Acclimatising your new tank addition is important. Cam Scott from The Fish Room explains the best practice for introducing your new wet pet into your aquarium.
If you have a quarantine aquarium available, we strongly encourage you to quarantine your new pet for four weeks before you introduce it into your main display aquarium. If you do not have one available, we then encourage a very close monitoring system for the first four weeks; remember the faster you detect any issues (if you have any), the better chance you have to successfully treat the problem.
Directions
Step 1: If you know you have fish arriving, we suggest doing a water change and feeding your current aquarium within half an hour of the time you are introducing your new pet. This will lower the nitrate level and fill the bellies of your new fish and should lower the chance of aggression. If you are introducing cichlids or predatory fish, we would encourage changing decorations as well so no territory has been established.
Step 2: Float your bag in your aquarium for 10 minutes. This will ensure the temperature from bag and aquarium match.
Step 3: Open the new bag and remove about a cup of water from the bag and replace it with the same amount from your aquarium.
Step 4: Repeat this process every 15 minutes for two hours. This will ensure that the water chemistry does not shock your new pet.
Step 5: Catch your new fish from the bag and place it into your aquarium. Do not add the bag water to your aquarium.
Step 6: We encourage you to leave your aquarium lights off for the rest of the day to help your new pet settle in.
This article was written by Cam Scott from thefishroom.co.nz