#drip acclimation

[glasssplashbox]

Drip Acclimation. Do you know how to prepare a fish for a new  tank? Drip acclimation is crucial for salt water fish and helpful for even fresh water fish that are more delicate. 

Salinity, specific gravity, whatever you wanna call it, changes water conditions DRASTICALLY. It’s biggest factor is deciding devolved oxygen levels in water (temperature plays a roll in this too). You’re source of livestock for your tank may keep salinity at different levels for a variety of reasons. Shipping conditions, fish only systems versus fish with coral, species, you name it. Never trust that a store or shipper will stick to the regular 1.025 salinity. Always check with your own calibrated refractometer or hydrometer. Even if they match, do not move on just yet. More info will follow.  

Drip Acclimation is done by tying a knot in one end of a piece of airline tubing. The un-knotted end goes in your tank, the knotted in the container holding the new fish. Start a siphon so that water travels from your tank to the new fish. You want to start with just enough of the store’s water in the container to have your fish comfortable. Less water means less acclimation time.

Excuse my fast example, but here is the idea. While there are plenty of products on the market that do the same thing, airline tubing is just as effective and cheaper so it is always my go to. 

Drip acclimation is different from other forms of acclimation you may encounter. Especially those common in fresh water hobbies. The key thing here is a controlled and consistent stream of water. Salinity will adjust slowly and the amount of water going through this system is consistent. Rapid changes could cause suffocation as higher salinity has less devolved oxygen there in the water for your fish to breath. Going from higher to lower salinity is safer, but still can cause serious stress if not done right.

Acclimation is Completed when salinity is within 0.0002 units of each other in both systems. If salinity is already close to your tank upon arrival, still consider a drip acclimation for other factors such as nitrate levels and temperature. These can also stun and stress fish. About 15 to 20 minutes is usually sufficient. Do not exceed a half hour! More time does not make for less stressed fish. They do not enjoy this process and over doing it can be harmful as well.

[kalikai]

Micro aquarium is now shrimp tank. Got six 'Blue Dream' shrimp and two snails. Here they are in their acclimation bucket:

And this is my zero-effort, zero-cost approach to drip acclimation:

Filled an empty mineral water bottle with aquarium water, stabbed a pinhole in the bottom, and balanced it on the edge of my coffee table. Acclimation Bucket sits below, raised up on a step stool to minimise the splashing.

Tightness of the bottle's lid is what controls the flow rate of the drips. It's like 95% tightly closed, and that's juuuust leaky enough to permit a steady flow of drips. Requires constant adjustment though, else it reaches an equilibrium point and stops dripping, so I'm sitting right in front of it playing Cassette Beasts on my Switch. Good game, good times. Here's hoping these shrimp are having a good time too.