Acclimatising corals

[tontikki]

Have to say that i don't:o basically just float a bag to equalise the temperature, then bath a coral with a reef dip (in tank water), then dump it in. So far and all newcomers i had were open and looking good (in many cases better than they did in lfs) within couple of hours.

What about others, do people generally tend to acclimatise corals or not?

:thumbsup:

[juls]

I do - although somtimes i dont know why ,especialy with zoa's because i then do a fresh water dip before adding to the tank so seems a bit pointless :confused:

[zoe4eva]

in most shops they take the coral out of the bag, give it a swish in tank water and put the coral into the tank!
i do acclimatise though, i dont want to potentially lose a coral cos ive not taken the time, plus i can get little hitch hikers out!

[Lost Boys]

When i get my corals i take my time to ensure that all corals are acclimatised slowly to ensure there long term survival, as yet this has worked 99% of the time.

:thumbsup:

[Bodger]

I acclimatise my corals for 2 hours, add about an egg cupful of tank water every 10 mins, till there are equal amounts of water in the bag, I do this for every coral

Allan

[daneeboy]

Not that ive got many but i dont acclimatise sps. Just leave them stood on the brace bar for a min then dunk them in. LPS i take a bit longer acclimatising.

[ringo]

I do acclimate , I put the coral in the tank floating for at least 20 mins , then put the coral + the shop water into a bucket, (Towel under the bucket keeps my wife happy) remove as much shop water as I can , i.e keep the coral covered in water, check the salinity of the shop water and my tank, check the PH of both, then I use a rigid plastic hook that I can fit a piece of airline to with an air vave, then I drip in tank water at about 5 drops per sec for half an hour, re-check the PH, if close to tank PH I then carefull remove the coral from the bucket and place in the tank. throw all the water in the bucket away, and topup the tank if needed with fresh sea water. Same process for moving fish from QT into the main tank.

[Andy]

nah, look how long some species of coral stay out of water and they do fine.

most corals also secrete a mucus that traps in moisture.

I would acclimate fish and inverts but corals are FAR more hardier.

I even chucked in some Ceriths a few weeks ago to test a theory being intertidal they do not need acclimation. All 10 of them are happy munching away in my tank.

[willjay]

i used to until i learnt coral is ok to just..........

temp adjustment by floating the bag for 20 mins ish
then coral out the bag water, which i throw away
hold in air for 1 miniute so it slimes up a bit and then stright into the tank, i think the best thing to do is just leave it alone then at least for a day or two min, shuffling coral around all the time seems mostly detrimental so best avoided, even then they are mostly ok..... hardy blooming things if the water is ok! :D

[Viv]

very much the same as above of the majority. Just equalise the temp. Touch wood, not had any probs!

[leanne]

I don't generally acclimitise. If the pH is within .2 and the SG within 0.02 I don't bother. If there is a difference I float and add 1/3, 1/2 then 2/3 the volume with tank water over an hour. Never had any deaths (other than nudibranches on a leather)

[MoOriginal]

i make temp same as tank

take it out of bag and talk nicely to it
then plonk it in the tank..

talk nice to it a bit more
then get bored and do something else

cheers

[tontikki]

that's interesting! so the majority do acclimatise corals, but for no apprent scientific reason:)

:thumbsup:

[Ridgeway]

I use the same method as for my fish ie 1hr with regular dose of tank water via the baster to equalize temp and salinity. I increase the time factor if the coral (or fish) has had a longer journey, some are coming 4hrs+ from Germany, then I take 2hrs.

It seems to me though that one point is has been missed here, and that is lights. Personaly I do not switch off my lights when introducing new corals, as I like to see what I'm doing and I don't like to upset eveyone else in the tank. But 2 reefers told me recently that this was very important.

Who switches off their lights ?

[tontikki]

It seems to me though that one point is has been missed here, and that is lights. Personaly I do not switch off my lights when introducing new corals, as I like to see what I'm doing and I don't like to upset eveyone else in the tank. But 2 reefers told me recently that this was very important.

Who switches off their lights ?

true this is also a sort of acclmatisation, though different sort i guess. some corals such as goniopora are quite sensitive to strong lighting, so if in lfs the coral was sitting under t5s, and you bring them home where you have strong halides, then yes you have to dim lighting or shade the area you put the coral in and over next several days gradually increase lighting - i.e. acclimatise the coral. otherwise if you put it straight the coral will suffer (in worst cases even bleach)

the different part is there is no way you could do this lighting acclimatisation when things are the other way around - strong light in lfs and t5s at home. then you just put the coral in. but may be in these cases acclimatisation is not necessary!

:)

[leanne]

Oh I do acclimitise to light - I put layers of netting over the tank if they have come from a t5 tank. I managed to give a pagoda sunburn once onot doing this... It literally blistered! :(

[SVThou]

I always do...I wouldnt want to risk losing anything