Acclimatisation

[timebomb]

Hi, folks,

There's an interesting topic now being discussed in KillieTalk Digest. It's about how to acclimatise fish properly when transferring them from plastic bags into our tanks. Seems like there's a lot of merit in the splash method - transferring the fish directly into new surroundings instantaneously.

I have to go now so I don't have enough time to share my experiences but we will be happy to hear yours.

Loh K L

[|squee|]

Hi timebomb,

I'm no pro in killies, but from what I've read about...

It is possbile, as I've heard that killies jump from pond to pond in their natural habitat?

Since they exhibit such behaviour, and ponds (therotically) have different water parameters, I think that such splash acclimation is possbile.

Too bad this method doesn't really hold true for other spieces of fish.

[timebomb]

Terence,

If the ponds are close enough for the fish to jump from one to the other, chances are the water parameters will be about the same.

A couple of years ago, I was at a fish farm watching the workers transfer new fish into their tanks. I was quite shocked to see how they did it. They were transferring Goldfish which came in plastic bags packed with ice. Yes, you read that right. Goldfish and Koi are often packed in ice when they are shipped from one country to another. Seems like the cold temperatures suspend their metabolism or something which helps to keep the fish alive.

Anyway, the way they did it is like this. They will simply pour the iced water together with the fish into a sieve. After all the water has been drained, it's straight from the sieve into the tanks. Imagine the change in temperature the fish have to go through, not to mention other water parameters like TDS readings and Ph.

A short time ago, a friend who brings in wild Cichlids told me the secret to transferring them is to do it quickly, something like the splash method. But his method is slightly different. Timing is everything. According to him, this is how we should do it. First remove the plastic bags from the styrofoam box and leave it for 15 minutes somewhere near the tank where you want the fish to be transferred in. When 15 minutes is up, simply net out the fish and throw them into the tank. His logic is that if you acclimatise the fish slowly through say, a drip method, it's torture to the fish as they will go through a series of shocks. If however, you dump them straight into the tank, it has to suffer shock only once. My friend claims the method is very effective and there are rarely any casualties.

I'm not sure though. Dead fish tell no tales

As for myself, I usually soak the plastic bags in the tank for a few hours. After that, I don't release the fish but let them swim out on their own. My logic is it's better this way as the fish knows best when is a good time to go into the new environment.

Loh K L

[Joshua]

I've always got my fish from bag to tank directly, owing to impatience. So far in my limited time in this hobby, I do not think I had any casualties which were caused by doing so.

Joshua

[hwchoy]

me too with the "jump right in" method. although I would let the bag water wam up to room temperature if it had come from the office where it would have been 5°C lower than ambient.

[stormhawk]

Just my views:

The "splash in straightaway" method works for only SOME species not all. Some fishes that have been kept in acidic waters do not do well and may die from osmotic shock if they're placed into a tank that has a different pH. I have lost some fish that way.

Alternatively, for more robust fish, I have done the "splash" method with great effect. Have not lost any corys that were "splashed" in. They somehow learn to osmoregulate their biosystems to the new conditions. Did not get any side-effects from larger fish, especially if the conditions were close to their previous surroundings.

[FC]

This is my practice and has been working well all the time:
1) pour away half of the bag (containing the fishes) water
2) fill the bag full with aquarium water
3) repeat for 3~4 times, need no waiting time
4) introduce the fish into the tank

[whuntley]

Just my views:

The "splash in straightaway" method works for only SOME species not all. Some fishes that have been kept in acidic waters do not do well and may die from osmotic shock if they're placed into a tank that has a different pH. I have lost some fish that way.

Jianyang,

Please forgive me if I appear to disagree slightly, here.

Osmotic shock and pH are totally unrelated phenomena, IMHO. Osmotic pressure across cell walls depends on concentration of dissolved solids (active ions) on either side of the barrier, and on the condition of the three-level system that supports that barrier in most fishes.

A difference in pH and a difference in total dissolved solids (tds) may both be present, but it is just a pure coincidence that they both may differ at the same time.

Putting fish into much higher pH water may, if it is present, convert some ammonium (harmless NH4+) to deadly ammonia (NH3) and stress or damage the fish. Don't confuse this with osmotic shock.

Between about 4 and 10, fish don't feel or care about pH. I routinely subject fish to sudden changes of 2 or more full points, and in the Scheel Atlas, he says three points "shock" shows no effect on most killies. I believe it, based on my own experiences.

If the water has a difference of tds, sudden changes of more than about 2X can have damaging effects. This is particularly true if the tds drops by that much or more, as fish go from hard or salty water to purer water.

pH can have profound secondary effects. Low pH can be a powerful bactericide, and is useful for breeding some fishes, like wild Bettas, that have eggs sensitive to the bacteria. Low pH can induce some forms of "Brown Blood" disease (nitrite toxicity) and adding salt to fix it is unwise if tds is very low. You need a balance of blood electrolytes in the water, or sodium ions alone can become very toxic. Transport of material across cell walls usually requires both monovalent (Na+, K+) and divalent (Ca++, Mg++) ions to function properly.

At high pH, ammonium ions in the water can be converted to ammonia. It is a simple rate equation. At pH 7, the ammonia fraction will be 50X less than at pH 9, as I recall.

Just as chloride ions are usually harmless, while chlorine is a powerful irritant and oxidizer, ammonium ions and ammonia are, respectively, rather harmless or seriously damaging. My upper limit on ammonia exposure is 0.01 ppm for grown fish, and half that for babies. [Note that those are off the bottom of the scale for lfs test kits.]

Most of the mythology surrounding "pH shock" has come from these secondary effects. IMO, it is better to understand what is going on than to follow some of the old-wives tales that have become so ingrained in the aquarium literature.

I use my tds meter about 50 times for every time I use one of my pH pens. pH simply doesn't tell me what I really need to know, usually.

Wright

[RonWill]

pH can have profound secondary effects. Low pH can be a powerful bactericide, and is useful for breeding some fishes, like wild Bettas, that have eggs sensitive to the bacteria

Wright, for the chemistry-handicapped, at what reading would you consider 'low pH'... 5 and lower?

I can reduce pH via peat tea but like most of us, we like to be able to see our fishes too (just ask Kwek Leong if you don't believe me ). Is it possible to achieve clear and low pH water instead of tannic 'blackwater'?

[stormhawk]

Wright, its always great to have your insight . I have always assumed that osmotic shock may have killed those fishes I've lost. I have had casualties when I move some fishes from other tanks in my home, where the pH usually hovers around 7.2 to 7.6 to my main tank, which has a pH of 6.0 due to the ADA Amazonia being used as the substrate. I had transferred a male Simp. magnificus into that tank, hoping it would have a bigger home, but it conked out within a day after I "splashed" it into the tank. There was no external injuries or signs as to what killed it but all I could say was that it was probably "osmotic shock" as what I've read in some books.

[stormhawk]

Ron, the ADA Aquasoil that I'm using has brought down my tank's pH to 6.0 without affecting the clarity nor the colour of the water.

[whuntley]

pH can have profound secondary effects. Low pH can be a powerful bactericide, and is useful for breeding some fishes, like wild Bettas, that have eggs sensitive to the bacteria

Wright, for the chemistry-handicapped, at what reading would you consider 'low pH'... 5 and lower?

I can reduce pH via peat tea but like most of us, we like to be able to see our fishes too (just ask Kwek Leong if you don't believe me ). Is it possible to achieve clear and low pH water instead of tannic 'blackwater'?

Below 6.5 a lot of common aquatic bacteria tend to give up, I suspect, but I bred wild Bettas mostly in about 3.5 to 5 waters. It usually took a lot of RO water in little tap, peat and dried oak leaves to get it down there.

Diluting your tap water (RO, DI, or distilled) to reduce tds can also remove some buffering and make pH drop more quickly when acids are added or produced in the tank. I always boiled and heavily rinsed my peat, so it could still have a gentle acidifying effect, but it didn't stain the water as much.

You might try just boiling the water to drive off the "temporary hardness." I have not done this, but the carbonate buffer is broken down as the CO2 is driven off, leaving CaO which precipitates out as "boiler scale." It should also be easier to acidify than plain tap water.

Wright