019 Location: NW Indiana Valparaiso Posts: 505	Controlling temp during drip acclimating Ive got a tip ill share that i never see or hear mentioned but is importaint if the drip is a long stressful one & its maintaining the proper temp during a drip acclimation. What I do if im going to drip acclimate something overly sensitive or way out of salinity is grab my 1 gal aquarium bucket, fill with old tank water that i keep all the time & add my mini 25 watt heater that is already set to 78 degrees, same as my display & my quarantine tank, AKA softy tank now. Next i place a plastic cup that is about 1/2 the size of my bucket held in place with a plastic bag clip in the heated water, now add your fish or coral along with its bag water & set your drip to begin, watch occasionally & remove water if its getting full & when it tests same as the your tank its ready to be placed in your tank, unless your dipping first which I do also using this same technique so stress is at a min. on fish and all corals especially during Winter as floors get cold & heat rises. Surprisingly this is never mentioned by online retailers since they will replace DOA items yr. round & yet fail to add this to the drip acclimation info which might just save the animal. Floating the bag you just received in the tank then placing it on the floor to drip acclimate again just changes the temp multiple times adding stress during cold temps. Makes me scratch my head why? LOL.

07/15/2019, 01:45 PM	#4
hkgar Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Dewitt MI Posts: 5,051	DO NOT drip acclimate. All you need is temp acclimation by floating bag for 20 minutes and then salinity match (within .002). Read this Death in bags __________________ Gary 180 gallon, 40 gallon sump, 3 250 W MH + 4 80W ATI T5's, MTC MVX 36 Skimmer, Apex controller Aquamaxx T-3 CaRx Current Tank Info: A 2 Barred Rabbitfish, Red Head Salon, Yellow/Purple, McMaster Fairy, Possum, 2 Leopard Wrasses, Kole, & Atlantic Blue Tangs, 2 Percula Clown, 3 PJ and 1 Banggai Cardinalfish , Swallowtail, Bellus and Coral Beauty Angels

07/14/2019, 02:57 PM	#2
Uncle99 Crab Free Zone Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 2,906	I drip firstly until salinity matches, then float to match temp, then add just the inhabitant.

07/15/2019, 02:04 AM	#3
Tastee Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2017 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 277	I float the bag in my tank, and then drip into that. That ensures constant stable temperature throughout. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

07/16/2019, 07:37 AM	#6
Oldreeferman Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2019 Location: NW Indiana Valparaiso Posts: 505	Ive had issues with the bags bumping into corals if left in display, broke a pc off my tall Pavona, another reason I use the heated bucket since LFS keeps salinity at .016 have to slowly get it to .025 if its fish. Plus no chance of a bag spill this way. My main issue was with shippers stating to do drip for a long time with no temp control so just covering that issue incase one goes this rout.