HOW TO INTRODUCE THE FISH TO THE TANK

[xpotato]

I would like to know what is the different betwwen Dripping and Floating?
Which way is better for diccus from mail ordering?

[ronrca]

Dripping is using an container, airline and valve and siphoning tank water into the container slowly. Floating is adding tank water every 15mins or so to the containter instead of a slow drip. Imho, I prefer the drip!

[Carol_Roberts]

In my opinion this is the best way to get your new discus into their waiting quarantine tank

Open box of new discus and take out a bag.
Place bag in bucket near tank.
Open bag.
Reach in bag and gently grasp discus with both hands.
Plop discus in tank.
Repeat until all bags are empty.
;D ;D ;D

[April]

I agree with Carol. most of the breeder importers do it this way even after 50 hours. works well as long as your going up in ph and up in temp. usually the water in the bag is low ph. and ammonia is safe at low ph. as soon as you open the bag and let oxygen hit the shipping water and add new water and the ph goes up...the ammonia becomes toxic. you can end up with fried gills and melted fins.
so..most do just grab the fish with their hands and into the tank. less time and less stress and in the tank quicker.
ive done this with all my shipped fish with great success and never even white on their fins . and up and swimming right away.

[xpotato]

thanks for your advice.

Since I have a new cycled tanked for my discus, can I just adjust the ph and temperature to the breeder's level.

then use Carol's method?

[Carol_Roberts]

Yes. That is exactly what I do.

[Miles]

The best way to add new discus is to open bag, grab fish and drop into tank. They best thing is to get the fish into CLEAN water. I shut heater off morning of fish arrival and open box and add fish to tank. Turn heater on and check in a few hours and turn light on next day.

And I have LOTS of HAPPY DISCUS !!!

Miles

[tarzan]

damn, this thread has some pretty new ideas for introducing new discus to the tank.. This is the first time i've ever heard about people putting their fish into the tank right away!

I've heard before, that no matter what, it would take about 24 hours for the fish to get used to the new temp/ph etc etc. So why even bother to "drip" water into the fish bag for a ½hour? 8)

Henrik

[Carol_Roberts]

I think the drip method is for inexperienced folks buying discus from the local fish store. After only a half hour drive home the bag water is not filled with ammonia. Adding tank water to the fish bag will give a bit of time for fish to adjust if going from higher store pH to lower home pH.

Long trips and shipping means the bag water is full of ammonia - best to get the discus out right away.

[Willie]

I've used a variant of Carol's approach for the past five years. Joe Szelesi calls it the "hand grenade" approach.

1. Dump contents of bag into net.
2. Toss discus into tank.

Actually all my fish get the same approach, regardless whether they came from an LFS 20 minutes ago, or from a 36 hour trip. I don't worry about pH or hardness. However, I do unplug the heater beforehand. Going from cold water to 84F can shock these fish.

Willie