How to ‘Drip Acclimation’

If you've spent any time at all reading about keeping aquariums, you've come across the term “drip acclimation.” Which is good, it is an important part of adding fish and invertebrates to your marine aquarium, though to be perfectly honest, it is similarly applicable for freshwater displays. What is drip acclimation? Very simply put, it is slowly mixing the water from your aquarium with the water of the bag your fish came with until the two different waters match salinity and temperature (for more on salinity and temperature, see the testing part one article from a couple months ago). Doing this is important; the shock of a fast salinity change can be harmful to your new pets.

Often lacking from many of these articles, is a description of how exactly one drip acclimates fish. However, you're in luck, because that's exactly what we're discussing today. First things first. You will need to mix a little bit of saltwater ahead of time. We're going to be removing some and this water isn't coming back into the tank, so it's a good idea to have some saltwater ready to replenish what we remove. Go through this process just like you're doing a small water change (see our other articles on water changes). The salinity of this make-up water should match the salinity of the aquarium. The temperature of the makeup water won't matter as much as a usual water change as we're only going to need a very small volume. This volume will change based on how much water your new aquarium pal comes home in. In general, this whole process will usually take less than a gallon, so just mix up a whole gallon, and have some extra.

Because the process of quarantining your fish is another article, we're going to continue as if you are either buying “pre-quarantined” fish or that you are adding these fish to your home quarantine tank. Next you are going to want a small bucket/container, small enough so that your fish or coral can stay submerged with only the water they were brought home with in the bag. You also need enough air hose to dangle from the tank down to the bucket, and a way to pinch the flow of water off in this hose. There are lots of “acclimation kits'' available and most of these will include a device for just this job. However, if you don't like accumulating a bunch of stuff for infrequent jobs, tying a loose knot in the airline will work just as well. Lastly, you're going to need something to start a siphon, and again, there are gadgets to help you with this. Or, if you don't mind risking a mouthful of saltwater, you can just suck on one end of the hose.

Really, the process of the acclimation is very simple.

1.Equalize the temperature between your tank and the bags by floating the bags in the display.

2.Once these temperatures are equalized, (a process that shouldn't take more than 10 – 15 minutes), gently transfer the fish or invertebrate into the small container with all of the water it traveled with.

3.Start a siphon out of the tank and into the bucket. Slow the flow of this siphon down by tightening the knot in the air hose until the water comes out in a fairly fast, consistently timed drip, around a drop or two per second. Here’s a fun tip: if you don't know how to start a siphon, check a you-tube video (as a side bonus, some of these videos are predictably humorous)

4.If you have a small destination tank, make sure your water level stays high enough so that your return pumps don't run dry. If you start to see bubbles, add some of your premixed saltwater back into the tank.

5.Let this volume of water double in the container and measure the salinity of it. If it is the same as the aquarium, you are ready to proceed. If there is still a difference, dump half the water out of the container and continue to drip until the volume is doubled again.

6.Once the salinity of the container matches the salinity of the aquarium, remove the fish or invert from the water and add it to the destination tank. Pour the water out; do not add the water from the container into the aquarium.

7.Top off the water in the aquarium with the salt water that you pre-mixed for exactly this purpose.

And that's pretty much it. Some of you who have your aquarium in a cold room (looking at you Upper Midwest and New England folks), would benefit from having a very small heater you could deploy in the container. Small volumes of water can get cold quickly, and this is counterproductive. If your room is in the low 70sF or higher, and your quarantine is going quickly enough, this shouldn't be an issue. Sensitive fish will sometimes need a longer acclimation, which just means slowing down the drips. Obviously, because this takes longer, the small heater may come into play, even in warmer rooms.

As a word of warning, if you are acclimating fish that could be venomous, do not place them by hand. Some fish have long, fragile fins, spines or peduncles that can get caught in fine mesh nets, use a fish safe net for these critters.

Night time is the best time for doing this transfer. The lights are off naturally. If you're doing this during the day, be sure to turn your lighting off before starting this and don't turn them back on till the next day, this will give your newest addition a chance to acclimate to its surroundings before the tankmates wake up.

And there you pretty much have it. You're ready to do your first acclimation! Head over to your Local Fish Store and pick up your fish. Tell them Quality Marine sent you!