acclimating wild cought fishes

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franlovera

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 12, 2009
162
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Argentina
Hi, I live in Argentina and there are some native fish ([FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Australoheros facetum) that live near me. I was thinking of fishing for them and establishing a tank for them. I talked to a guy that works at the LFS and he said that I should put the river water in the tank and slowly start changing the water in order to avoid diseases and stuff.

I was wondering if he is correct or if there is a simpler and easier way to acclimate wild cought fish to an aquarium?

Thanks... I'll add a picture of the fish i want to get. (Not my picture btw)

A common name for them would be chanchito o palometa, but thats in spanish and I'm not sure if it called that in english.
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chanchito.jpg
 
I acclimate wild fish to tanks all the time. Usually I just do a drip without any issue. If you're worried about illness, add a little salt to the tank over time.

The pH of your tank should be similar to the river, as the water probably comes from the same place. If there's a large difference in temperature, take that into account.
 
Ok, so a standard drip method is ok if the temperature and ph are similar?

Because i was told that because of the size of a river and the size of a tank, the diseases thrive inside the tank and that i should add salt and tryplaflavine to prevent diseases, and i was just wondering how others do it.

Any other opinions?
 
Like I said, I have never had a problem. If it doesn't work out I suppose you could always try again with another method. Either way, bump for you!

Oh and be sure to have hiding places. That's may be the most important for reducing stress in a wild fish. They usually learn things faster than tank-raised fish so it could be temporary if you like.
 
In Uruguay, we acclimated Australoheros to dechlorinated tap directly. They're darn tough fish. The key is to not damage them too much in catching them. And give them some air (portable air pump) after you catch them.

I had chanchitos eating 10 minutes out of the bag after transporting them for 24 hours from South America to the US. Tough, tough fish.\\

Catch any pike?

Matt
 
yep just use a standard drip and you'll be set. Cichlids as a whole are pretty tough fish.
 
I wouldn't worry much about it, I dropped a bluegill I caught in my tank this summer and it was totally fine without any real over the top consideration. I figured if it could deal with getting hooked in the face and the car trip in a bucket, ending up in my tank would be a nice change of pace. It was fine with only minimal acclimation. I just assume all wild fish are alive because they have been tough enough to survive, little water to water transfers aren't going to kill them as long as your somewhat mindful of temps and all.
 
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