Let's talk acclimation boxes, please!

[hvacman250]

I havent added a fish in well over a year, and only one (Regal Angel) in the year before that. Most fish have been in the tank for 3-5 years.

I am coming up on my last 5-6 (expensive) fish, and want to do this right.

I have 2 boxes/traps. One is the AquaMedic trap I can use for acclimation. The other is a homemade 6x6x14" rectangular, single door trap. It has multiple 1/4" slots going down the sides and top.

1. How long can I safely leave a fish in there?

2. Should I do one fish at a time? Upcoming movers are C. lineatus, Burgessi butterfly, and squaretail Bristletooth. Can I do more than one? If so, which together?

3. Which trap would you use? Larger or smaller?

Almost 2 weeks ago, I put in a pair of nice C. jordani in the acc. box. They stayed there for 2 days. No other fish so much as looked at them twice. When the door was opened, they took several hours to leave. From that point forward, it was WWIII in the tank. Needless to say, they harassed the male to death first, then the female. After loosing a pair of my top 5 fish, I want to do this differently.

It seems when the trap goes in the tank, the other fish are freaked out and leave the fish alone. But when the trap is removed, things go back to normal and they freak out on the new fish. Any ideas to combat this?

And FWIW, I QT EVERYTHING. The jordani pair were perfectly healthy when placed in the tank.

[ksicard]

Post a list of your current fish

[bat21]

What fish are in the tank now?

[ThRoewer]

In my experience acclimatization boxes work sometimes to introduce new fish, but more often not.

Best is to add the fish in the right order.

If that isn't possible consider catching the "rulers" or bullies of the tank with a trap and put them into the acclimatization box while the new fish get used to their new home. In general 2 or 3 days will be enough for them to get the lay of the land and to know the holes to flee to when attacked.

[hvacman250]

Post a list of your current fish

What fish are in the tank now?

Tank is a Marineland 220 (72x24x30)
Guess I was wrong on some of the dates. If there is no date added, it was pre-2014. All fish are full grown.

Ocellaris clownfish - Amphiprion ocellaris (male) (Indonesia, Maldives, Africa/tank raised)
Ocellaris clownfish - Amphiprion ocellaris (female) (Indonesia, Maldives, Africa/tank raised)
Pajama Cardinal – Sphaeramia nematoptera (Indonesia)
Ochrestriped Cardinalfish - Ostorhinchus compressus (Indonesia) 5/24/14 LA
Midas Blenny - Ecsenius midas (Maldives) 5/18/14 LA
Yellow Prawn Goby - Cryptocentrus cinctus (Indonesia) 7/2014 LA
Multicolor Lubbock's Fairy Wrasse - Cirrhilabrus lubbocki (Indonesia) 8/2014 Petco
Yellow Wrasse - Halichoeres chrysus (Coral Sea) 9/2014 Petco
Green Mandarin - Synchiropus splendidus (Indonesia)
(Frag tank) 2x Kaudern's Cardinal - Captive-Bred - Pterapogon kauderni 9/6/14 Another tank
Flame Angelfish - Centropyge loricula ( Christmas/Marshall Islands) 3/2/15 Another tank
2x Royal Gramma Basslet - Gramma loreto (Caribbean) 2/11/14 LA
Pygmy (Cherub) Angelfish - Centropyge argi (Caribbean) 2/11/14 LA
Coral Beauty Angelfish - Centropyge bispinosa (Indonesia/Fiji) 2/11/14 LA/DD
Regal Angelfish - Pygoplites diacanthus (Sumatra) LA/DD 2014
2x Matted Filefish (pair) -Acreichthys tomentosus (Indonesia) LA/DD 2014

In QT:
Squaretail Bristletooth Tang - Ctenochaetus truncatus (Africa/Sri Lanka) LA/DD 3/25/16
Burgess' Butterflyfish - Chaetodon burgessi(Indonesia) LA/DD 3/31/16
Lineatus Fairy Wrasse - Cirrhilabrus lineatus (Australia) LA/DD 3/31/16

Wants:
Flame Fairy Wrasse, female - Cirrhilabrus jordani (Hawaii) Atlanta Aquarium 3/6/16
Golden Rhomboidalis Wrasse - Cirrhilabrus rhomboidalis (Marshall Islands)
Labout's Fairy Wrasse - Cirrhilabrus laboutei (Australia, Vanuata) (May not add; have read the can be aggressive with other wrasses)

[hvacman250]

In my experience acclimatization boxes work sometimes to introduce new fish, but more often not.

Best is to add the fish in the right order.

If that isn't possible consider catching the "rulers" or bullies of the tank with a trap and put them into the acclimatization box while the new fish get used to their new home. In general 2 or 3 days will be enough for them to get the lay of the land and to know the holes to flee to when attacked.

Normally, I would agree, but everybody in the tank freaked out. The clowns, all 3 dwarf angels, the "changing"/hormonal Lubbocks was the worst, etc.

The only fish I DIDNT see being a bully was the Regal and filefish.

[ThRoewer]

Which of your fish actually attacked the new additions?

BTW: ocellaris clowns do not occur naturally in Africa or the Maldives - their natural range is from the Philippines in the north to Indonesia in the south, from Irian Jaya in the east to Thailand (maybe also the Andaman Islands) in the west.

[ThRoewer]

Normally, I would agree, but everybody in the tank freaked out. The clowns, all 3 dwarf angels, the "changing"/hormonal Lubbocks was the worst, etc.

The only fish I DIDNT see being a bully was the Regal and filefish.

I guess you have a problem then. You can try a trap (may need some additional holes) to get the other fish get used to the newcomers, but there is no guarantee that they won't start picking on them once released.

I found regals to be very relaxed fish in most cases, though I have seen some of mine to get quite angry if other fish tried to push them around or infringe on their right as rulers of the tank to go wherever they like.

[hvacman250]

Which of your fish actually attacked the new additions?

BTW: ocellaris clowns do not occur naturally in Africa or the Maldives - their natural range is from the Philippines in the north to Indonesia in the south, from Irian Jaya in the east to Thailand (maybe also the Andaman Islands) in the west.

Clowns, both wrasses, all 3 dwarf angels, blenny, and even some from the cardinals. Did NOT see the Regal, filefish, goby or mandarin ever attack.

My tank is usually 95% laid back. The only chasing I EVER see is the Flame chases the CB, and the CB will chase the Cherub. But that is 1 second spurts every now and then.

And thanks for the lesson. I hi-jacked that info from a website somewhere in time. I made that list and printed a map of the world so the kids could see where the fish came from.

[Hal]

I usually give 48-72 hours minimum in my acclimation box. That seems to do the trick. The longer the time, the less aggression seen.

[hvacman250]

Would it be advisable to do 2 fish in the larger box, or one at a time?

[d-man]

Use the box as much as possible. My opinion it has almost always worked. My tank has 25 or so wrasses. And a Rosefascia which is one of the most aggressive.
2 at a time if there is enough room in the box. I have a couple boxes cuz usually im adding 3-5 fish at a time