How to add new fish?

[ironwalrus69]

I am getting some fish this weekend to put in my new tank but i have never done this before... How do i transfere the fish from the bag into my tank with the least amount of stress???

[NCguy]

Float the bag for about 30 mins. Then cut the bag open and pour the fish and water into a 5 gallon bucket. Tie a knot in an airline tube and run it from your tank to the bucket. Start a siphon and let your tank water drip into the bucket for 1-2 hours depending on what type of fish you get. Then pour out most of the water and net the fish and put him in your tank.

[NCguy]

By the way...I wouldn't add more than 1 or 2 fish at a time in ordrer to let the tank get used to the new bioload.

[HABS#1]

We float teh bag untied in our tank after about 10 minutes we add a quarter cup of water to the bag every 10 minutes for atleast an hour then dump it in the tank. We have tested our SG against the LFS SG and they are identical.

[scram2]

thats the way to do it if your going to drip acclimate it. the way i have always done it is i float the bag for 15 mins to get the water temp the same then i add about 1 cup per 10 mins i do this for about an hour then i just put the fish in. i have never had a problem doing it this way.

[NCguy]

Originally posted by HABS#1
We float teh bag untied in our tank after about 10 minutes we add a quarter cup of water to the bag every 10 minutes for atleast an hour then dump it in the tank. We have tested our SG against the LFS SG and they are identical.

I would NEVER dump someone elses water in my tank. You never know what you might be adding to your tank.Whatever problem they may be having,you now have.

[HABS#1]

Originally posted by NCguy
I would NEVER dump someone elses water in my tank. You never know what you might be adding to your tank.Whatever problem they may be having,you now have.

I know the owner of the lfs so if anything were to happen becuase of this he would fix the problem.

[NCguy]

Originally posted by HABS#1
I know the owner of the lfs so if anything were to happen becuase of this he would fix the problem.

But you dont know the owner of ironwalrus69's lfs so its probably not his best option.

[Mavrk]

Originally posted by HABS#1
I know the owner of the lfs so if anything were to happen becuase of this he would fix the problem.

Even if you know the LFS, the water contains a lot of ammonia from the stressing fish in the little bag. It is always better not to add the water to avoid introducing these pollutants (or anything else the LFS might have... since most of us are not so close to the owners).

I find drip acclimation is the best, but the adding water slowly works fine. Just be sure to test the salinity of the water and make sure they match by the end of the hour or two.

On another note, you really should put the fish in a QT (quarantine tank) first for 6 weeks before adding it to your tank.

[Dewey58]

You should never depend on a LFS for anything. You research yourself and look after things the way you want to. Not according to anyone else.
Do as suggested. Float, then drip for a minimum two hours. More for invertebrates. You won't regret it.
Dewey

[HABS#1]

Originally posted by Mavrk
Even if you know the LFS, the water contains a lot of ammonia from the stressing fish in the little bag. It is always better not to add the water to avoid introducing these pollutants (or anything else the LFS might have... since most of us are not so close to the owners).

I find drip acclimation is the best, but the adding water slowly works fine. Just be sure to test the salinity of the water and make sure they match by the end of the hour or two.

On another note, you really should put the fish in a QT (quarantine tank) first for 6 weeks before adding it to your tank.

I have never qt'd a fish or a snail or a crab or the starfish or NEM in our 31.

NCguy you have a point and that is why I specified about our SG and the LFS we deal with and their SG not something I would reccomend to everyone but for us it is fine due to our situation.

[Dewey58]

Ummm....kinda curious what LFS that you know the owner.

[TwentyTwenty]

You should quarantine your fish before you (dump) them into your tank.

[capn_hylinur]

the longer you stay in the hobby and the more you invest in fish--the more dangerous it is to not quarantine fish for at least 4-6 weeks. Ich is probably the easiest invertebrate to introduce to the fish in the main tank and then you have real problems isolating and treating the fish. Ich can show up after 10-12 days of not being visible on the newly aquired fish--so it is a real safe bet to quarantine

[schigara]

The sad thing is people will do what they think they can get away with until it(ich) happens to them.

I got away with it for about 2 years. Now I QT every new fish in Hypo for at least 4 weeks before being "dumped" into the main tank.

[Norward]

In response to the original post: I float the bag in the tank for a few minutes to match the water temperature, then I either put small amounts of tank water in the bag or pour the bag into a separate container and add small amounts of tank water to the container. I do this over the course of 30' to an hour and then remove the fish into a net and place it into the tank. It doesn't matter who you know or what they can do for you after the fact, risking introduction of something bad into the tank is not worth ignoring something as simple as placing a fish or invert into your tank without the water! Note: After having introduced ich into my tank last year with my fourth (second addition) fish, I now QT all new additions. Oh, and try to avoid putting more that a fish or two in at a time. Good Luck!

[otrlynn]

Here is a link to the procedure that Liveaquaria recommends for acclimating fish. The procedure would be the same for fish from an LFS. I too learned the hard way, that it is really worth it to have a quarantine tank. If you have a tank full of live rock, you almost always have to pull most if it out to catch a sick fish, then you will end up having to put all of your fish in a hospital tank instead of just one or two new ones in quarantine.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/g...3319&subref=AI

[ironwalrus69]

Thanks everyone!!!

[ahullsb]

Originally posted by HABS#1
I have never qt'd a fish or a snail or a crab or the starfish or NEM in our 31.

NCguy you have a point and that is why I specified about our SG and the LFS we deal with and their SG not something I would reccomend to everyone but for us it is fine due to our situation.

I know it sucks when everyone is jumping on you, but I have a thought. Even the LFS owner doesn't know what problems he may be introducing to his system each and every day. They get so many specimens from so many sources, that it is just a crap shoot in my opinion. There are so many bad things that even the owner might not be aware of until it's too late. Why even risk it when you can add the fish, without the water? I don't want to get too graphic, but it's like saying "I know the person that I am dating doesn't have any STD's." When it can take months for symptoms to actually show up. (not speaking first hand by the way.)