Southwest Reef Co/Acclimation

Southwest Reef Company

Albuquerque's Premium Saltwater Aquarium Store

Acclimating Your Specimen

**Always acclimate your fish seperately from your corals and invertebrates.

You will need
1. Airline Tubing
2. Airline Control Valve (if not available, a simple knot will do)
3. A Bucket, Pitcher, Container etc used strictly for your aquarium. DO NOT use any container that was used for washing the car or house cleaning. Once they have been used for these purposes they are contaminated. A new bucket or container is best.
4. Small cup or bowl suitable enough to retrieve fish from a bucket for introduction to the tank.

STEP 1
Open the bag and place the fish into the bucket with the water from the bag (make sure the fish has enough water to swim upright).

STEP 2
Place airline tubing into your tank and start a siphon into the bucket.

STEP 3
Adjust the drip at the rate of 1 - 4 drips per second, according to need. The trick is to double the volume of water you started with in no less than 15 - 20 minutes.

STEP 4

Gently remove the fish from the bucket with the cup, then slowly pour off all the water back into the bucket. Quickly lower the cup into your aquarium and let the fish free into their new environment. The use of a net is NOT recommended as this can injure the fish. The use of a large, soft net may be necessary in the case of large or dangerous specimens.

Please feel free to to ask if the specimen you are purchasing has any special acclimation requirements.

"Your Success Is Our Success"

Invertebrate Acclimation

Small Inverts: Crabs, Snails, Shrimp, etc, can be drip acclimated just as fish are except for the fact that some, such as Starfish, should not be exposed to open air for more than 1-2 seconds, if at all, and Sponges not at all.

In the case of Starfish it is best to use a small container, where as the water the Starfish came home in can be flushed out into a larger bucket with water from your tank. Once you feel this is sufficient, you may lower the container below the water level and release your specimen into it's new environment.

As for Crabs, Snails, etc, most can be simply floated for temperature adjustment, then moved to a bucket for extraction from their bag and water.

Feel free to ask if the specimen you are purchasing has any special acclimation requirements.

"Your Success Is Our Success"

Coral Acclimation

Most experts agree that Coral Acclimation is very simple with respect to temperature and basic reef parameters i.e. Calcium 375+, Alkalinity 2.5 - 5 MB/L, PH 8.2 - 8.4, Nitrate no more than 10ppm (the closer to Zero the better).

Depending on the time of the year (warm or cold) care should be taken to keep the bag(s) temperature stable - between 70 and 75 degrees farenheit - If warmer or colder, float bag(s) in aquarium for 15 minutes or so. If floating the bags in an aquarium is not practical, place the closed bags into a bucket and introduce enough water from the aquarium to stabilize temperature.

For all, (except air sensitive species, such as Gargonians) open the bag(s) into a bucket one at a time. Remove Coral specimen from the bucket and place into the aquarium. Pay attention to spacing and species compatibility. As for Gargonians, Sea Fans, and the like, follow the directions set for Starfish and Sponges in the Invertebrate Acclimation section.

Feel free to ask if the specimen you are purchasing has any special acclimation requirements.

"Your Success Is Our Success"