Arrive Alive Guarantee:
- You must be available to receive your livestock once it arrives, you will get a tracking number the day before delivery, please be sure to be there to receive your delivery. If not, this will void our warranty.
5 Day Stay Alive Guarantee:
- We guarantee that your new species will stay alive for 5 days after you receive your new animal, if for any reason you have a claim, you will be required to submit a picture or return of the deceased animal along with a water sample. We may request a sample of your aquarium water to determine the loss of the animal, a container will be mailed out to you to submit the sample in. If your water quality was not adequate to house and keep the animal no warranty or credits will be issued.
- If a loss is deemed you will be credited for the animal on your next order, no cash refunds will be honored
- No other warranties will be deemed on any livestock or coral purchases
- The AccuDrip is a great product for acclimation, be sure to check it out below & grab one at checkout
Aquatic Sealife Suggested Acclimation procedures:
Why Acclimate?
- The reason why acclimation is necessary is simple: the chemical makeup of the water in which the aquatic life is packaged is different from your aquarium water chemistry (i.e. water temperature, pH, and salinity). Aquatic life such as fish, and especially invertebrates (including corals), are very sensitive to even minor changes in water chemistry. The goal of acclimation is to gradually introduce your new aquatic life to the water chemistry found in your aquarium at a controlled rate to avoid distress.
- The acclimation process is complete when equilibrium is reached, where the temporary container housing new arrivals shares the same water chemistry as your aquarium, and your new arrival appears adjusted to these conditions. Since different species have varying levels of tolerance, different methodologies are required to control the rate of change experienced during the acclimation process
- Proper acclimation is the key to successful introduction of new aquarium arrivals, we at Aquatic Sealife recommend the drip method of acclimation to floating your new fish, corals or invertebrates that most species are sensitive to sudden changes in water chemistry. We want you to be successful and give your new arrivals the best survival rate possible. Remember take your time and double the volume of water, during acclimation it is also good to provide air via an air stone.
Acclimating Saltwater Aquarium Fish with the drip Line Method:
- One of the leading causes of death for newly acquired saltwater (and freshwater) fish and invertebrates is shock caused by abrupt changes in their environment, specifically salinity levels, water chemistry, and temperature. If a bit of time and effort are invested by properly acclimating the new arrivals to their new environment undue stress and fatalities can be avoided.
- Abrupt and extreme changes in salinity, water temperature and/or water chemistry all cause a certain amount of stress which can literally shock the fish or invertebrate to death. If all three of these factors are drastically changed at the same time it can lead to a potential disaster.
The Pros
- The drip line or trickle acclimating method is a safe and gentle way to introduce saltwater fish into a new home and is a fairly simple one to perform.
- Once the drip line is started and the flow rate is set, it pretty much takes care of itself.
- This procedure can be used to acclimate all types of marine as well as freshwater fish and invertebrates.
- Once you have your drip line method equipment set up, the next time you need to acclimate new fish or invertebrates you will be able to set it up in about a minute or so.
- Livestock that needs a long acclimation period, such as marine shrimp (which are very susceptible to pH shock) can easily be acclimated over long periods of time, even overnight.
The Cons
- This method can take some time to complete, often up to two hours, depending on the size of the acclimation container being used.
- Setting up is a little more involved than with other acclimation methods.
- If you are acclimating more than one fish, this means you have to either use a separate acclimation container for each one or put them all together in the same one. If you combine the fish, they may fight and injure each other even before you can get them into your aquarium, especially if they are of the same or similar species.
- It is possible to move too fast and not allow adequate time for proper acclimation.
Acclimation Instructions
- Put the fish with all the bag water in a bucket or container of sufficient size for the fish to be reasonably covered with the water.
- Place an air stone in the bucket or container and supply it with air from an air pump.
- Set the bucket on the floor next to the aquarium you will be placing the fish into when done.
- Using some plastic air line tubing and an air value, set up and run a siphon drip line to the bucket from the aquarium into which you will be placing the fish.
- Start the siphon and slowly allow the aquarium water to drip into the bucket, using the air valve to adjust the drip-rate.
- When the water dripped into the bucket equals about two to three times the volume of the bag water you started with, test the pH, salinity, and temperature of the bucket water to see if these parameters match that of your aquarium water. When they match, acclimation is complete.
- Gently remove the fish and place it into the source aquarium of the drip water.
- Add new water into the aquarium to replace the water dripped into the acclimation bucket (this actually provides a beneficial partial water change to your aquarium).
Tips
- It doesn't hurt to add an ammonia buffer or destroyer such as Prime by Seachem or AmQuel to the bag water in the bucket with the fish in it prior to starting the procedure, as ammonia buildup may still occur while the fish is kept here no matter how long completion of acclimation takes.
- You don't want to set the water drip-in rate too fast, nor too slow. In most situations, one drop per second will be about right.
- If you are acclimating several fishes at one time and any are of a toxin-releasing or poisonous stinging nature (e.g. volitan lionfish), it is best to acclimate such species individually in a container of their own.
