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View Full Version : Death in bags...acclimation fatality: why it happens


Sk8r
01/12/2011, 11:22 AM
WHY should a creature 2 days in a bag alive suddenly die when the bag is opened?: poop. Respiration. In shipped livestock, or during a trip home from the store, the waste from the fish/invert hits the water and you have ammonium and co2 in that water. The moment you open the bag, you release the co2 and ph climbs. This ph change converts the harmless ammonium in the water to deadly ammonia. The longer the fish is exposed to ammonia (remember it's drinking it as well as breathing it) the more damage its internal organs take. Too long in the opened bag and the fish takes too much damage to live very long.
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First, you should know (phone) at what salinity your shipper ships certain livestock. They'll tell you. You should have a qt tank ready AT THAT SALINITY if you've got a fish. You can put inverts straight in.
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Step 1: DO NOT OPEN THE BAG. Float it for 15 minutes. This handles temperature.
Step 2: open bag and test the water to be sure you were told accurately. AS OF THIS EXACT POINT (look at the clock) YOU HAVE 30 minutes OR LESS to get that critter to a qt tank, if fish, or to your tank, if invert, and to dip it and set it safely on the bottom of your tank if coral. Remember acclimation is all about salinity. Be accurate. Be fast. If salinity matches within .001, that fish is good to go into that qt water. Instantly as you open the bag if you've got a near match!
Full procedure given here: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1939508

DoubleM 10
01/12/2011, 11:51 AM
wow thats really good info. i usually did an hour from the time i floated them to them swimming in the tank(i dont do corals). im glad you put this up.

thank goodness mt fish are all ok and swimming like tangs to this day(3 fuzzy lions, marine betta, ghost eel, cockatoo waspfish)

another great set of info from Sk8r

matt

rayn
01/12/2011, 12:19 PM
Really only 30 minutes? I usually acclimate for almost a hour too, no matter what and ha ent lost that way yet. Fish, corals, nems I do them all this way. Only difference is I add about two cups of tank water every twenty minutes or so to mix in.

Sk8r
01/12/2011, 12:49 PM
A lot of factors are in play: how long the fish has been in the bag: (shipping is the worst), relative amount of water, how cold the bag got (cold slows chemistry, heat speeds it). Your 2 cups of tank water are diluting the ammonia pretty fast, but they're also changing the salinity pretty fast.

Ammonia is lethal, and if your fish gets too high a dose, it will assuredly die. The longest, slowest and most careful acclimation in bag water is apt to be the very deadliest---and frequently the lament is: "BUT---I acclimated it for an hour!--[two hours!] ---etc.

Your own circumstances may have kept the fish alive, but it was in spite of the situation, rather than because you took extra long, and the fish would have come in happier had it gone directly to safe water.

There are a lot of health complaints around introducing new fish: "My new fish won't eat." Not having drunk ammonia for 10 minutes today might make a difference.
"None of my fish survive quarantine." ---It's very likely not your quarantine tank at fault: it's not getting your fish into it fast enough.
"My fish seems stressed and listless." Yep.

It's a case of killing a fish with kindness. Shorter is better. Most things are better than ammonia.

jnc914
01/12/2011, 01:01 PM
FWIW, right after I open the bag, I add it to an acclimation bucket and put a few drips of Sechem Prime and a full glass of the tank water. The Prime will eliminate ammonia in the shipping water. Never try and oxygenate the water before using something to get rid of the ammonia as it will further cause a PH spike. I use the drip method with any/all fish going into QT, however I only do this for 40-60 minutes. There have been times when a fish did not ship well and looked terrible in the bucket; so I immediately removed it to the clean water of the QT without any noticeable health issues to the fish.

Sk8r
01/12/2011, 02:08 PM
yep. Drip acclimation is a needless hardship on the fish if you're close enough in salinity. All that's being done by that process is holding the fish in ammonia'ed water. There IS no other reason for drip acclimation than approximation of salinity, and the instant that is close enough, move the fish. Since the salinity of the bag is knowable, there is just no sense in drip acclimation at all. Set the qt to match, and put the fish straight into qt after a 15 minute closed-bag float.

matt888
01/12/2011, 02:19 PM
I follow the fish sg acclimation, but what's the variance with inverts as it applies to getting them into your water? They are much more susceptible to shock due to other parameters than sg, hence needing the drip? No? Thanks!

Sitaga
01/12/2011, 02:33 PM
Wow - you learn something new every day. Thanks Sk8r!

Sk8r
01/12/2011, 02:45 PM
@matt---yep. The answer is No. All they need is to match re salinity, within .001 being safest. Because of their shells, they can't 'sweat' as fast as fish, so while they're simpler creatures, they do need that match if you want healthy inverts, and I kind of prefer to swish them through an intermediate 'safety' bath in tank water to clear ANY bag water off them that I can---but outside of that, if they come in at 1.024 (and most do, because inverts don't like to be at 1.021!)---put them straight in.

Megatrev62
01/12/2011, 02:48 PM
WHY should a creature 2 days in a bag alive suddenly die when the bag is opened?: poop. Respiration. In shipped livestock, or during a trip home from the store, the waste from the fish/invert hits the water and you have ammonium and co2 in that water. The moment you open the bag, you release the co2 and ph climbs. This ph change converts the harmless ammonium in the water to deadly ammonia. The longer the fish is exposed to ammonia (remember it's drinking it as well as breathing it) the more damage its internal organs take. Too long in the opened bag and the fish takes too much damage to live very long.
--------
First, you should know (phone) at what salinity your shipper ships certain livestock. They'll tell you. You should have a qt tank ready AT THAT SALINITY if you've got a fish. You can put inverts straight in.
----------
Step 1: DO NOT OPEN THE BAG. Float it for 15 minutes. This handles temperature.
Step 2: open bag and test the water to be sure you were told accurately. AS OF THIS EXACT POINT (look at the clock) YOU HAVE 30 minutes OR LESS to get that critter to a qt tank, if fish, or to your tank, if invert, and to dip it and set it safely on the bottom of your tank if coral. Remember acclimation is all about salinity. Be accurate. Be fast. If salinity matches within .001, that fish is good to go into that qt water. Instantly as you open the bag if you've got a near match!
Full procedure given here: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1939508

I learned this with a yellow tang.Kind of long story, but I was trying to acclimate slowly and in the process lost the fish. Thanks to sk8r lesson was learned. I firmly believe what is being said as I put a chocolte tang in the quarantine within 35 mins.! All good.

jeff@zina.com
01/12/2011, 03:26 PM
I tend to do two types of acclimation. The first is similar to Sk8tr since, in reality, salinity and temperature are the only really critical factors. The second is with local fish and any where the salinity is off by 3-4 points.

For that I open the bag, dump it into a container 3-4 times the size of the bag and immediately add about 1/4 the bag amount of my own water. Every ten minutes or so, I dump about 1/4 of the water out of the container and add that much of my water. After a few changes I'll check salinity and temp, usually pretty close, and, if needed, float the container for 15 minutes or so to get the temperature correct. Then I put the fish/invert in the tank (no container water) or dip the coral and put it in. This doesn't work if the SG is under 1.020 and I'm at my normal 1.025/6, then I just have to acclimate longer and hope for the best.

I haven't lost any live stock this way that didn't come in with symptoms of something, cold shipping, delay, etc. FWIW, the places I order from will tell me the tank conditions and I can match my QT tank to that before the stock arrives. I have one LFS that keeps fish AND corals at about 1.019, I just don't buy live stock from them. :)

My rule is: If I buy from a place three times and whatever I buy dies all three times, I don't shop there again.

Jeff

Sk8r
01/12/2011, 03:36 PM
I figure that any store that's keeping its salinity virtually in hypo has some disease issues with its sources, that I want none of; and if they don't, why on earth are they doing it---knowing any newbie who doesn't have a refractometer (and fully half don't) is apt to seriously injure a fish? There's a lot of moving parts when you're starting out, and remembering to check bag water salinity without dropping your fish or the instrument is a learning curve!

And of course corals and inverts don't fare well in hypo, so those are almost all ready to go in: they tend to arrive at 1.024.

F&S uses 1.021 on fish, 1.024 on inverts. If your qt is set to 1.021, that fish is good to go right in the instant the bag is open. If your tank is 1.024 (and if you have crabs and snails it should be!) to 1.025, you're good to put them straight across. Even if you're 1.026 it's not going to do them great damage, but I like to be within .001.

bluezx636
01/12/2011, 03:47 PM
Would a drip still be good if you test the bag water and theres no sign of ammonia?

Sk8r
01/12/2011, 04:30 PM
To answer the question directly, most chemical processes are not instant, flashover events, and I don't know how fast the total ammonium>ammonia transition is, before it becomes acute---the answer to that probably is "depending on: time in transit, water temp, poo type, etc" So you would have to keep testing for ammonia every 5 minutes during the drip process, because the equation is too complicated by variables.

But why do a drip, if you test the bag and there's no salt difference? IMHO, drip acclimation can lead you accidentally to harm the fish, when a salinity test and a ready qt at identical salinity definitively will not.

RedM3
01/12/2011, 05:04 PM
Here is a question: I unfortunately do not have the luxury of a QT tank, mainly due to space constraints. I do plan on buying a few fish from F&S in the near future. Since I keep my salinity at around 1.025, I need to do some type of acclimation process. Can I set up a few gallons of water at 1.021 salinity to pose almost as a very very short term QT tank to allow me to properly acclimate the fish to the new salinity of my tank? My thinking is this way I can remove them from the bag water immediately so that I can do a acclimation without worrying about the ammonia. I know it isn't an ideal process, but it sounds like it might be better than trying the "bag water" acclimation.


Edit: The more I think about it, I find myself asking: if I have space for 5 gallon buckets, or this intermediate container... why don't I have space for a small QT? No need to derail this conversation though... I'll be asking details around this in another thread when it comes closer to when I'll be adding any extra fish.

Ohiomom
01/12/2011, 05:20 PM
This makes an awful lot of sense...now can understand why I have lost some inverts and such..ty..

Sk8r
01/12/2011, 05:21 PM
Remember that a qt is just as temporary as those buckets: you store it between uses, you have it handy should anything EVER make your livestock need immediate rescue (a nephew with a packet of Koolaid)---and to set it up, you just add tank water, run the cheapest air-driven filter---it needs no light, just a heater. And you need a bottle of test strips (daily use) plus a bottle of Amquel or Prime, should it get out of hand. F&S has very high quality livestock: the likelihood you would have to treat is very slight, but---if you should, you just drop the salinity over 48 hours and hold it low, and you're good. Having an actual little tank and daily inspection of the fish means you have instant awareness of any problem, you start treatment on the spot, with no stress of having to catch everybody---and no traffic jam in qt, having to catch ALL your fish. So it's just easy: tuck the qt tank under the bathroom sink and use it to hold spare TP when it's not in use. ;)And when it's in use, think of it as a way to get your fish eating without competition, and get them unspooked. This way they're not dropped into a blazingly-lit tank with no knowledge where safety is and with several other fish who're going to defend their territory with nips and threats. This tank is all theirs and they get to rest and eat in safety.

Jstdv8
01/12/2011, 05:27 PM
what about PH shock?

NickC5FE
01/12/2011, 05:28 PM
sk8r, i am a noob and recently added my first fish, a yellow tang. When i got it home, i did the drip method and later that night, the fish was acting all kinds of screwy. Your lesson given earlier on this thread could definetly be what happened! Needless to say, i wont be doing the drip method again......

BTW- The tang pulled through and is happy in his new home! Thank god, because i thought to myself, how horrible to lose my first fish!

SoLiD
01/12/2011, 05:47 PM
Thank-You Sk8r!!! :D

And Thank-You Jason (jnc914) for posting your acclimation procedures. I will have to borrow that one. :thumbsup:

Sk8r FTW!!!! LOL, I just wanted to through in an acronym like all the cool guys do...:D

jnc914
01/12/2011, 05:48 PM
sk8r, i am a noob and recently added my first fish, a yellow tang. When i got it home, i did the drip method and later that night, the fish was acting all kinds of screwy. Your lesson given earlier on this thread could definetly be what happened! Needless to say, i wont be doing the drip method again......

BTW- The tang pulled through and is happy in his new home! Thank god, because i thought to myself, how horrible to lose my first fish!

Drip method is a perfectly fine method if you eliminate the ammonia in the shipping water upon initially opening the bag or transitioning it to another acclimation container. I never acclimate in a shipping bag nor do I ever go past 60 minutes using the drip method. Sounds like the fish was suffering from ammonia burn/toxicity that luckily the Yellow was able to pull through it.

Sk8r
01/12/2011, 05:51 PM
It's most apt to happen to a new hobbyist who is resolved to do things absolutely, considerately, by-the-book right, who has read all the recommendations about drip---but who doesn't get the info about the ammonium>ammonia transaction; or it happens to the very experienced guy who normally doesn't acclimate too long, but has a prized rare fish he wants to take special care of---I started recommending this alternative to drip after reading a very sad post about a big and rare fish and a disaster.

Sk8r
01/12/2011, 05:55 PM
I'm liking this notion of matching both ph and salinity: easy to inquire. One of the problems with eliminating ammonia via Prime and Amquel in such a situation is that if you have a big fish, large water volume, not so hard to figure the dose; but figuring the dose with a tiny goby's water, not so easy. One of my newest guys would fit on a penny, with plenty of room for his mate.

C0rp
01/12/2011, 07:40 PM
So I have my first fish in qt right now, a midas blenny. He will be ready to be transfered to the dt next week. If I match my qt salinity/temp to the dt, I can just take him out and pop him right into the dt? From the info in this post, that will be fine. If this is not the case, please let me know. My tank is a bit over 2 months old at this point in time.

muttley000
01/12/2011, 07:46 PM
Another great post, thanks againf or doing these up for everyone.

Sk8r
01/13/2011, 10:38 AM
Salinity match, Corp; ph match to be extra careful. Start now, let the topoff/evaporation action adjust the salinity, and you're good.

jeff@zina.com
01/13/2011, 12:56 PM
Edit: The more I think about it, I find myself asking: if I have space for 5 gallon buckets, or this intermediate container... why don't I have space for a small QT?

I was asking this as I read your post. :)

If you can't do a full QT, and there may be legitimate reasons why you can't, you can at least set up a bucket with a couple gallons of water at the correct specific gravity to transfer your fish to. Dump a quarter of this water for new water each day for a few days and you can easily acclimate a fish to a new salinity over a longer period.

The key is getting them out of the shipping water as soon as practical.

Jeff

jeff@zina.com
01/13/2011, 01:02 PM
I... but figuring the dose [of Prime] with a tiny goby's water, not so easy.
One fortunate thing is that it's hard to overdose Prime. I use five drops a gallon, one drop for a quart or less is easy. Even if you dosed five times the listed amount you're safe. Not sure on AmQuel but it has to be close to the same effect.

Jeff

Sk8r
01/13/2011, 02:09 PM
Good to know, Jeff: reference for any emergency. And one can look up cups to quarts to gallons online: just type in the question and programs do the math.

I use Prime to de-scent my hands after using bleach: we keep it in the laundry area as well as the fish sump area!

Sk8r
01/13/2011, 02:09 PM
Good to know, Jeff: reference for any emergency. And one can look up cups to quarts to gallons online: just type in the question and programs do the math.

I use Prime to de-scent my hands after using bleach: we keep it in the laundry area as well as the fish sump area!

Sport507
01/05/2012, 06:45 PM
For those of you of you that got presents from Santa. This is and always will be wonderful information.

tony53176
01/05/2012, 07:35 PM
what about buying fish from an LFS? should the same method apply?

jenjen
01/05/2012, 08:16 PM
what about buying fish from an LFS? should the same method apply?

Absolutely. I buy all my fish from the same LFS. They keep their water at 1.024 which basically matches my QT & DT (I'm at 1.025). When I get home I float for 15 min for temp, then net straight into QT. No drip or delay, they're in their new home immediately. Never had any issues.

ejv1013
01/06/2012, 02:39 AM
THis is good info I think it will help a lot of people out looks like it will make a great sticky :)

Sport507
01/06/2012, 05:45 PM
Not only is it good info it's correct info.

SushiGirl
01/06/2012, 07:22 PM
This should definitely be a sticky.

dlp211
01/06/2012, 08:24 PM
I have now acclimated 10 fish to my QT and haven't lost a single one. I even had some fish that didn't look so good after being shipped to me. I chalk it up to quick and proper acclimation. My fish after floating are in the tank within 20 minutes.

I think Sk8r should consolidate all his/her stickies into one new thread and we should just sticky that because s/he has so many hahaha.

Bliz
01/07/2012, 03:18 AM
Just along for the ride. Thank you sk8r!

icechimpee
01/07/2012, 10:13 PM
Yum, knowledge. Great info.

shaka
01/07/2012, 10:33 PM
Sk8r- Great information! But I want to double check. I'm receiving a Dr. F&S DD shipment this week. DD salinity is 1.025 (I called them to make sure). My Q tank salinity is 1.024. After floating sealed bags for temperature match, all I have to do is place the fish directly into Q tank without any "drip" acclimation ( or any adding any water for that matter) to the bags.

What about if there is a difference in ph between the shipping bags and my Q tank? Do I then drip acclimate for 30 minutes "tops"?

The fish I'm receiving are a Scribbled Angel and Blonde Naso Tang (male).

SushiGirl
01/16/2012, 10:04 PM
bump up for this thread, been looking for it all night!

Reefing Newbie
01/16/2012, 10:50 PM
With the search being down I have had to expand the cut off dates to two weeks. Any ways, I second Sushi's motion for a sticky. Although I thought it already was, must have gotten moved out with all the other stickies being made.

aleonn
01/17/2012, 12:18 AM
I think we need a master sticky for a comprehensive compilation of all of Sk8r's threads.

osufarker
01/17/2012, 08:46 AM
I don't doubt the information, but I'm confused why all the retailers tell you to do lengthy drip acclimations if its bad for the fish. Most offer guarantees on the fish, so giving you bad information that is more likely to kill the fish seems bad for business.

cjk76
01/17/2012, 09:11 AM
Great info. I got an emerald crab, and he pooed 5 times in the bag! In a 30 min drive! I have been drip acclimating, but will start with the "quick" method now. It should save water, too.

I think that retailers tell you to do a drip acclimation because this would ensure that all the parameters are the same. What they should tell you is to do it quickly.

Seths Dad
01/17/2012, 11:04 AM
I'm the reason SushiGirl (thanks again) was looking for this thread. I got a Radiant Wrasse from DD last week and did an "extra careful, slow 2hr acclimation" so as not to over stress my first wrasse. He went straight into the sand, the next time I saw it, it was dead. Wish I had seen this thread earlier.

spskid01
03/15/2012, 06:24 AM
So if I buy a fish and it was shipped to me and in a bag all night. When I test the bag water sg its 1.017 and my tank is at 1.024. What is my best way to match the sg if I shouldn't drip for to long?

NirvanaFan
03/15/2012, 06:43 AM
So if I buy a fish and it was shipped to me and in a bag all night. When I test the bag water sg its 1.017 and my tank is at 1.024. What is my best way to match the sg if I shouldn't drip for to long?

Set up a quarantine tank with 1.017 water for a few weeks. Raising from 1.017 to 1.025 needs to be done slowly.

ken55
03/15/2012, 07:34 AM
Thanks for the information. I havn't lost any fish (probably luck) but I now see that I haven't done them any favors.

Or mayby I have lost some. I have had fish die after a week. Is it possible they could last that long before the damage finally caught up to them?

Either way, I will certainly be using this method from now on.

Darth Vedder
03/15/2012, 09:30 AM
Sk8r, I have a question...

Would it make sense to test the bag water to verify sg before opening it? What I am thinking is use a syringe to pierce the bag near where it is closed off and draw a ml or so of water into the syringe, then roll down the rubber band to make sure nothing leaks out of the tiny hole

You could then spot check the sg with a refractometer

Do you see any harm in this?

MHG
03/15/2012, 11:24 AM
Wow, and to think I was ridiculed for talking about an LFS that just tosses anemones into their tanks with nothing but floating a closed bag...I am so confused... Aclimate... Dont Acclimate...(sarcasm)

Sport507
03/15/2012, 01:27 PM
Sk8r, I have a question...

Would it make sense to test the bag water to verify sg before opening it? What I am thinking is use a syringe to pierce the bag near where it is closed off and draw a ml or so of water into the syringe, then roll down the rubber band to make sure nothing leaks out of the tiny hole

You could then spot check the sg with a refractometer

Do you see any harm in this?

A reputable LFS or online retailer will know what their salinity runs. For me at least it really doesn’t matter, once you open that bag after 15 minutes of floating you are on the path of no turning back.

As soon as I open the bag I add tank water how much depends on how much is in the bag so it’s a judgment call. I add tank water every 5 minutes and watch them closely to read their stress level and never let them stay in the bag longer than 30 minutes. If I see the stress level escalating rapidly 20 minutes tops for me.

I would rather take my chances let them in the tank where the water quality is healthy than leave them in the bag and run the risk of killing them that way.

Sk8r will probably have a more informative answer.

jraker
02/01/2016, 05:49 PM
i know this is an old thread, but i think it should be a sticky. this topic is often overlooked, and many beginners should have this info.

T Haynes
02/01/2016, 06:21 PM
Am I correct in assuming F&S is foster and smith?

T Haynes
02/01/2016, 06:23 PM
i know this is an old thread, but i think it should be a sticky. this topic is often overlooked, and many beginners should have this info.

Dude I didn't even check the dates :p

kcinnick
02/01/2016, 06:36 PM
I was doing this over a decade ago. I watched a new LFS want to acclimate everything correctly killing fish in buckets in his store and did some research. He killed some beautiful fish.

T Haynes
02/01/2016, 06:46 PM
I was doing this over a decade ago. I watched a new LFS want to acclimate everything correctly killing fish in buckets in his store and did some research. He killed some beautiful fish.

Doing drip shouldn't be an issue for a fish coming from 10 minutes down the road though should it? I have a drip kit that floats the bag and has a tank above that drips into the bag

zak.payne
02/02/2016, 07:43 PM
Wow. This has been really helpful information! I am new to the hobby and am planning on getting my first fish in the next couple days (I think). My whole intention was to put the fish into a smaller bucket and do a drip acclimation, so this awesome to know.

Sk8r
02/03/2016, 12:13 PM
The central purpose of acclimation, once temperature is at least moderately fixed, is salinity. If you can fix that in advance by pre-setting your quarantine tank, you've got perfect water (salt mixes try to be) at a matching salinity and an ok temperature. This will satisfy most everything the new arrival needs. And your qt, which will be dim, quiet, and clear of other fishes' smells and threats, will be a nice place to hang out and catch a fishy breath for a bit. When he finds out it's also rich in food (after a decent time to relax and get curious---THAT is the cue it's time to offer food)...he's in a good place, unbullied, unnipped, pretty secure, and fed without having to fight for it.

hkgar
07/01/2016, 02:36 PM
Can someone please make this thread a sticky?

It is very important information for the life and safety of the critters we like to keep. Let's at least try to make their transition as least stressful as possible.

roostertech
07/01/2016, 03:12 PM
+1 for sticky, I never thought of the PH change aspect of acclimation.

vikinglord13
07/27/2016, 08:28 PM
I never realized you could just drop a fish into a QT as long as the salinity is good (after acclimating for temperature of course). That will definitely help in the future, thanks Sk8r!

Neptune 555
08/08/2016, 12:11 PM
I just did a small survey to see what most refers were doing for acclimation. Most were doing very fast acclimation float bag 15 mins release into destination tank. OR they were doing various methods of adding water from destination tank cup / drip but all were doing that VERY FAST.

My Question is.. why are we are working so hard to match our salinity..when so many do freshwater dip? If a fish can survive fresh water dip... then I don't get the WHY we need to be so super exact to .001 for salinity?

I float bag 15 mins and place in QT. I do all of this in low light. In fact I almost lost a super small fish b/c the lighting was so low! I think the lights are a bigger factor then we take into account.

Neptuen

Sk8r
08/08/2016, 12:43 PM
Lights on a qt should be used mostly for examination of fish at least once a day if not more often. It's also considerate not to put your qt near the bass speaker of your telly.
I don't freshwater dip anything. Never have. Won't.
The 15 min float with the bag closed equalizes temperature, which is good.

alcimedes
08/10/2016, 02:06 PM
My Question is.. why are we are working so hard to match our salinity..when so many do freshwater dip? If a fish can survive fresh water dip... then I don't get the WHY we need to be so super exact to .001 for salinity?

Neptuen

Smaller organisms that aren't as complicated don't have a cellular structure that can survive the different specific gravity and rupture. It's a great, non-chemical way to remove many lower level organisms.

It's still hard on the fish, just not as hard as other effective options.

Osmotic shock happens rapidly in lower level organisms, and slower in higher organisms. Hence a quick dip. It's still happening to the fish though.

In all fish species osmoregulation developed in a way that enabled them to maintain the proper balance of salt and water in the water with chemical composition found in their natural habitat. If osmoregulation is disturbed due to adverse conditions (osmotic stress) or a sudden change in the chemical composition of water (osmotic shock), fish might not be able to physiologically cope with it.

Chronic osmotic stress can eventually result in fish’s death and osmotic shock can cause death very quickly.

hkgar
08/11/2016, 12:55 PM
Would a drip still be good if you test the bag water and theres no sign of ammonia?http://onlinemarketingou.com/apple/images/9.gifhttp://onlinemarketingou.com/apple/images/2.gif
http://onlinemarketingou.com/apple/images/1.gif

Why would you want to drip anyway, when all you have to do is match salinity and acclimate for temp.