acclimation a total waste of time ?

[Snarkys]

acclimation a total waste of time ?

i got some zoas shipped without water and just wrapped in a wet paper towel . at first i was shocked they were shipped that way but then they all opened faster than any other frag i have got before.

if these can be shipped out of the water for 12 hours, then dipped in fresh water for 5 min and then dropped in my tank and open in less than a hour how can acclimation really matter?

i mean the temp inside the towel was nowhere neer my tank water , im sure the PH is different from paper towel to fresh water to my tank and the saltinity is all different too.

[BradL.]

Shipping wet,with no water is common ,because the shipping costs more than the corals themselves.Out of curiousity,where were they purchased?

[Dwarfpufferfish]

Same thing happened today to me. Wet with paper towels wrapped around them... I dont know if zoos need to be aclimated, they seem pretty hardy!

[TheMcs]

I just float them for 10 minutes and in they go. All seem to do fine that way.

[EvilMel]

Hi guys, how were these shipped? overnight? I am very curious about this method of shipment as well.

Also, wouldn't a coral that's only damp (not in water) just be happy to be IN water once it's in your tank? Acclimation is about equalizing conditions between the two different waters, so it should have some importance. But to be honest I have known more than one person (including a reef store) who only acclimated for temperature. They just dumped corals in the tank without any water exchange as long as the temp was equalized.

[Dwarfpufferfish]

my corals were shipped overnight... But really, with the wet paper towel method it would be next to impossible to equalize tempature... Floating the bag would take forever to equalize. Heat does not trasfer very well with out the water in the bag!

[xacttech]

You don't have to acclimate if they were shipped in a paper towel...

Same with snails, if they were shipped "DRY" you don't have to acclimate... Any water is better than the "no" water they were just in.

[Snarkys]

Originally posted by Dwarfpufferfish
my corals were shipped overnight... But really, with the wet paper towel method it would be next to impossible to equalize tempature... Floating the bag would take forever to equalize. Heat does not trasfer very well with out the water in the bag!

when i talked to him about the method of shipping, the reason he told me they do this is because air transfers heat much faster than water so the heat pack more effectively keeps the corals warm.


Originally posted by xacttech
You don't have to acclimate if they were shipped in a paper towel...

Same with snails, if they were shipped "DRY" you don't have to acclimate... Any water is better than the "no" water they were just in.

so if they were shipped in water would you do any other acclimation other than temp ? if so why would you bother ?

btw , everyone always says snails are so fragile and supseptable to salitinity changes so they need a longer drip aclimation prosses. how can this be true if people ship them dry and it works out fine?

[Dubbin1]

I just let them float for 30 min and put them in. Note that I have never lost a zoo by doing this.

[vitaldefect001]

i've never aclamated my snails....
not a singel loss...

[hellraisers30]

i really never acclimate my zoo's and have never had any problems and they seem to open up right away

[Snarkys]

Originally posted by Snarkys
when i talked to him about the method of shipping, the reason he told me they do this is because air transfers heat much faster than water so the heat pack more effectively keeps the corals warm.


anyone like to validate this or invalidate it ??

think of any other reasons why shipping in paper towel could bet a better alternative , well other than cost.

[orb]

anthony calfo's "book of propagation" touches on that subject. it says that this method works great on tidal creatures-they just act like the tide has come in. dry shipping is successful with xeniids, zoanthids, sps, etc....good book highly recommended. hth

[DonavonsReef]

True, alot of zoos are intertidal and survie out of water for hours during the tide change. Most wholesalers recieve their zoos shipped dry, so to speak.

[EnderG60]

aclimation is dumb, especially for zoo's

at most for anything i buy, it gets no more then 10 min floating and then in it goes.

dont waste your time

[fussoverthis]

I had four different kinds of zoas that were hitchhikers on my LR. They are thriving.

I temperature acclimate all corals - that's all.

Oh, well...lighting acclimation is also important.

[Eight]

I never acclimate corals and I haven't lost any yet due to this.

Shrimp and starfish, however are another matter entirely. I acclimate those over the course of an hour usually. I used to just dump them in and then wonder why they always died within 48 hours.

[masterqaz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=5098547#post5098547 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by orb
anthony calfo's "book of propagation" touches on that subject. it says that this method works great on tidal creatures-they just act like the tide has come in. dry shipping is successful with xeniids, zoanthids, sps, etc....good book highly recommended. hth not so much with the xeniids as if exposed to air they are 90 percent more likely to die then if shipped in water. Very sensitive to air. I've tryed...doesnt work very well.

[jessiesgrrl]

Isn't someone doing a research study on this at the moment? I wanted to say Miguel (with volunteers- not consumers) at Fraggle Reef?

Miguel, you out there? Help me out?
:D
Laurie

[organism]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7995907#post7995907 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jessiesgrrl
Isn't someone doing a research study on this at the moment? I wanted to say Miguel (with volunteers- not consumers) at Fraggle Reef?

Miguel, you out there? Help me out?
:D
Laurie


yup, there's a giant study being undertaken to see which corals do well under what conditions with damp shipping, and how to use that to drastically lower shipping costs

unfortunately, it's a slow process since no other companies want to help fund the study (free corals are expensive), so I expect it'll be at least december before any good results are ready. since I'm going over it species by species, I may release a species specific study for each one, so that people can start using the results to better ship stuff, we'll see how it goes though

one thing I can say for certain is that thin skinned mushrooms such as small hairy mushrooms don't fare well at all, whereas thick skinned mushrooms like tonga mushrooms tend to do well

[organism]

also, as for acclimation, all I do is float acclimate for temp and then toss them in, never had any ill effects on doing that to zoos, lps, softies, and sps, corals are much more touchy to acclimation to tank lighting than anything else

[Julian H]

Eric borneman has an artical about this, he did some tests and it seems that the reasons paper strips are good is because:

1.)Better 02 transfer

2.)No fouling

2.)Better insulation

The first and second are extremely important because fouling causes 02 deprivation, which is the main killer of shipments.
(I have not read the article in a long time, so I may have missed something. Sue me.)

[2006]

I don't acclimate anything, fish included. Ten minute dip using water from the bag and then into the tank they go.

[650-IS350]

polyps don't need to be acclimated really, just temp acclimated not water parameter acclimated ( like a drip acclimation ) not needed they are not fish nor invert.

They also only need to be acclimated to the aquarium lighting.

[jjmcat]

Mine go right from the bag to a cup of coral dip then to the tank.

[the808state]

CoRals were first shipped "dry" back in the late 70s early 80s and have been done so for years.

[Fishindude88]

I temp. acclimate everything, including my fish. I don't lose any coral and seldom lose a fish.

[Pufferpunk]

I have had great success shipping in wet paper towels. Much better than in water, even for 2 day shipping of zoanthids.

[biger]

since they are always temp aclimated what do u all think the best temp is for zoos and palys?

[650-IS350]

76-79 NOTHING more than 83

[biger]

Thx, I am running 77-78

[innercirclepro]

i didn't finish reading to see if someone post but the book i read, since forgotten the tidal talks about dry skipping and its benefits. of the benefits the hitchhikers , cope pods ect, may die off during shipping causing an ammonia spike or excess toxins in the water. the coral then sits in that water for hours as opposed to if the pods run out of the rock and die its not in direct, constant contact with the coral.
well that's what i understood at least.

[Skipper]

Here's a couple of articles by Eric Borneman on this subject. He uses the "damp" shipping method quite a bit.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-11/eb/index.php

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-12/eb/index.php

[gmigmi]

almost all zoa's shipped in to Israel are shipped dry with no paper towel, just placed in a bag with just a bit dampness left from the tank it was held prior to shipment, i don't remember any zoa arrive dead even though most take 24-48 hours to arrive here, i even recall a shipment from Vietnam that got stuck en-route in Germany and arrived after approx. 90 hours and all zoas were totally fine.

[cloak]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=5101940#post5101940 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Eight
I never acclimate corals and I haven't lost any yet due to this.

Shrimp and starfish, however are another matter entirely. I acclimate those over the course of an hour usually. I used to just dump them in and then wonder why they always died within 48 hours.

+1.

I'll give snails awhile though.

[cloak]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14151130#post14151130 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 650-IS350
76-79 NOTHING more than 83

My 20 went from 77.0 to 84.7 between the hours of 9am to 5pm the other day. No problem with various zoa's. My old 60 has hit almost 88 on rare days and the various zoa's didn't seem to mind that either.

FWIW.