A BUNCH of critters and corals arriving tomorrow.. Acclimation?

[TomV]

Thanks to my friend Dana (at Dana's Caribbean Critters), I have this list of critters and corals coming in tomorow:

10 Nassarius Snails
10 Turbo Grazer Snails (Astaria)
50 Blue Leg Hermits
1 Serpent Starfish
1 Coral Banded Shrimp
1 Sally Lightfoot Crab
1 Corky Sea Finger Gorgonia
1 Yellow Whip Gorgonia
1 Small Purple Gorgonia
2 Ricordea
1 Bunch of Feather Caulerpa (for my Fuge)
2 Emerald Crabs
10 Golden Zo's (Same button polyps that I have now, just more of em. )

Now, what I was planning to do was Drip Acclimate all listed here.

What do you folks do? What are your methods? What would you do in my situation?

I have about 50 feet of tubing and a bunch of valve fittings.

Share your successful techniques with me!

 

[seafansar]

I've started drip acclimating, but just because you don't have to do much other than set it up. But most of those things are hardy enough that they don't need to be dripped.

I found a corky finger gorgonia on a beach in the Keys. Looked like it had been out of the water for several hours, but was just fine! I thought it was a sponge and was surprised to see the polyps emerge! It's grown about half and inch since I found it 2 months ago. Don't get freaked out like I did if it "sheds." Apparently they will make a waxy skin and then shed it, but stay closed up for a few days before hand. I'm new to corals and stuff, so I thought it was dying! But it looked great afterwards!

 

[Varga]

what I dont get about drip acclimation; doesnt the water in the acclimation bucket get cold while its being dripped into?

 

[seafansar]

Yeah it does drop in temp a little. You can float it to warm it up, but at least the salinity, pH, etc. are the same as the tank's.

 

[TomV]

I would think that while the warm water from your tank is dripping, it takes a while for the whole volume to cool down..

I plan to drip for an hour or two. Hopefully that will be enough. Astarea snails have always been tough for me with a lot of die off before because I didn't drip.

 

[Rcpilot]

I just float the bags in the tank. Open each one after 10 minutes and squirt a turkey baster of water into the bag. Wait 10 minutes. Then open the bag and squirt another turkey baster of water into each bag. Wait 10 minutes.

When the bags get full, dump 90% of the water.

Squirt another turkey baster of water in the bag. When the bag is 50%--75% full -- remove the coral and drop it in the tank.

It's not as easy as drip acclimation, but it works.

I usually acclimate about 2--3hrs for most fish, inverts and corals.

Snails must be acclimated AT LEAST 3hrs. They are EXTREMELY sensitive to changes in salinity and pH. 5hrs--6hrs would be better, but most people won't take the time to do it.

NEVER put the water from the bags into your tank. NEVER

 

[seafansar]

I don't agree that snails need to be acclimated for 3 hours! I didn't acclimate that long with any of my snails, and I haven't lost any. In the Keys I found some Astarea snails that were out of the water or in shallow pools of water. What if it rained? Think they would die from the change in salinity?!

 

[slakker]

I may be blasphemous, but I don't drip anything (I have been just putting the livestock straight in)... either I'm extremely lucky, or acclimation is just a cautionary step and really doesn't make too big a difference in the long run.

I think if I ever got stars or cucumbers, I would drip those... but so far so good on the other stuff.

I'm not recommending this per se as I tend to take more risks than most people. FYI. On your list, I don't have any gorgonias, stars, emerald and sally lightfoot crabs. I have the other stuff and haven't lost anything yet (that I can track anyways). It was touchy with the coral banded, it was in the tank for a month before I ever saw him again. Now that I know where he hides, I see a claw every so often (darn thing is hard to find)!

 

[leahski]

i've done about half and half dripping and spooning...
when i drip i do it for at least 2h...and when the water level gets high enough (tilting the bucket helps) i throw my heater in there and get it up to temp.

spooning i float the bag (daylights off) and put a teaspoon or two of tank water into the bag every 15 minutes for at least an hour or until the water volume doubles.

so far no fatalities. with that many inverts coming in, i think the easiest might just be throwing them all in a bucket or two (one for corals one mobile inverts?) with a heater and dripping for a couple hours.

 

[BarbMazz]

I just added a bunch of critters; snails, hermits, crabs, serpent star, sea cukes, gorgonians, sponge, coral, condy, flower anem, this past weekend.

I rinsed the outside of the bags with RO water.
I floated the bags.
I tested the pH.
I tested the salinity.

I grouped the bags in the tank by the salinity/pH levels so I wouldn't mix them up.

For the bags where salinity and pH were off the most, I added less water more slowly... every 15 min. I slowly dribbled the water down the side of the bag.

For the bags where the salinity and pH were closer to the tank, I added a bit more water, 1/4c, a little more often, every 5-7mins.

I did this the longest for the snails and the serpent star, and any bags with the greatest salinity, pH difference; 3 hrs.

I did it for an hour for the coral and gorgonians and sponges.

I did it for two hours for everybody else.

I was very nervous at first but it became routine, and everybody seems very happy and healthy so far.

 

[vdituri]

Great job Barb!
I probably would not have thought to check all the bags. Thinking they all came from the same place and should therefore be the same.

Great big cosmic karma to you! :hug1:

 

[TomV]

Well, I just got finished setting up my drip systems... Hopefully everything comes in within the next hour.

Gonna be an interesting afternoon! LOL!

 

[Jeremy0322]

This is going to sound weird and probably useless without pictures, but here is what I have been doing and it works wonderful.

Take the bag..preferably double bagged, and cut two holes in the bag above the water line. Then I take a piece of 1/2" PVC pipe and slide it through the holes and then rest the bag in the water, using the PVC to make sure it does not tip over. Just make sure that one end of the PVC is resting on the back wall and the other on the front, so you really only need a piece that is a few inches longer than the width of your tank. Then I take an empty gallon jug and put some of my tank water in it, set it on top of my desk, and then use that water for the drip. That way you are adjusting for the water parameters as well as the temperature all at the same time.

There is a chance I am going to the store tomorrow so If i have to acclimate anything I will use this method and show pictures. Actually, I may have to acclimate stuff anyways even if I dont go to the store..

 

[TomV]

That sounds like a neat way of doing the acclimation, Jeremy! It will be interesting to see it in action.

 

[Jeremy0322]

Hopefully within the next few days I will have to do it again...I will be sure to get pictures this time.