Shipped fish acclimation (the three methods debated)

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Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Feb 28, 2011
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Indiana USA
So from all of my research, here is what I have found. Please expand upon this if you have input. This is for fish that have been shipped and in bags for extended periods.

Floating the bag:
Raises the temp of the bag, and transforms the higher than normal levels of ammonia from tolerable to toxic. Do not use this method.

Dose and Dump:
Immediate dosing with amquel or like ammonia removers as soon as the bag is opened treats the ammonia spike that is due to the gas exchange that happens as soon as you open the bag. Immediately there after you dump the fish into the tank. Fish will tolerate an increase in temperature, so as long as your temp. is higher than the bag, all is good. Also, fish take several days to acclimate to a new ph, hardness, etc... so the drip method doesn't do much for this.

My question is, why would you dose the dirty bag water to remove ammonia instead of cutting the bag open and immediately dumping it over a net? Either way, it's about 1/2 second where ammonia is spiking due to the gas exchange and the fish is in that water, so why waste the amquel and have the fish still in the dirty water?

Drip method:
Dose the bag water with amquel or equivelant immediately upon opening the bag to remove the ammonia. Dump fish and water into a bucket and start a drip from tank water.

This removes the ammonia and negates the ammonia spike from the gas exchange upon opening the bag. The drip from tank water gives the fish a bit of time to acclimate instead of just dumping in the tank and shocking it completely.

The fish is going to still be swimming around in diluted bag water for about 1/2 to a full hour, but the ammonia has been taken care of, so what does that matter? The fish has already been in that water for a long time, what does another 30 to 60 minutes mean?






So.....To me, it seems like the drip method described above seems to be the best of both worlds. We negate the ammonia spike, and the fish gets the least temp/ph shock available. So why are people arguing that the dose and dump method is the best way to put a shipped fish in a new tank?

Please inform me.
 
You can say what you want about the floating bag method but that is what I have done most of the time,shipped fish or otherwise.I mostly did the drip method with saltwater fish but have done it with a few freshwater fish.
 
That method is proven to spike ammonia. Sounds like you have been lucky. Not really wanting to debate that one as there is scientific evidence that it does spike ammonia and can be lethal or cause irreputable dammage. With the research that has been done, this method should never be used on shipped fish (it's fine if you're bringing something home from your lfs).

Really wanting to keep this more scientific and informative than "I've done this before, and it's worked for me so far."
 
I, too, have always put the bag floating in the tank, and never had a problem. Typically do 1-2hr, then dump.
 
Just read man. I'm not posting research that is generally known as fact. That's like asking me to post the research of why ammonia is bad for fish.

Let's keep this educational on the topic please.
 
Well I guess I'm out then as I haven't gotten around to conducting any scientific experiments on the various acclimation methods.It wasn't my intention to debate either but my question is,or maybe it is a statement but,with the raised ammonia levels in the shipped bags,how much time would a fish have to be exposed to them before any damage begins to occur?
 
So with shipped fish:

Fish takes in oxygen and breathes out co2. Increased levels of co2 lower ph, and make the ammonia less toxic.

The bag is also slightly cooler than tank water. At cooler temps, ammonia is less toxic.

So when the bag is floated, it raises temperature and raises the toxicity of the ammonia.

Also, as soon as you cut the bag open, there is a gas exchange where more oxygen is introduced, and the ph spikes up rapidly. This also increases the toxicity of the ammonia. That's why you immediately either dose with amquel or the like, or dump all water out of bag along with the fish over a net to IMMEDIATELY remove the fish from the water that is rapidly beginning to burn the fish due to the ammonia.
 
Interesting info as I was not aware that floating the fish bag would change the parameters within it and endanger the fish.Someone mentioned floating their bags for up to two hours before releasing the fish but I have never floated a bag for anywhere near that long.I do get the fish out of the bag and water as soon as possible though.....The bag water goes to my plants.
 
I float for 30 minutes then dump em in. Haven't had any losses from it. My ph is usually higher than the bag's so no worries
 
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