When will a fish (coral, anemone) die if not properly acclimatized ?

[joegoersch]

If a fish dies a month after introduced into an aquarium, could that be from improper acclimatization ? How long before a fish improperly acclimatized would die ?

Same question, but for coral and anemone ?

[mcgyvr]

Ive only drip acclimated 1 fish ever in my 15+ years of this hobby..
I only float the bags for 10 minutes to temp adjust and in the tank they go..
Only had 1 fish die a few days after being added to a tank.
Ive never done a QT on anything either..fish or corals

If there is a problem from acclimation its hours to a few days max IMO...not a month

[tjm9331]

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

Ive never done a QT on anything either..fish or corals

I'm really surprised to hear this from you Mac, I certainly don't have a problem with it cause I don't really QT either. I do however put any new fish through TTM. Do you at least do this?

[mcgyvr]

Originally Posted by tjm9331

I'm really surprised to hear this from you Mac, I certainly don't have a problem with it cause I don't really QT either. I do however put any new fish through TTM. Do you at least do this?

I'm a straight up rebel!!!!

I don't do anything but float the unopened bag for maybe 10 minutes then cut open the bag and pour it right into my tank.. water/creature and all..

Never had a problem..

[aquamann183]

Yeah, I'm a little surprised too mcgyvr! You always seem like a by the book kind of guy, haha.

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[sde1500]

Originally Posted by aquamann183

Yeah, I'm a little surprised too mcgyvr! You always seem like a by the book kind of guy, haha.

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[mcgyvr]

Originally Posted by aquamann183

Yeah, I'm a little surprised too mcgyvr! You always seem like a by the book kind of guy, haha.

I would say that QT/acclimation is probably the only thing I don't do by the book in this hobby (well..close to it anyways)..
It just hasn't come back to bite me in the arse yet..

Acclimation though IMO is something that can cause more harm than good and I feel that often the stress of acclimation is worse than the quick shock of not doing it.. Sort of a pull of the bandaid quick type of thing..

I almost always buy locally too so long shipping times,etc.. aren't an issue and I make sure that I trust the supplier and don't buy from a tank where I can see ich/sick fish,etc...

But yes.. I'm rolling the dice and it will likely eventually come back to haunt me.. But I just haven't done it and haven't had a problem so I keep pushing my luck..

[tjm9331]

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

I would say that QT/acclimation is probably the only thing I don't do by the book in this hobby (well..close to it anyways)..
It just hasn't come back to bite me in the arse yet..

Acclimation though IMO is something that can cause more harm than good and I feel that often the stress of acclimation is worse than the quick shock of not doing it.. Sort of a pull of the bandaid quick type of thing..

I almost always buy locally too so long shipping times,etc.. aren't an issue and I make sure that I trust the supplier and don't buy from a tank where I can see ich/sick fish,etc...

But yes.. I'm rolling the dice and it will likely eventually come back to haunt me.. But I just haven't done it and haven't had a problem so I keep pushing my luck..

Fair enough.

I don't acclimate either, I do the same as you, float the bag in the bucket. I do however poor the fish into a small colander and discard the LFS water, although given the fact that I'm discarding the bucket water in 3 days anyways I suppose I can just dump fish, water and all in the first bucket...

I unfortunately have been burned by not at least performing TTM so I at least do that for the allotted 12 days after that though fish goes in the DT

[Daddyrawg]

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

Ive only drip acclimated 1 fish ever in my 15+ years of this hobby..
I only float the bags for 10 minutes to temp adjust and in the tank they go..
Only had 1 fish die a few days after being added to a tank.
Ive never done a QT on anything either..fish or corals

If there is a problem from acclimation its hours to a few days max IMO...not a month

what about the difference in salinity from LFS and your tank? that doesnt cause any issues when not drip acclimating?

I too am shocked you don't QT lol.. my LFS owner is against QT also.. interesting.. more stress in QT environment he says.. but I like to observe without treatment for 2-3 wks just to be safe

[Uncle99]

Originally Posted by Daddyrawg

what about the difference in salinity from LFS and your tank? that doesnt cause any issues when not drip acclimating?

I too am shocked you don't QT lol.. my LFS owner is against QT also.. interesting.. more stress in QT environment he says.. but I like to observe without treatment for 2-3 wks just to be safe

That a great question and consideration if your DT is a reef. If your tank is 1.026 and most fish are transported/kept at 1.019 ish, this will cause some respiratory stress. It generally looks like the fish gets lathargic and stays quiet. Sometimes they recover, some say not. But likley days.......

So I first check the bag salinity then float the bag. I adjust the water in the bag for both salinity and temp, but just over an hour. Since I have done this fish go in the DT and are swimming around normally almost instantly.

In addition, snails do poorly when salinity is not matched, same with stars and clams.

I do QT where it makes sense, but only for a period that makes sense.
I only medicate if there is a need.
I did not QT the pod eaters cause they would starve.
I did not QT the sand sifters for the same reason.
I do QT tangs always as they are prone to Ick. But I don't QT for 30, 1 week, at 1.019, then a daily upgrade of .002 for the the second week up to DT salinity and then drop.
Just dropped a yellow and blue in 2 weeks ago and I am amazed, both went instantly to swimming/grazing mode.

Corals, no QT, but dipped, brushed and inspected
Nem, again just salinity and temp

I think each stress you remove leads to better success.

[Daddyrawg]

Originally Posted by Uncle99

That a great question and consideration if your DT is a reef. If your tank is 1.026 and most fish are transported/kept at 1.019 ish, this will cause some respiratory stress. It generally looks like the fish gets lathargic and stays quiet. Sometimes they recover, some say not.

So I first check the bag salinity then float the bag. I adjust the water in the bag for both salinity and temp, but just over an hour. Since I have done this fish go in the DT and are swimming around normally almost instantly.

In addition, snails do poorly when salinity is not matched, same with stars and clams.

I do QT where it makes sense, but only for a period that makes sense.
I only medicate if there is a need.
I did not QT the pod eaters cause they would starve.
I did not QT the sand sifters for the same reason.
I do QT tangs always as they are prone to Ick. But I don't QT for 30, 1 week, at 1.019, then a daily upgrade of .002 for the the second week up to DT salinity and then drop.
Just dropped a yellow and blue in 2 weeks ago and I am amazed, both went instantly to swimming/grazing mode.

I think each stress you remove leads to better success.

I have had some poor results with snails lately.. like buy 6 and only 1 survives..i dont have hermit crabs either.. cant figure out why they dont last.
LFS has salinity usually from 21-23.. so I drip acclimate but still they dont last.. wonder why that is.. dont think I have any crazy parasites in tank causing there demise.... although my 3 nessarius snails havent died..

it's mainly turbo snails or trocheuas snails that dont make it

[Uncle99]

Are they LFS or shipped?
If dripped more than half hour, temp drops unless you heat.
I do them in the bag, float and adjust salinity day 20-30 minutes then in they go
No deaths yet, and I have no snail predators so all still alive 24 months now

[hkgar]

Not doing TTM/Qt has bit me in the arse. Lost 8 of ten fish several years ago to Ick as I was tom the bag to the tank. Now I adjust he first TTM tank to the sg of the incoming fish and temp acclimate and then into the TTM

[Daddyrawg]

Originally Posted by Uncle99

Are they LFS or shipped?
If dripped more than half hour, temp drops unless you heat.
I do them in the bag, float and adjust salinity day 20-30 minutes then in they go
No deaths yet, and I have no snail predators so all still alive 24 months now

LFS... wonder if it has something to do with my water temp always at 80

[Tripod1404]

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

Ive only drip acclimated 1 fish ever in my 15+ years of this hobby..
I only float the bags for 10 minutes to temp adjust and in the tank they go..
Only had 1 fish die a few days after being added to a tank.
Ive never done a QT on anything either..fish or corals

If there is a problem from acclimation its hours to a few days max IMO...not a month

Me neither, corals and fish go directly in after temperature equalization and I have been doing it this way for at least 10 years. Funny enough, I drip acclimate snails and shrimp.

I dont qt fish that look healthy. I am very selective in terms of the fish I buy. I wont buy a sicky fish or a fish that shares the tank with a sicky fish. And if the store has any bluntly sick fish (something like a fish covered with ich etc.) I wont buy any fish from that store. For tenish years, it worked for me. I probably have ich in my tank, I had it about 3 years ago and not treated any fish for it. It disappeared on its own in about ~1 years, it might be still present but even then at very low numbers, so I dont really care.

I did buy some sick expensive fish for very cheap treated them in a qt. Like a $10 purple tang. But I wont do it for a healthy fish.

[ibryson]

Interesting advice on this thread! I planned on setting up my current 40gallon as a QT for my 180g once I get it set up. Maybe I shouldnt focus on a QT as much as I originally planned. It seems to be quite common to skip on the full QT process!

[Tripod1404]

Originally Posted by ibryson

Interesting advice on this thread! I planned on setting up my current 40gallon as a QT for my 180g once I get it set up. Maybe I shouldnt focus on a QT as much as I originally planned. It seems to be quite common to skip on the full QT process!

No dont. Just because it worked for us doesn't mean it will always work. After several years, with more experience, you might eventually switch to no qt route. No qt requires good observation skills, you need to know what to look for on a healthy and sick fish. FOr now just do the qt and enjoy. Plus no qt route will only work with mature systems. On a new tank, anything can wipe a tank.

In other words, do what people tell, not what they do .

[ca1ore]

I QT more religiously than I did when first coming to this hobby. I do think acclimating fish to exact salinity is overrated but a proper QT is not.

[mrg02d]

No QT for me, I just temperature acclimate corals and do the cup of water routine for fish.

[Pslreefer]

No qt club here. I can almost guarantee there are far larger fish losses by qt’ing a fish than not due to the increased stress of doing such.

[Sk8r]

More fish have likely died from mishandled acclimation than have died from being put into tank. ALL acclimation does that matters, really, is adjust the temperature---floating the bag can do that---and matching the salinity within .002 of tank. Quarantine or prophylactic treatment is another choice, but here's the straight deal: a fish can tolerate a sudden salinity drop of more than .002 without a problem, but an abrupt rise of more than that can damage kidneys. Death usually results in about 3 days from kidney damage. Not usually longer. You know from your own body that flushing your kidneys is an operation that takes TIME, so as you're making salinity changes, remember you're waiting for this fish essentially to pee away the change and adjust. Give him a little time as you're raising his salinity to match.

But the easiest fish-reception of all is to ask your fish-source what salinity they ship at, set a quarantine tank to match that, and when your fish arrives, just float the bag 15 minutes to equalize the temperature, take him out of the bag, discarding his shipping water, and put him straight on into your qt, no muss, no fuss, no other mystical process.

[lagatbezan]

Whenever you get a fish from a LFS have them put some of the tank water in a separate small bag or container for you. This way when you get home, you can float acclimate the fish bag and open up the water bag and check the salinity and adjust your qt accordingly to match the same sg of the fish. I always keep my qt at 1.025 and then adjust accordingly while the fish is temp adjusting if I have to by adding fresh water to the qt. long term dip acclimation can do more harm then good.
I religiously QT everything wet. learned my lesson the hard way. Never again.

[Louis Z]

So to those that are just starting out . I do recommend a QT/HT . Most experienced aquarists can spot a disease and pass on a fish. Those that don’t qt are taking a chance. Some hard to keep fish won’t do well in a Qt Setup but in that situation I set up a tank for them only. I unfortunately have many LFS stores and all of them have illness/parasites in their systems. Most of these systems are plumbed together and if fish is sick in one tank then the others have it or it’s in the water and going to have it . I just wish these parasites weren’t so overwhelming lethal. And thank you for warning others to not follow in your footsteps if you walk on the wild side .

[Floowid]

This has all been excellent information about acclimation. I used to bag acclimate everything, always worked because I only buy locally and have never had anything shipped. I can see how dangerous long bag acclimation is on shipped fish.

But in answer to the original question, if something dies a month after being introduced then it isn't acclimation (as has already been stated). Instead it could be something like poor collection (cyanide) or parasites in the case of angels or other fish prone to parasitic infection, or it could possibly be the environment in the tank is not suitable.

[Sk8r]

principal likelihoods: disease or injury; ---or cyanide-caught fish. Or it starved (as when you put a dragonet into a brand new tank with no copepods.) A third possibility is a hidden predator like a mantis, eunicid, or pistol shrimp; stray current (if everything died); or the tank was too small for the fish and they went after each other.