# Drip accumulation is it worth it?



## will5 (Oct 26, 2005)

Now I know that there are people out there that swear by this. But I can't help but think it's a waist of time. Take my two recent purchases. I bought three SEA'S for my ten gallon and yes, I know they will have to be moved into my 29 gallon. So I floated for 15 minutes and then drop them in without out the water from the store. Its been two weeks and no goners. Now three days ago I went to petsmart and got three neon tetras and two Otto's again I floated them for 15 minutes then drooped them in. No one is dead yet. Now I know that neon's and Otto are pretty fragile. But they all are fine and well and they even ate on the first day. Now got a fish when I was seven and have never not have had fish again and it's always been the same float for 15 minutes and dump. Now not one fish has died in the first two or even three days. As luck would have it my LAS that is not here any more has always had seven day guarantee. Now why people do the drip thing is beyond me. Because I hear that you still loose some. I think that the drip it self is the reason that many people loose fish/shrimp. It causes more stress than just being dumped after 15 minutes. Now I want this to be kind of a pro and con type thing for new comers to the forum. So post your experiences with drip or non drip fish/shrimp. Thanks.


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## RTR (Oct 28, 2005)

Drip or dump is more dependent on the _differences_ between your water in the tank and that of the source of the fish than anything else. Osmotic shock is a real possibility if the two sets of water parameters are quite different. There are also wide differences in species or stains of fish, and in the adaptations already forced on the fish in transit from their source. Wild-caught fish IMHO deserve a bit of care in transition, Florida farm-bred fish are less demanding, while stock from known local breeders is a good candidate for a dump for me.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

In 99% of the cases, I just float them to acclimate the temp, then put them in the tank. They've always done just fine using that method, and I believe one of the more important aspects is just getting them into clean water, and out of the bag. If they're used to very different conditions than what you have, even the drip method isn't going to be enough to acclimate them in a few hours.

The only time I use a slower acclimation method is with saltwater, but that doesn't apply here.


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## Plattykins (Apr 3, 2005)

When I first started keeping fish, I would float the bag and put the fish in the tank after 20 minutes. After I learned more about pH, I put the fish in a container and ran a piece of air tubing into the container. The reason is that I have a heck of a time gaudging how much water from the main tank to put in the bag (with an eye dropper, mind you) to ease the transition... not to mention the fact that my LFS has a very high pH, whilst mine is quite a bit lower... even out of the faucet. So... maybe there isn't that much of a difference in pH in your case? Heck, I do it even when I'm transferring fish from one tank to another. In this situation, it is the level of Nitrates that differ between tanks.


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## standoyo (Aug 25, 2005)

from experience, the imported fish that just arrived do better with a drip to acclimatise them. we're talking about a 60hrs in transit. airfreight with stop in between.

it's takes care of the temp and the diff in water conditions.

after emptying the fish into the bucket, i put in an airstone.
the bucket is put below the tank and water from tank is dripped into bucket over half an hour to double it's volume. After that i scoop the fish into the tank and throw away the bucket water.

works well enough for my imported south american fishes.


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## asuraX (Jan 26, 2006)

I just drip them because I try to avoid adding water from an outside source, and hopefully avoid ich?


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## will5 (Oct 26, 2005)

*Hi*

No i never put the store/ bag water in my tank. That was a lesson i learned at a younger age. Lets just say i lost a whole tank to so wired ballon body stuff. No will never do that again.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

I should clarify that I never put the bag water in the tank either. After floating them to adjust the temp, I gently pour them into a net over a bucket to catch the bag water, then release them from the net into the tank. They do just fine, even with some of the rarer imported fish.

Another thing to note is that if they've been in transit for a day or more, once you open the bag, you're going to get a huge ammonia spike when the air hits the water, so if you do drip acclimate, you should add something like Amquel right away so they don't wind up with gill damage.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

I've always been one to float and dump fish too, at least until I dumped a batch or Rummynose into my tank and within a couple of minutes all of them were laying on the bottom of the tank! I keep my CO2 high and after retreiving the Rummies from the bottom, I aerated them in a small container and all of them came back just fine. Eventually all succumbed but I'm not sure if it was due to the CO2 poisoning or the source. 

Last year I got a Hanna 98129 meter and began to check out the TDS of the water the fish were bagged in. My tap runs in the low to mid 200's and I have gotten fish from LFS with a TDS of over 1400! Most stores have a TDS around 400-500ppm but that is quite a difference in dissoved solids. I'm not sure exactly what those "Solids" are though. They could be anything from Stress Coat that stores like to squirt into the bags, pH altering chemicals, or lack of water changes on the tanks. 

Between my higher CO2 levels and the difference in TDS readings from LFS water to my water, I only use the drip method now days.


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## valleyvampiress (Feb 18, 2006)

JanS said:


> Another thing to note is that if they've been in transit for a day or more, once you open the bag, you're going to get a huge ammonia spike when the air hits the water, so if you do drip acclimate, you should add something like Amquel right away so they don't wind up with gill damage.


I would really like to know how this happens. This may have contributed to some losses I've had with online fish.

My own experiences have been adding them in right away, only the hearty will survive (those were my beginner fish days). The way I've done it for a while now is open the bag and add a little water from my tank from a cup every 5min. I do this for 25min. This method has done better for me than just dumping them in. Ones I've bought online however seem far more sensitive, so I go slower with the water transition. And yes, my tank was cycled. No ammonia or nitrites.


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## will5 (Oct 26, 2005)

*Hi*

I guess I am going to keep doing it this way. If and when the dump method fails then I will do the drip method. But you can be sure that when that happens you will see another post on how to actually do it. Unless some one wants explain to me how to do and what i need to do it. HINT, HINT.


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## dkfennell (Apr 19, 2005)

I am personally in a quandry on this question. I am supposed to pick up 5 discus on Wednesday from a place where the water's pH is about 7.2. My own tank with CO2 has pH of about 6.4.

According to this article: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/july2004/short.htm, and the followups, stress is best reduced by increasing oxygenation and allowing fish to swim. Although I can drop an air stone in the 5 gallon buckets I drip fish in with, it doesn't give them much room to swim. And given that it takes 2-6 hours to reduce the stress-induced chemicals in the blood, it seems to me that putting them into the bucket, then the tank just doubles the stress. (I could drip them in a 26 gallon tank I have, but given that they come in bags with a small amount of water, I would have to fill the tank up with some other water just so they don't have to lay on their sides. The amount of water needed would be many times that in the bags. If I do that, why not just drop them in their permanent tank?)

The other alternative is to aerate the permanent tank all day and just drop them in (after acclimating for temperature). But this goes against all of my drummed-in bias that discus are so finicky.

Darrell Fennell


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

If fish are shipped to me, I usually put the fish in a specimen container (like the LFS use when they get fish for you), hang it on the tank, and add a cup of tank water every 5 min to the container. It only takes a few additions to fill this container. These containers can be hung on the inside of the tank so the water temp reaches equilibrium with the tank. When it gets close to full, I dump half out and start again. This dilutes any ammonia that may be present in their shipping container. I then add this water to an empty 5g bucket and begin the drip method. 

For the drip method, I simply take a piece of airline tubing and tie it around the center brace on my tank. For tanks without a center brace you could weigh down the airline in the tank somehow (rocks, plant weights, etc) and knot one end or the other. By tightening the knot, I can restrict the flow of water as much as I want. Conversely, by loosening the knot, I can increase the flow if it is too slow. I aim for a drop or two per second and this method usually take a couple of hours to partially fill a 5g bucket.


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## will5 (Oct 26, 2005)

*Hi*

Wow thanks Matt that was a lot of help. Any one else want to give up there method. I know as with every thing else in this hobby there is ALWAYS more than one way to do this. So any one else?


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

valleyvampiress said:


> I would really like to know how this happens. This may have contributed to some losses I've had with online fish.


Here is the theory I've always followed on the dangers of opening the shipping bag and leaving them in that water for the duration of acclimation. I believe this info came with an order of fish from fish2u.com, and it does make perfect sense to me.

"Like other animals, fish produce carbon dioxide as they breathe. When carbon dioxide is dissolved in water, an acid is formed, lowering the pH of the water. Fish also produce ammonia, which can be very damaging.
One of the reasons fish are able to be shipped long distances in closed bags is because the pH in the shipping water drops, making the ammonia non-toxic. The carbon dioxide acts as a tranquilizer. 
_The moment the bag is opened, and exposed to the outside air, carbon dioxide escapes, the pH of the water immediately begins to rise, and ammonia becomes deadly. Fish tissue damage will then occur very quickly"._


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## RTR (Oct 28, 2005)

I would take the quoted advice with a large grain of salt. First, acidification is dependent of the KH of the shipment water. Next it is dependent on the additives used by the shipper - few commercial houses ship in plain water these days. Third it is dependent on the mass per water volume. Too many varaibles to use such a broad brush for me.

IME, a simple cheap inline plastic airline valve is a much easier control method for tubing water flow than a knot if you are using drip.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

I guess it's worth a little experimentation now that you have my curiosity going.

I have a few fish and corals that I'll be ordering sometime soon, so I'll take some samples out of each bag and test them to see what is actually going on in there.


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## GraFFix (Feb 24, 2005)

I always use the drip method. It comes from my reef keeping days and its just the way I do it now. I dont see it being a waste of time. I dump the fish and their water into a bucket next to the tank start a drip line. an hour or 2 later ill usually check the water level if its doubled then Ill add the fish to the tank. I added 12 rumynose tetras a few months ago and still have all 12. Dont know if its because of my acclimation method but I sure dont want to test it either. 

Ill stick with the drip method. Just personal preference


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## cranetech (Feb 1, 2006)

OK, so speaking from many years of experience (not something im likely to say often) Whatever means for acclimating you use, in my experience, is the sure fire way to do everything possible to ensure a smooth transition. It may not always be necessary but the only way to find out is to kill a fish or two (or not) by dropping them in. Personally, i think if they dont die instantly, they may be weakend to the point of susceptibility.
A long time ago i owned an LFS. I managed about 1000gal freshwater. In particular, i had a batch of bettas that fungused almost instantly after dropping them into prepared bowls of the same room temp. that is when i realized i needed to acclimate. I found that my local water was extremely hard so where appropriate, i diluted with RO. anyway, the method i used was manual; every 5-10 min, i would walk around and add small amounts of water to the bags as they floated in the tanks. the floating was not necessary really but it made it easier to add water. The main reason i did this is because i did not want to put any of the bag water in the stock tanks. i never felt comfortable tossing fish in with first acclimating them using this method. I wish i had thought of the airline, that is a great idea. almost total automation.
anyway, so i had great success with survival, usually only 1in25 deaths or so depending on the species.


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