Proper Way To Get New Fish In the Tank?

[CammieTime]

When fish arrive in a box priority overnight delivery from say Hans or Kenny, what is the best practice to get them safely out of the bags and into the tank? I assume you don't just immediately dump them in the tank and hope for the best.

[Clawhammer]

Just drain the water out of the bag into the sink or a bucket and slide the fish out of the empty bag into the tank. Drop and plop. Regardless of the ph or temp difference, the most important thing is to get the fish out of the travel water and into the tank ASAP.

[two utes]

When fish arrive in a box priority overnight delivery from say Hans or Kenny, what is the best practice to get them safely out of the bags and into the tank? I assume you don't just immediately dump them in the tank and hope for the best.

I have had to do this a few times. I know that discus are tough and very hardy, but it makes me feel better about the transfer this way.

I never put water from their bags into my tank as you never know what is in it.
I pour out the water and discus into a bucket, and then siphon water out of the tank they will be transferred into with an air hose for 20 minutes or so, as l feel this acclimatizes them a little.
As the water level gets high in the bucket l simply take some out and dump it with a small container.
Once l am happy with that l simply lift each one by hand from the bucket into their new tank....again not contaminating my tank with the water that they were in.

I have plenty of time on my hands and happy to go through this procedure, and have never had any issues

[Phillydubs]

I've heard that most sponsors don't recommend the drip acclimation method due to ammonia burns or poisoning? I could be wrong and someone can correct me. I always thought and used the drip methods when I had african cichlids. I guess once the bag is cut and the oxygen mixes with the bag water it can or does become toxic I am told?

I sort of do a mix of Joe and Eric... I fill a bucket or two with like 85 degree water, I let the bags float for about 20 minutes. I usually pull off a few layers of bag. The floating allows the bag to remain sealed and the water to come up to temp a bit. Then I cut the bag open, I hold the bag closed almost and drain all the water into a bucket or sink so the fish is left in the bag, I slide the fish into my hand and place it in the tank.

[Willie]

Just drain the water out of the bag into the sink or a bucket and slide the fish out of the empty bag into the tank. Drop and plop. Regardless of the ph or temp difference, the most important thing is to get the fish out of the travel water and into the tank ASAP.

I go with the aforementioned "discus hand grenade" approach. Just brought in 2 big guys from Ryan on Thursday. They're doing very well in quarantine now.

Willie

[rickztahone]

I always like to float my bags for temp matching, but after that, it is drop and plop. No bag water in the tank.

[Kyla]

i was scared of doing the "drop and plop" at first, but after the drip method gave one of my guys real bad ammonia burn i tried it out and its my new method. i do let the bag float for a while to match the temp tho.

[Fish Tank Travis]

Do you use the drop and plop method for juvies too? Say 2.5-3" juvies?

[Larry Bugg]

Do you use the drop and plop method for juvies too? Say 2.5-3" juvies?

Plop and drop for all fish.

Like others, I cut the bag open, pour the water out of the bag and slide the discus into the tank. As Phil said, once the bag is opened and oxygen mixes with the water it becomes toxic quickly. Better to get the into your fresh tank water. I've been doing this for years with no problems and I have received a LOT of discus lol.

[Fish Tank Travis]

This is great information to know. I would have assumed that some sort of drip acclimation would be best.

Do you do the same thing with fish bought from the LFS? Since they don't spend nearly as much time in the bag, do you have to worry that much about ammonia?

[Kyla]

i suppose i could use plop and drop for lfs fish, but i do still use the drip/water mixing method for fish obtained locally because they arent in the bag for very long.

[rickztahone]

i suppose i could use plop and drop for lfs fish, but i do still use the drip/water mixing method for fish obtained locally because they arent in the bag for very long.

This is true. We drop and plop due to ammonia toxicity accumulation, but with fish that have not been subjected to long periods of time in a bag, you could acclimate in this manner I suppose. I still do not believe it to be necessary, but to each his own.

[pitdogg2]

I get the drop and plop for fish that have traveled long distances due to ammonia. I pH tested the water in the bag from my LFS and it was 4.2 how would this affect a fish to take it out and drop into pH of 7.6? I'm guessing not very well. Has this also happened (low pH) with long distance fish I can't see an overnight delivery being that low but has anybody tested? I would sure hate to loose a 200.00 fish this way.

[rickztahone]

I get the drop and plop for fish that have traveled long distances due to ammonia. I pH tested the water in the bag from my LFS and it was 4.2 how would this affect a fish to take it out and drop into pH of 7.6? I'm guessing not very well. Has this also happened (low pH) with long distance fish I can't see an overnight delivery being that low but has anybody tested? I would sure hate to loose a 200.00 fish this way.

4.2 pH? What is your LFS doing to their water? Straight RO?

[pitdogg2]

4.2 pH? What is your LFS doing to their water? Straight RO?

not testing obviously and yes no water changes with RO fill ups. But hey when he does test its 7.0 so he thinks RO is 7.0 which we all know equal parts of nothing will test 7.0. I showed up with my pH pen and 7.0, 4.5 and 10.0 solutions and proved to him how wrong he was.....he stated my pen was inaccurate. One of the tanks which as he put it was "doing Great" had a pH of 3.8 I told him straight Lemon juice was 2.0. He had been wondering why so many were bringing back dead fish but their water tested great....They were not testing the water the bagged fish were in just acclimating with temp and a few cups of water before dropping in their tank. It took me 4hours to acclimate the discus or should I say I took 4 hours

[rickztahone]

not testing obviously and yes no water changes with RO fill ups. But hey when he does test its 7.0 so he thinks RO is 7.0 which we all know equal parts of nothing will test 7.0. I showed up with my pH pen and 7.0, 4.5 and 10.0 solutions and proved to him how wrong he was.....he stated my pen was inaccurate. One of the tanks which as he put it was "doing Great" had a pH of 3.8 I told him straight Lemon juice was 2.0. He had been wondering why so many were bringing back dead fish but their water tested great....They were not testing the water the bagged fish were in just acclimating with temp and a few cups of water before dropping in their tank. It took me 4hours to acclimate the discus or should I say I took 4 hours

In these cases I would say acclimation should be used. This is not very common however, but it is a good idea to check LFS water.

[pitdogg2]

In these cases I would say acclimation should be used. This is not very common however, but it is a good idea to check LFS water.

I know this is apples to oranges comparison but since I have not ordered fish and had shipped I was more wondering how much the water pH drops from where it started at the supply end with all the ammonia.