plop and drop?

[Kyla]

just looking for feedback on the plop and drop method described in the link below for fish that have been in transit for extended periods. i understand the science behind it, and have given my fish ammonia burn from using the drip method, but to be honest im scared to try it.

i may be doing another shipment in September and im seekin reassurance that others have not had negative outcomes from this method.. any feedback is appreciated.

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/archive/index.php/t-50565.html

[DonMD]

for fish that have been in transit for extended periods.
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/archive/index.php/t-50565.html

Hi, Kyla,

What is an extended period of time for you? I have never had problems with "plop and drop" with fish that were in bagged water for 30 hours, if what's meant by that is placing the shipping bags in your destination aquarium for 15 minutes to equalize temperature, then removing only the fish and placing them in the new aquarium. It works perfectly well for me. Even with a difference in pH. Just my experience.

[Kyla]

yes, i mean overnight shipments, delayed shipments, many hours in the bag. never had any deaths or acute distress that seemed to be caused by the difference in water parameters?

[Bill63SG]

Had the fish sometimes pancake for awhile as they acclimated,but that was the only issue once.They come around in 15-30 min.I find it best to leave the room and come back instead of watching them,lol.

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Kyla, I always do plop and drop exactly as Don describes. I also leave the room and leave the fish in darkness for a while like Bill does. Never put the bag water in the tank.
Pat

[Lighthouse7]

I just used the plop and drop method as instructed by Eric from Carolina discus when I received my 6 juvi blue royals. - Lighthouse

[strawberryblonde]

Yup yup, it's plop and drop for me too.

Once in a great while one of them will do the "flutter to the bottom of the tank" Sarah Bernhardt act and lay there like death for awhile, but I just flip the light out and leave. When I come back an hour later the little actor has given up and rejoined the rest of the discus, happily swimming around his new home.

Normally they don't even do that, I just lift them out of the bag and slip them into the water and off they go. Oh and yes, there is usually a huge pH difference between what's shipped to me and the pH of my tank. Doesn't seem to bother the fish at all.

[Ryan]

It's all I ever do with any fish, not just discus. I've not had losses with healthy fish in all the years of doing this. The only time I lose a fish is when there was a problem during shipping and it's half-dead out of the bag anyway.

I've had very stressed adult discus lie on their sides for a full day, but they will usually right themselves when they come out of their stress and be back to normal soon enough.

Keep in mind that this is suggested when your water has a higher pH/hardness than the shipping water, which for 90% of us probably isn't an issue.

Last year we unpacked a shipment of Ricky Lim discus from Malaysia that had been in bags for almost 50 hours. We dropped and plopped 210 fish and had zero losses, and only one fish with a buoyancy issue that had righted itself the next morning. This included everything from 2.5" juveniles to 7.5" show fish.

[John_Nicholson]

It is the only way to do it as long as your ph is higher ( it should be since the water in the bag has been dropping since the fish was put in it ) and a temp that is with -2 to +10 of the bag water.

-john

[DISCUS STU]

Never had a problem doing it this way. 15-20 mins. for the water to equalize in temp. then release.

[strawberryblonde]

I'm more of a tight rope walking rebel when it comes to the plop and drop method. Unless something goes seriously wrong in shipping and the heater pads didn't work (has never happened), the temps in the bags is close enough for me, so I don't float them anymore. The floating process just seems to totally freak mine out - so it's open bag, scoop out fish with my hands and slide it straight into my tank. Temperature variations have never seemed to affect them at all.

Like I said though, I'm a thrill seeking rebel, so don't follow my method if you have any fears of harming your discus with a change in temp.

The only time I don't scoop them is when I'm dealing with small fish who come in a group in one bag. Then I just pour the bag into a net over a bowl to drain off the bag water and get the fish into the net, then the net goes into the tank.

[Larry Bugg]

I don't float either. A little bit of a temp difference is not a big deal. I want them out of the nasty water in the bag as soon as possible and in the tank water.

[Ryan]

No floating here either, unless for some reason the bags come in ice cold. I cut the tops off the bags, grab them, and throw them in the tank.

[John_Nicholson]

No floating here either, unless for some reason the bags come in ice cold. I cut the tops off the bags, grab them, and throw them in the tank.

Yep me too.

-john

[DonMD]

Well, I've learned something reading through this thread. I always floated them, but I think I'll try it without floating.

[Second Hand Pat]

I measure the bag water and tank with an infrared thermometer and if the temp is close I forgo floating the bag.
Pat

[Larry L]

I just did the plop and drop with my shipment from Kenny no floating everything went great fish where looking for food in less than a hour but waiting to feed them.

[Ali20]

I followed what Hans does in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3XqTEsscWg

[Larry L]

I just used it on my shipment from Kenny right from the bag just reach in and plop no problems works great.

[DonMD]

I measure the bag water and tank with an infrared thermometer and if the temp is close I forgo floating the bag.
Pat

Pat, what thermometer do you use? I googled them, and the prices are all over the place. It might be a handy tool to have, but only if it's not too expensive, but also if it's accurate. Thanks.

[Kyla]

Wow, guys, thank you so much! I feel way better about it now, and the video of Hans moving them directly from bag to tank was great. I'll def be using this method from now on.

[Marka]

I did the plop and drop as suggested to me the other day and they are all doing well.

[DISCUS STU]

I don't float either. A little bit of a temp difference is not a big deal. I want them out of the nasty water in the bag as soon as possible and in the tank water.

I've never had a problem with this either, for example when bags with Wild Discus broke on route from Florida.

[Second Hand Pat]

Pat, what thermometer do you use? I googled them, and the prices are all over the place. It might be a handy tool to have, but only if it's not too expensive, but also if it's accurate. Thanks.

Hi Don, pretty sure this one came from Harbor Freight in the 20-30 dollar range. I use it all the time to compare tank temps with the temp in my WC barrows.

Fun to play with the dog too. :)

Pat

[DonMD]

Hi Don, pretty sure this one came from Harbor Freight in the 20-30 dollar range. I use it all the time to compare tank temps with the temp in my WC barrows.

Fun to play with the dog too. :)

Pat

Thank you, Pat. It will definitely come in handy next time I "plop and drop" haha.

[cedar]

I am new here and all this makes perfect sense to me! It will be plop and drop for sure:)

[israelillo81]

I don't float either. A little bit of a temp difference is not a big deal. I want them out of the nasty water in the bag as soon as possible and in the tank water.

I don't float as well.

[DJW]

Wow, I must be a bit of a perfectionist. I got a shipment of Rams recently and I was the one in shock after testing the water in their bags: TDS 490; pH 7.8. And I had this tank ready for them full of very soft water at pH 6.6. Transferred the fish to a floating tupperware and spent 4 hours dribbling a teaspoon every few minutes into their container and removing equal amounts to a waste bucket. After all that I just poured them out. The tank had no other fish, so no worries about the water. Besides there wasn't much shipping water left by then anyway. A few remaining molecules maybe.

[April]

in all the shipments I brought in from Forrest before rick took over..i did the drop method and lost none from doing it. a few jumbos were down for a couple minutes but then up and swimming.
I get transshipped tropical from Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia and use the same method except for shrimp. even cardinals etc..and tiny micro rasboras I have no issues.. I can get 240 cardinals..pour them in..and not lose one. I always do a wc the day before arrival on the tank.
with discus of course I have a newly cleaned and warmed up tank waiting for them.

to the post ahead of mine..Nemonic..if the rams or tetras came from wild caught..and were at low parameters..yes adjust your water. but remember..most of the tropical came from Singapore or other Asian countries and they were raised at 7 ph. know where your fish came from.
we had an employee working at a wholesaler and he was old school. set the ph for what they had in the wild...acclimated..and we had major losses. going down in ph is no good.

[Pardal]

I do float and match temp why? because
I paid for my mistakes is really disappointed especially with your own fry that you have
been raising perfectly and then for being impatient thinking just because is the same water from your storage tanks
matching temp is very important especially young fish.
I do agree and believe going up with ph is acceptable, that is actually why fish can resist a salt water bath,
but that is another topic,

Julian.