How do I acclamate fish to a big ph change?

[namukoby]

My sister in law just sent me some of her fish, because their tank is broken, and she needed to get them moved fast. The fish just got here, and the water that they came in has a ph of 7.0, according to my test. My water is 7.8. My big question is what do I do to minimize the shock? It can't be good to just put them into my tank, but I can't just leave them in the 4g pail they are in for very long.

She sent 3 big (3.5-4.5") angelfish, a 3" upside down catfish, and 2 cardinal tetras.

Other info - just in case you need it. I have lots of room in my tank - it is a 120g tank, and it just finished cycling about 1 month ago, and we've been adding fish slowly, as the tank adjusts. We just added a few new fish on friday, and today I just noticed an increase in ammonia - it is at .25 - so it is going into a bit of a mini-cycle. I know it is not the best time to add more fish, but these fish need a home - quickly. I'll monitor the levels closely, and do water changes as often as I need to.

No nitrites, nitrates are at 5ppm.

Existing fish:
13 pristella tetras
5 otos
3 panda corys

New fish (Friday)
1 pl*co
6 black skirt tetras

 

[Lotus]

Keep them in the bucket, and add a cup of water from your tank every 15 minutes or 1/2 hour until you have added at least as much water as was originally in the bucket. Then, you can net them and put them in their new home.

If the bucket is already full, just replace a cup of your tank water and throw out a cup of the other water every 15 mins or 1/2 hour.

 

[namukoby]

Thank-you for your fast response, Lotus. It is good to hear from an expert. I have been slowly adding water, and I will do exactly what you say. Will that be enough of an acclamation process for such a large change? I guess I am a bit paranoid about killing these fish that my sister-in-law has had for years. I've read a few horror stories about ph swings causing entire tanks of fish to die.

 

[Lotus]

As long as you're adding a little at a time, it gives the fish a chance to acclimate to the new pH. If you have lots of time, do it over the course of 3 or 4 hours, and they shouldn't even notice the change. If you have one laying around, an airstone will help keep the fish happier.

 

[namukoby]

Airstone is in. I would never have thought about that. The catfish really seems to like the bubbles, and the others aren't swimming so frantically. I'm sure I can find something to do for the next few hours, so I can stretch out the process. I'll let you know what happens!

 

[nicolleen]

hi,

how come your pH is so high?
if you have raised ammonia levels you have to be particularly careful, as ammonium at this pH is ammonia, which is very toxic for fish. if ammonia levels get too high i would recommend a 50% waterchange.

lg
niki

 

[NoDeltaH2O]

Another nice method to acclimate fish ultra slowly is the "drip method". I use this when I buy fragile fish like otos, glass cats, and tetras. I take the new fish and put them in a bucket with just enough of their old water to keep them comfortably covered. Then I take a piece of airline tubing and run it from the tank they'll go in to the bucket, with a valve on one end to restrict the flow. Then start the suction and the tank water very slowly flows into the bucket. This can take several hours depeneding on bucket size and flow rate. It is a more gradual process than adding cups of water, if you really want to acclimate them as slowly as possible. One thing to keep in mind though, especially in the dead of winter (house cold) or the heat of summer (house cold from AC) is that if the room temp is lower than the tank temp, the water in the bucket will cool off to room temp, then when you net them and put them in the tank they take a several degree temp increase all at once. There is a tradeoff between matching water chemistry and matching water temp. Faster acclimation means warmer water. Slower could mean colder water in the bucket.

 

[namukoby]

Thanks for all of your input. The fish are now in my tank - they have been for about 8 - 9 hours now, and are doing fine from what I can tell. The angels are exploring, as are the cardinals. I haven't found the catfish yet, but I have lots of hiding places for him and I don't want to disturb them too much until they are more settled. I have some questions about the angels - but I'll start a new thread about that.

I have never heard about using the drip method - that would have saved me many trips up and down the stairs. I ended up alternating between adding 1 -1.5 cups dechlorinated tap water (a bit warmer than in the aquarium because the water in the pail had cooled) and the same amount of aquarium water until the ph and temperature in the pail almost matched the tank. The temperature in the pail was still about 1 degree colder than in my tank, but the ph matched, and it had been almost 5 hours since I started.

My Ph is that high, nicollette, because that is what my tap water is. My sister in law lives in a city 3 hours away, and they have lake water as opposed to our river water, and therefore her ph levels are different than ours.

I understand that the ammonia is a problem, and I am concerned. How high is too high? I was thinking I would do 20 - 30 % water changes every week -or when ammonia nears .5 ppm - whichever is sooner. 50% (60g) is just too much for me to do in one day - I have busy kids, and am on a weight lifting restriction - max 25 lbs (2.5g at a time). I don't have a python system, so I must carry the water to the tank.

I was trying to keep adding fish slowly as the tank adjusts as I said in my first post - but, unfortunately, in this case, it was unavoidable. I had just bought the black skirts and the pleco Friday and was not planning to add more for at least another month. Then my sil called Sunday asking if I could take her fish. The fish needed to be out of her tank quickly, and she knew someone who was driving here (which is rare - we live in a small town in the middle of nowhere, on the way to nowhere) from her city, who could bring them.

I am trying to to my best to keep all of the fish healthy, and I am new to all of this, but I am willing to do what I need to to keep the stress on the fish at a minimum. At least these fish have a chance of living in my tank - if I handle it right - which is why I appreciate all of the input and advice from those more experienced than me on this forum.

Thanks again.

 

[nicolleen]

hi namukoby,

I understand that the ammonia is a problem, and I am concerned. How high is too high?

this again depends on the pH. above a pH of about 7.5 ammonia levels should not rise above 0.8ppm recommends JBL for example.

My Ph is that high, nicollette, because that is what my tap water is. My sister in law lives in a city 3 hours away, and they have lake water as opposed to our river water, and therefore her ph levels are different than ours.

i live in europe, it might be different here. here the pH of tap water is kept above 7 in order to keep carbonates in solution and avoid limescale in the transport pipes. once your tank is working, the pH will sink a bit by itself, as the nitrification reduces parts of the hardness and lowers the pH. this is why i was surprised. on the other hand i've got a few pH testing kits here, and the corresponding number of test results.... in general it is recommended to use drop tests rather than stripes.

I was thinking I would do 20 - 30 % water changes every week -or when ammonia nears .5 ppm - whichever is sooner.

sounds all right to me.

50% (60g) is just too much for me to do in one day - I have busy kids, and am on a weight lifting restriction - max 25 lbs (2.5g at a time). I don't have a python system, so I must carry the water to the tank.

i'm not sure what a python system is. i'm lazy, so i just went to the local building/garden center and got a piece that connects my hosepipe to the tap. very handy, no more lifting! i let it out into the rainpipe and fill it up from the tap (slowly and temperated).

my name's actually nicole not nicolette, but no worries
good luck
niki

 

[namukoby]

i live in europe, it might be different here. here the pH of tap water is kept above 7 in order to keep carbonates in solution and avoid limescale in the transport pipes. once your tank is working, the pH will sink a bit by itself, as the nitrification reduces parts of the hardness and lowers the pH. this is why i was surprised. on the other hand i've got a few pH testing kits here, and the corresponding number of test results.... in general it is recommended to use drop tests rather than stripes

Actually, the water in my tank has been constantly 7.8 since it was part way through the cycling process. We have quite hard water - kh is usually around 9 german degrees of hardness - or 160ppm, and Gh is about 13-14 german degrees - about 230 - 250 ppm - which means it has a high buffering capacity, and doesn't drop easily. Just because I'm curious, I tested the water I boiled my driftwood in. It had been boiling for about 4 hours, and was very dark (the tannins in driftwood is supposed to help lower ph.) The ph was still only around 7.6. I do use the drop tests, too.

i'm not sure what a python system is. i'm lazy, so i just went to the local building/garden center and got a piece that connects my hosepipe to the tap. very handy, no more lifting! i let it out into the rainpipe and fill it up from the tap (slowly and temperated).

Unfortunately that won't work for me - all of my taps have decorative spouts except the ones for my clothes washing machine - and then I need to choose either hot, or cold - I can't adjust the temp. (Plus I need to disconnect the washer, which with a family like mine, I'd rather not do - that washer runs almost constantly) I will be able to do that, though once I finish putting the new sink in my bathroom - but that will probably be another month, at least. I will manage, though.

my name's actually nicole not nicolette, but no worries

I'm sorry about that - I knew your screen name was more than 'just' nicole, but I should have looked back to see what it was for sure.

Thanks for the input.

 

[FroggyFox]

a pH of 7.8 is not high haha talkin to a lot of people theirs are way higher including mine which is well into the 8 range, besides that the pH level really doesn't matter much as long as its stable. Ammonia in ANY level is too much for a healthy, established tank and would indicate a problem...but a measurement of .25 or .5 while your tank adjusts to the expanded bioload isn't a problem because we know what's causing the ammonia to jump a little Just keep an eye on the fish for strange behavior and I'd probably test the ammonia and nitrites once or twice before you start breathing too easy. Sounds like everyone is adjusting just fine to your tank!

Totally understand what you mean on the python thing...I was SO not happy when I found out that my faucets weren't gonna work. My outdoor faucets would...but I dont want to put ice cold water into my tanks!! SO I now I just use it to drain the tanks into the bathtub or outside and then use buckets to fill them back up.

 

[nicolleen]

hi namukoby,

We have quite hard water - kh is usually around 9 german degrees of hardness - or 160ppm, and Gh is about 13-14 german degrees - about 230 - 250 ppm - which means it has a high buffering capacity, and doesn't drop easily.

this is actually not hard, but medium. hard water can easily be 30 german degrees. i'm glad you use this unit, as i wouldn't know the ppm. in my part of vienna i'm supposed to have soft water and that is 9°GH and 6°KH. but true, harder water buffers better.

Just because I'm curious, I tested the water I boiled my driftwood in. It had been boiling for about 4 hours, and was very dark (the tannins in driftwood is supposed to help lower ph.) The ph was still only around 7.6. I do use the drop tests, too.

driftwood gives off a lot of colour, which is humous acids, (tannin itself is colourless), but usually not enough for a pH change. you can use oak leaves for example, or the cones of the alder tree, that will soften your water and should lower pH quite a bit with your hardness, or filtering over peat does a lot as well. these methods are not recommended while cycling though, as they act slightly antibiotic.

all of my taps have decorative spouts

are you sure? mine are decorative, and i didn't even know that i could take out the little ring where the water comes out. it has a standardized thread where i connect that connector. it's called "perlator" over here.

don't worry about my name! nobody here seems to give away his real name, and it's not necessary at all. it's about exchanging experiences and information!

lg
niki

 

[namukoby]

you can use oak leaves for example, or the cones of the alder tree, that will soften your water and should lower pH quite a bit with your hardness, or filtering over peat does a lot as well. these methods are not recommended while cycling though, as they act slightly antibiotic.

Thanks for the info. I really don't want to start messing with the ph, though. I think I'll just let it be, and let the fish adapt to what I already have.

are you sure? mine are decorative, and i didn't even know that i could take out the little ring where the water comes out. it has a standardized thread where i connect that connector. it's called "perlator" over here.

I am quite certain that my water spouts are too decorative. I installed them all myself. None of them have removable rings to attach threads to (I even have an adaptor similar to what you are talking about - I used it when I had a portable dishwasher). The 2 bathroom sinks (that are finished) are 'waterfall' spouts (they are flat, and have an opening of about 1/4' by 3' wide. The showers have typical shower heads, and are not very close to the aquarium. The kitchen is a sprayer faucet, which is much like a shower head and is 2" in diameter, with many smaller holes in it. I have been playing with the idea of trying to disconnect the sprayer under the sink, and attaching a hose under there. It would work, but it is still a lot of work to disconnect (and re-connect) it every time I need to fill the aquarium. I will be fine using the bucket for now, as long as I don't have to spend more than 1 hour at a time doing it. I can change 30 galllons in about an hour by carrying pails.