Ray import Acclimation

[MariaS]

Just sharing what we have found to work best for us

We have received (imported) quite a number of rays (some very tiny babies as well) after being in transit for close on 24h.. I think the shortest trip was 18h

If you have contact with the exporter, check if they putting little bags of I think its ammonia guard or.. that's what it looked like.
The rays arriving with these in their water were in better condition

We usually have a big enough polystyrene box ready
On arrival I open bag immediately and pour out most of the shipping water ( i don't usually float bag as it wastes time before getting the little guys out of the shipping water)and start adding tank water to the box, I usually add with a jug until water is half/ half and sufficient to acclimate to temp etc..
So far this has worked well for us

 

[DDOTRUSH]

Just sharing what we have found to work best for us

We have received (imported) quite a number of rays (some very tiny babies as well) after being in transit for close on 24h.. I think the shortest trip was 18h

If you have contact with the exporter, check if they putting little bags of I think its ammonia guard or.. that's what it looked like.
The rays arriving with these in their water were in better condition

We usually have a big enough polystyrene box ready
On arrival I open bag immediately and pour out most of the shipping water ( i don't usually float bag as it wastes time before getting the little guys out of the shipping water)and start adding tank water to the box, I usually add with a jug until water is half/ half and sufficient to acclimate to temp etc..
So far this has worked well for us

So you empty all your rays into a box to acclimate with tank water being poured in ?

 

[MariaS]

Depends on size of the rays versus size of the box
Usually its always pups that we receive so i can do one or two in each box

Open bag, throw out just over half of the water and put the ray with the rest of the water in the box
Then i slowly add a jug of tank water at a time until the water in the box is more tank water than shipping water
It usually takes me about 15min
Then i scoop the pup into the tank

Like i said... this is how i have done it and it has worked for me
I just found that due to the many hours it takes for them to get to South Africa, putting them straight into the tank was a bit stressful for them

 

[Jez1992]

I always thought that it was best to put bag in tank to temperature acclimate them, and then open bag and put them into the tank as quick as poss and then chuck away the old water.

Surely if they have been in a bag for 24 hours and cold on a plane/truck whatever then an extra 20 mins to temperature acclimate them isn't gon make any difference.

Other than meaning they don't get shocked by a temperature change as well as ph/water parameters change.

Always worked for me, but each to their own

 

[Ray-z]

So this is how I understand it.. during shipping over such a long time in such a small amount of water the ammonia levels with in the bag can go of the chart but as the oxygen levels deplete the ph goes down. High levels of ammonia are tolerated with the lower ph levels. How ever as soon as the bag is opened the gas exchange between co2 and oxygen makes the ph shoot back up, which suddenly makes the water toxic due to the ammonia. So you need to get the fish out of that water immediately after opening the bag. The chances are the water in your tank are closer to the tank they came from anyway, the fish is already stressed due to the traveling and the changes of water quality that occur in the bag.

 

[Gpdriftwood]

I agree w just toby 100%.

 

[stratos]

In the week leading up to a ray import I rinse out my sump media (using tank water as the rinse so as not to kill the beneficial bacteria), clean out my Eheim filters, and change 30-50% of the tank water. I buffer the Ph to make sure it is 7 and make sure the tank is warm (28 C). Nowadays I have a 24/7 drip system so my water is generally pristine, meaning I don't really have to do the extra water changes. I still do them for good measure though since in my opinion you can never have water that is too clean for rays.

On arrival of the rays I let the bags float for 20-30 minutes to adjust temperature. Then I open each bag and dump out 2/3 of the water. I then add 2-3 cups of water every 15 minutes into each bag for 45 minutes. Then I carefully net out the rays from each bag and release into the tank. I then dispose of the water that was in the bag. It is a time consuming and labour intensive approach, but I have not lost a ray on import yet (knock on wood). I've imported hundreds this way.