1.020 to 1.025

[sescamil]

Hey guys, A quick question.

Would a drip acclimation be okay for a clownfish to do in a 1-2 hour time period. The reason I ask is because I bought some clownfish and his salinity was at 1.020. And i have my reef at 1.025. what would be the right procedure for acclimating this new clown to higher salinity. I was told from others that i need to top off with saltwater so the fish is not stress over a 2 week period. I just cannot add the fish to the tank after acclimating right?

[garygb]

I think a drip acclimation should be okay even with a disparity of .005. Sometimes people, including me when I first got mine, do freshwater dips of clowns and they do fine.

[ca1ore]

Topping off with saltwater is how you bring the entire system up to normal salinity, not a fish in a bucket. Assuming you bought the fish locally, then a 1 hr drop ought to be fine. I wouldn't go any longer than that.

[sescamil]

The guy I got them from had them since April at 1.020. My tank is 1.025 and after introduction the fish had heavy breathing all the time. My current livestock does not exhibit this type of behavior. That is why I am asking if I rushed the drip acclimation and my drip acclimation is about 1-2 hours.

[addictedreefer]

1-2 hours is more than enough. However, drip rate is also a factor. With most fish, I aim for a 1/2 hr acclimation in order to equalize salinity. How fast was your drip and are you sure that you equalized salinity before introduction?

[sescamil]

I used my refractometer to make sure it was the same as my main tank. It is calibrated and never had any issues with it. It is just strange that my current livestock is doing fine, but these new guys had heavy breathing. I wonder if they had some kind of sickness associated with them. Guess that is a different story.

[sescamil]

drip rate was maybe 1-2 drops per second. I am just confuse.

[addictedreefer]

Acclimation is likely not the issue. May have a parasite of some kind. Does it have any discoloration, spots, etc.?

[sescamil]

It had discoloration with heavy breathing. Only the clownfish exhibite. So I think it was some kind of disease. It did not have a strong feeding response as well, well all other fish had one. My current fish are not showing any symptoms compared to the clowns!