PLEASE HELP FAST!!!! acclimating how long?

[piranha_guy_dan]

i have my 2 new retics acclimating and im wonderin how long i acclimate them by drip method. im using airline tubing but its not really dripping more like a small stream so i am taking a bit of water out and letting some drip in and then taking a bit more out and letting more drip in.

how long should they acclimate for with this method?

they are in a beer cooler acclimating, the temps were a little are a bit off my tank is cooler then the water in the beer cooler. but i turned the heat up in the tank cause it was only at 77-78.

please reply ASAP so i know how long to acclimate them for.

thanks so much

Dan

PS i will post pics later tonight

i got a male and female.

 

[AROFREEK2K5]

that usually how I use to do it but you should of purchased a garden dripper for the tip of you hose...

 

[piranha_guy_dan]

its almost been 2 hours. i will wait til 6 and then add them to the tank! 15 mintues YAY

they have already been eatting bits of chopped earth worm in the cooler!!!!!! they dont waste time and dont care where they eat LOL not even in the tank

thanks for the reply

 

[michael]

How are they? In the tank now, right!?

 

[piranha_guy_dan]

they arent too active just yet. the female went in and burried herself right away and the male stuck to the side at first but he in now burried. the female is currently out and roaming the bottem slowly.

it seems sand/dust is sticking to them and not just falling off does this have something to do with crappy sand choice or is the slime coat causing this? i hope its not a bad thing or else i will have to change sand and with the rays in the tank now that will be very difficult.

 

[cichlid savage]

PICS!!!!!

 

[michael]

The sand sticks to mine as well but like most guys are going to say, make sure the sand has no additives, especially silica. Post some pics!

 

[Honda12]

It sticks to my rays as well, but if they want it off trust me they get it off. My female with throw sand two feet to the top of my tank somthimes when she wants it off.

 

[KJP]

That was good that you acclimated them for 2 hours with a drip (stream) system...haha. You should be fine. Turn the lights out on your tank if you haven't already and offer them some food if they are looking around your tank, just scoop out what they don't eat. Also keep that temp up around 82-83. Most importantly leave them alone for a couple of days to settle down. Read the stcky's at the top of this forum it will help you a ton! Good luck you'll be fine!

 

[piranha_guy_dan]

the sand seems to be stuck to the bottem of them also. its hard to get pics of it because they wont stay still when they are against the glass. its on the belly area also. i dont think there is silica in it. it is playsand that i bought. i already dont like this sand but changing it now would be a huge headache.

the store called Big Al's where i got the rays told me they use playsand also but they got theirs from home depot, nice to see they dont even use their own brand that they sell lol, i like the look of their sand better then mine. theirs is alot light looking and also not as fine as my sand. mine is almost a little muddy like even tho i rinsed it for about an hour or a bit more.

when my rays hide in the sand it clouds up a tiny bit like dust not just the sand. i guess it coulda used another hour of rinsing. i may somehow try and change the sand but i really dont want to do that for a couple weeks once the rays are completely settled in. i dont want to stress them anymore right now then they are.

i will get some home depot playsand and get it all well rinsed and ready for when i decide to change it. i just put the sand in last night and already im making plans to change it.

i will post pics later after the Oilers game and show you guys how it looks and what you think of it. i shoulda took my camera to big als to take pics of the other rays and sand for you all to see. maybe next time i go i will. i will post pics in a few hours

GO OILERS GO

Dan