I know how important a proper acclimation to a fish is. So forgive me, this thought just popped in my head. Do large fishes need acclimation? If not, what size regardless of age a hardy fish can handle a sudden change in water parameters? Thanks.
To Acclimate or...Not?
- Thread starter littlewangzfan
- Start date
you will get different opinions on this. I think this is old school and a myth. if you think about it, do you think that a fish will acclimate to a different ph in 30 min. or an hour or two? I stopped acclimating a long tome ago and never lost a fish. I float the bag for about 20 min. for the temp and then plop them in. I know people will argue with this but it's being done more and more. does acclimation hurt in any way? no it does'nt. I just think it's not needed. I did this on my lfs bought tetras and my wild discus and wild festivums that were shipped to me. some of these old myths need to be put to rest. a lot of them are from many years ago when tank equiptment was'nt anyway near what it is today. search drop and plop in any forum and you will see that I am not alone on this.
So are you saying that the tank I just setup won't need a couple of guppies to get everything going? I put the water and heater/filter in yesterday....I can just put what I want in now instead of keeping a couple of hardy fish in it first?
this is not about cycling a tank. a tank still needs to be cycled. the op asked about acclimating fish. i assume he has a cycled tank.
i agree with the drop and plop 
what would a fish do in the wild when it floods and water params change instantly?
they usually swim right up into the new rain water. they can handle changes.
i honestly think sitting in a bag for hours or in a bucket is more stressfull than them adjusting
just my opinion tho
what would a fish do in the wild when it floods and water params change instantly?
they usually swim right up into the new rain water. they can handle changes.
i honestly think sitting in a bag for hours or in a bucket is more stressfull than them adjusting
just my opinion tho
i have always acclimated my fish, but i do agree with the above statement... fish in the wild under go much more stressful changes than anything we could think of putting them through in a closed system. you have to realize that even with a few hours of rain the water temp drops quite a few degrees. erosion, freshwater run-off, random freezing cold nights, or anything else mother nature throws at them... all wild fish deal with these things on a regular basis.
But letting them sit in the bag on the top of the water for atleast 15 minutes will get them used to the tanks temperature.....I think it helps to let them sit there for atleast 15 minutes to check out any other fish and check out it's surroundings.