correct coral acclimation

[bobbo443]

please tell us the proper way to acclimate our coral!! we are new at it and aren't quite sure


thanks
fawn & bob

[Clownfishman]

Welcome to TRT... there are various ways to do it..

The way I do mine is, float the bag for 20 minutes to get the water temp right in the bag... Then open the bag and put 1/2 cup saltwter from you tank in the bag and wait 5 minutes, then put another 1/2 cup and wait five minutes, do this until the bag is full, then empty about half of the water out, refill the bag using same method as above and empty, refill the bag once more using same method as above then remove coral and place where you want it.. Don't empty any bag water in tank...

This is the way I do it, others do it other ways...

[bobbo443]

clownfishman, we were told we didnt have to acclimate the coral when putting in the tank because our lighting and such was good....should i confront or is this possible? thank you i feel really stupid if so cause i read up a little but beleived....

[Geoff]

Welcome to TRT!!!



you always need to acclimate. you can never match the chemistry between two systems exactly. there will always a temp or salinity difference. even the drive home from the LFS will change the temp in the bag. do you know what the salinity of the tanks at your LFS is? most LFS have thier tanks pretty low, like 1.020. i like to keep my tank at 1.026.

i pretty much follow clownfish's technique. i generally take 2 hours to acclimate my critters. i let them sit to temp equalize for a half an hour. i then add water every fifteen minutes for the next hour and a half.

G~

[mapster]

Really it depends on how your tanks parameters and lighting correspond to the conditions in the tank the coral is coming from. Its a good idea to know the ph and specific gravity of the tanks at your LFS. If the parameters are the same and the lighting is comparable then its probably safe to float the bag until the temp is regulated and then place the coral right into the tank. The further off the parameters are the more care and time should be taken to ensure the corals health.

Any sudden changes in Ph, SG or temp can "shock" a coral and it may never recover. Corals also need to be acclimaed to lighting if your tank ha more intense lights than where it came. Any corals shipped overnight (bought online) should always (in most cases) be carefully acclimated.

What type of coral was it and has it shown any signs of stress since you introduced it?

[bobbo443]

thanks for the info it is very much appreciated