How do you acclimate?

[BCherdingthefish]

I'm curious as to how everyone here acclimates their fish. I have always just floated the bag to bring the water in the bag to the same temperature as the water in the tank, then netted the new fish and put them directly in the tank(usually quarantine tank) with no acclimation. Never had a problem. But now I'm redoing my tank and adding small fish, which I've always had bad luck with. Whenever I buy schools of small fish, it seems like I always have several of them die within the first few days, even if the water is fine. Is this normal with small fish? I would think not. Could it be due to not acclimating correctly?
I'm wondering how you guys acclimate, especially with small fish.

 

[FishNCash]

I usually float the bag of water in the tank for fish from LFS. If I get fish ship to me then I use an air line to drip water into a bag.


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[Warborg]

I float the bag for about 15 minutes then scoop some tank water and put it in the bag...wait another 15 minutes add some more then after the next 5-10 minutes add the fish.

 

[Warborg]

I'm curious as to how everyone here acclimates their fish. I have always just floated the bag to bring the water in the bag to the same temperature as the water in the tank, then netted the new fish and put them directly in the tank(usually quarantine tank) with no acclimation. Never had a problem. But now I'm redoing my tank and adding small fish, which I've always had bad luck with. Whenever I buy schools of small fish, it seems like I always have several of them die within the first few days, even if the water is fine. Is this normal with small fish? I would think not. Could it be due to not acclimating correctly?
I'm wondering how you guys acclimate, especially with small fish.

The problem with this is the two waters have different chemistry. You are still putting the fish under shock and stress.

 

[Dial92]

The best way is to put the fish into a 5 gallon bucket and use a air line to drip acclimate not only is temp brought up slowly the water parameters are to. It is like a wild fish swimming to a new part of the body of water it resides in

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[DDK]

tropical fish, make sure tank water temp is warmer than the bag and its perfectly fine to dump them in tank. I used to open the tank and throw some safe in there and then scoop them up but now I immediately scoop them in a net right when the bag is open and plop them in the tank and there always fine.

 

[dinhy34]

depends on the size of fish/package. small fish in small bags i let sit for 10min then add some tank water to bag and again in another 10 then fish release by net. sometimes i only add water once. with larger fish in Styrofoam boxes i empty a good amount of the water in the box, just enough water left for fish to be covered. then i slowly add tank water in.

 

[Ninjouzata]

I drip acclimate via 5g bucket & airline tubing for a minimum of 2 hours. This may seem over doing it to some but I had lots of deaths before doing it, even when the water tests came out perfect.
The 2hrs+ is worth it for the fish to be introduced comfortably (if comfortable is the right word..), and for my peace of mind.

 

[MyGiants]

Do as they say not as I do. I float the bag for a few minutes then I let a little water into the bag for a few minutes then I will strain the bag through a net into a bucket then put the fish from the net to the tank.

 

[convict360]

The way I see it, any change is going to be major stress, so I do the quickest way possible then tank lights off for the day. This usually involves floating the bag for 15 minutes, netting fish and into tank; or net in a bucket and pouring bag water through it to catch the fish.