Tank transfer questions

[UFO8MyCow]

I am doing the second transfer today of my flame angel and I have a couple questions.

How close do the temps of the two tanks need to be so that I dont have to drip acclimate

I am using an air pump instead of a hob filter and have quite a few throw away airstones both sand (corse) and wood (fine) but if I use an open line it seems to give better water movement.

I also have amonia badges but how do I sanatize them between transfers? Is it okay to let them dry out?

[SNAKEMANVET]

I would try to get the temp close as possible.I wouldn't think a 2 degree difference would harm the fish.

[scooter31707]

I say no more than 2 degrees. On that note, if you are able to use the same heater to heat up your fresh saltwater you should be ok. I have everything from the TTM tanks, QT, and DT all set at 78 degrees. So I heat my fresh saltwater to 78 and always use the same heater.

[Dmorty217]

A few degrees at most, no more than 5. The ammonia badges will need to be thrown out since they are useless when they dry out. The air stone will serve the same purpose as a small filter of powerhead

[A.Astore]

I quickly got sick of using the airstone and throwing it out so I got a genius idea to use the cap from a set of pipettes I bought on the end of the line with a regulator. It is nice because it doesn't throw those tiny bubbles all through the tank like the stones do. Other benefit is I can reuse them since it is not porous.

One other thing, unless you have a lot of fish in the tank and are overfeeding you shouldn't have to focus on ammonia during the TTM because the are moved before they hit the 72 hour mark, thus ammonia shouldn't build up quick enough. Those badge things could get really expensive if you have to keep tossing them every time. Like I said though, you have to not overfeed and I generally will use a turkey baster on day 2 to pull some of the crud from the bottom just to avoid ammonia issues. Another thought is you COULD use some Prime on day two since you won't be using copper if ammonia has you worried during the tank transfer portion. Again though, that is saying you are truly worried about ammonia building. Glad your flame angel is doing well!

[UFO8MyCow]

A.Astore I'm not sure what you mean about the cap from the pipettes.

I am not using any power head or any other pump so I am trying to find out what will get the best gas exchange between coarse stone, fine stone, or or just an open tube which seems to get better surface agitation.

If a few degrees is ok than that is no problem. I thought I had to have them match exactly if I wasn't going to acclimate.

I am using prime but last night I noticed the fish was a little erratic so I checked the ammonia with my api kit and found between .25 and .50. I did a 30% water change and he started doing better and by morning he was great.

[microlady]

I did not use airstones. I used airline tubing tucked under a ceramic mug to give some surface agitation, and I threw the airline tubing away after each transfer.