how to acclimate fish to pH?

Question

Some fish can be kept in a wide range of pH, like the convict cichlid, usually 6.5- 7.5. My question is, what if your tank is 6.5, and you go to buy a convict at the store and that pH is 7.5, what do you do?

Answer 1

Convicts are a pretty hardy fish and will tolerate some change, with tough fish like these you can just float the bag like has already been suggested. Roll down the sides of the bag till it is about an inch from the water in the bag, place the bag in the tank and it will float around. I like to keep a bucket close to the tank while doing this because I have trouble trusting the water from the pet stores. I will get a small glass (shot glass works well) and take a couple shots out of the bag and pour them into the bucket, then get a couple shots of your tank water and pour it into the bag. Let it float around in the tank for five minutes then repeat. After doing this about 4 - 5 times the fish should be acclimated enough to put into the tank, I do this by removing the bag from the tank and getting my net, pour the water from the bag into the bucket I have, through the net. so to catch the fish as it comes out, then I add the fish straight to the tank. This will eliminate any of the stores water being put into yours, along with any bacteria or parasite that might be in the water. It will probably be a good idea to rearrange the tank if there are already fish so to disrupt any set territories in the tank.

Answer 2

I would put some plants in the tank it helps control ph I have a 55 gallon and i had the same issue the more plants the better off your tank will be. Also when you check you water check your tap water to see what the ph is and there are some fish that can tolerate a low ph. Ask your local pet store about what fish but i would try the plants and give it about a week to see if that helps. Good look

Answer 3

each 0.1 difference expects you to acclimate your fish for 15 min

To do that the correct way, you float your bag with fish in your tank, i like to use a clamp to hold the bag to the side fo the tank, which prevents it from floating around in the tank and with that falling over and the fish beeing released to early

It is very important to match the pH, or your fish will go into pH shock, which is the main reason new arrival fish die, and not because of the temperature

so if you have a pH difference of 1.0, it means you have to acclimate your fish for at least 21/2 hours
which means, once you open the bag floating, you add a 1/4 cup of your tankwater and repeat that every 15 minutes, after that you just net your fish into your tank and get rid of the petstore water




Hope that helps
Good luck



EB

Answer 4

You do not need to match pH to make the change. Just temper them as you normally would, by adding some of the tank water into the store container in 5 minute increments a few times to acclimate the fish to all the changes in content and bacteria and temperature - then just take them from the bag and put them in the tank.

Answer 5

Just float the bag with the fish in your tank for 10 minutes, then add a cup of your aquarium water to the bag and do that again after another 5 minutes. Then release the fish to his new home and thats all you have to do to acclimate it.

Answer 6

Monster fish keeper is right on the money.
I used to breed convict and there tuff as they come. that 1. in ph will not hurt them at all. When changing ph you just dont want to change it more than 2 points in any 24hour time frame.

Answer 7

I would recommend to do a drip acclimation. They use drip acclimations for saltwater. Just get an air tubing, tie a not, then start a siphon. Try to decrease the siphon from the tank fo a bucket and then let it to about a drop a second.

here is a better explanation:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/general.cfm?general_pagesid=19

Answer 8

By and large, the Cyclid will tolerate the sudden change. They have to, in the wild, all the time.

However it does stress them and that can result in attacks from other resident fish in your tank.

I start by floating the new fish in a plastic bag of its original water environment. This is to stabilise the fish in terms of new tank temperature. I then pour the bag into a Guppy nursery and let the water slowly mix with the new environment, over 24 hours.

Answer 9

place more rock into the tank this will buffer up the pH a good way of doing this is replace the old substrate with coral sand this will provide a more alkaline environment which is what this species of fish enjoys.

Answer 10

Aclimate them slowly by dripping water into the bag for about 2 hours.