Dumping method ? for a newbie

[Kaiser]

Hi,
First of all I would like to say that this forum is very informative and educational thanks to the many people involve.

I have read from previous thread that it is okay to "dump" the discus into a higher ph water parameter as long as the temp. is higher in my tank. Is this true?

My ph is around 8.0 and the discus I think of buying is staying around 7.0- 7.2.

thanks in advance.

Huan

[Carol_Roberts]

I think it will be OK
Carol :heart1:

[fcdiscus]

I agree Carol, but I do not know what you mean "dump,"Huan- You should make the change fairly gradual and adjust for temp. Frank

[April]

ok..well my ph is not 8,,,and i have heard over 7.6 not safe to dump.i heard they can get ph shock.
but..i have always just reached in with my hand and taken the fish out of the bag.and into the new water with higher ph and higher temp. even after shipping for many hours. if you add new water to bag water..the ammonia immediatley becomes toxic ammonia.and will burn fins and gills.
so...not sure on the 8.......but sure on low ph in the bag to ph of about 6.8 or 7.

[slicksta]

IMO
If the fish have been in a long shipment....then you float the bag for temp and then dump....(no bag water, just fish)
If it is a short trip and there is a large pH difference then I do add tank water to the bag water several times to reduce shock.....not sure if it helps, but I can't see how it could hurt.....

:bandana:

[saints27]

I allways bucket them in the water they came in with and gradually add the new water to the bucket regardless of the difference
I just feel its better to be safe than sorry.

Jamie

[roger]

I havent ordered from every breeder in site, but the one I did order from and from what I read on a few web pages none of them tell you to use the dump method.

They all seem to follow the slowly adding water then transfer the fish to the tank routine. Someone here did mention giving the new fish a shot of ammo lock before you start adding the water to their bag or bucket.

I had 9 fish so I went with pouring them into a bucket and adding water to the bucket. The problem was that it sounded like a drum ever time I went near the bucket and tank. Darn fish would panic and then bounce off the bucket walls. I did know that the ph was 7ish from the breeder and 8ish on my end. My tank water was at 84 and the bags where lower. So after 2 trips to the bucket they all ended up in the tank.

[April]

well...we need cary or mike to tell you how they acclimate their fish after coming in from asia..or anywhere else..im pretty sure cary cuts the bag open..and gets the fish and into the tank. Right Cary? Mike? thats how mike told me to do it. and ive never lost a fish yet out of 100's. and never had fried fins or gills.

[Carol_Roberts]

Cut open bag. Reach in with hand, lift fish out of bag and put in tank. Dump bag water down drain. Cut open next bag . . . .
Carol :heart1:

[EthanCote.com]

Dave C has a website that tell u about acclimation. Click on the Acclimation link and yer all set.

http://members.shaw.ca/dclubine/master.htm (go to the part where he said: Note: I have since changed my acclimation method and no longer float the bags. Just dump them straight into the pail and start swapping water.)

Hope that helps.


Cheers,

Chi.

Chi,

I have to change that page. I no longer put them in a bucket. I just cut the bags open and scoop out the fish with my hand and plop them in the tank.

Dave

[rfidiscus]

I usually tell my customers to float the bag and add 1/2 cup of water to the bag every 5-10 minutes until the bag is 3/4 full. This helps stabilize the pH and the temp for the fish to adjust. I personally keep my tanks at a pH of 6.2 and they are 86 deg. so when I get fish in, I cut open the bags and pour the fish out into a net and place them directly into there tanks. I have never had any die and they are usually eating within hours. I don't know if it is such a good idea to use this method with such drastic pH differences.

[Dennis_Hardenburge]

Put net on rim of five gallon bucket dump fish in, pick up net put fish in tank. Never killed one yet.
Dennis

I catch and release,


But IME there sould be some set up to this method.


IMO I have dumped many discus this way without a loss.
But I have also noticed some problems I will list.

#1 tank temp should be set low before shippment arrives.
For the most part Your Discus will arrive 80F and under.
dumping a cold discus into a hot tank is a NO NO!
If this is done your discus will dash around the tank smacking into the walls even jumping out from the tank.


What I do before shippments arrive's is unplug my heaters.
this will droptank temp below 80F.
After they arrive and are dumped heaters are again pluged in and heat is slowly increased.


#2 Discus do not mind a ph increase from 6.0 to 7.0
But they will not like a ph 7.0 down to a 6.0.
IME the smaller the discus the harder it is on the discus as far as Ph goes.


What I do is keep all tanks at PH 7.0 or higher. Most good shippers are able to ship at ph 7.0 or higher without any problems. some will lower ph levels to avoid ammonia problems.

Clearly this is not needed if the discus were off food a full day and water is at its best! (CLEAN)

This may help you also!
The longer your Discus is baged The lower Your ph will drop!
Again a good shipper will know this and set himself for the worst!

HTHALL!
Cary Gld!

[Ryan]

When I got my tankraised heckel crosses from H&H, he said they were in 6.5 pH. I picked them up out of the bag and dropped them into my tank (7.6 pH) and they were up and swimming around, investigating the tank. They were eating well the next day.

It might not be the recommended way, and it might not be the best way, but it did work for me, and so this is JMO. You've all seen the pics :)

Ryan