How to acclimate a fish to an aquarium?
Everyone needs time to get accustomed to a new environment, so does your newly purchased fish. Imagine you take a long trip to a foreign country, you will get a little bit of sickness after all. Same as your fish with the journey from a pet store aquarium to a temporary plastic bag and finally your tank. However, they may suffer more than sickness. Fish are very sensitive to even minor changes. Sudden changes in continuity, like the transport we described, may get them shocked and even perished.
In order to prevent it happening, we introduce you to the acclimation process below. By conducting it, your fish will have enough time to slowly and properly adapt to the new environment, your aquarium.
** IMPORTANT: Before you carry out the acclimation process, please ensure there are no lights on or around the tank where the fish will live (we want to emulate the shipping environment which the fish just survived by not exposing them to any bright lights to reduce the appearance of stress or trauma to the fish). Light shock can (whether it is from natural or artificial light) be unfavorable. Please note: Our fish coming out of the box will look very sluggish. Sometimes the fish even appear not to breathe... This is due to the tranquilizer and lower temperatures slowing the fish’s metabolism. Please make sure to acclimate the fish with our guide and your splashy pet will be splashy in a very short time.
Recommended equipment:
- Airline tube; and
- A 16oz cup or a bucket of up to 5 gallons.
A step-to-step acclimation process:
- Turn off aquarium lights (or place your aquarium lights to the moonlight setting). Also, make sure the room light where you unbox your fish is also dimmed.
- Float the sealed bag in the aquarium for at least fifteen 15 minutes to 30 minutes - keep the bag sealed and do not open it yet.
- This step allows the water from the shipping bag to gradually match the temperature in the aquarium, while maintaining a high level of dissolved oxygen.
When the water volume in the bucket doubles, discard half of the water and begin the drip process again until the volume doubles once more (which should take about one hour).
It is not a complicated process at all. However, it requires your patience and meticulousness. Just put a little bit more effort and you will find hard work pays off. Your splashy fish will happily splash around inside your aquarium upon the successful acclimation.