How to acclimate your fish & shrimp

How to acclimate your fish and shrimp

Fish and Shrimp will be stressed and will not show normal colours right out of the bag from shipping. They will need to acclimate in their new home for several days in stress-free conditions to begin to show true colours

We acclimate fishes or shrimp from shipping to prevent losses due to changing water conditions, it is necessary to carefully acclimate your new fishes and shrimp to their new homes to ensure your success

If your fish were packed in Breathing Bags, do not float the bags in your aquarium or pond.

The Breathing Bags cannot breath in water, only in air. If you have Breathing Bags, there will be no air in the bags and they will have writing on them that says they are Breathing Bags. Non-breathing bags will have air in them that the fish are using to get oxygen. Follow the breathing or non-breathing instructions as needed for your shipment:
 

Method for Breathing Bags
Do not float the Breathing Bags in the aquarium or pond. The fish will not have sufficient oxygen if the Breathing Bags are floated. Open the bags and pour out 1/3 of the water into a clean bucket. You may use an aquarium net to prevent the fish or shrimp from falling out of the bag. Replace the water removed from the bag with water from your aquarium or pond. After five minutes, repeat the 1/3 volume replacement procedure. After another five minutes, replace 1/3 of the volume again. Finally, after waiting five more minutes, the fishes or shrimp can be moved from the bags to the aquarium or pond.

Method for non- breathing bags
After turning the lights off to reduce stress, Place the fish or shrimp in their plastic bags in the aquarium where they will reside. Allow the bags to float in the tank for about 15 - 30 minutes. If the fish appear distressed, open the bags and roll down the top of the bags so that they are open and floating at the surface. A small portion of tank water may be added to the bags. After 15 - 30 minutes, the fish can be released into the aquarium.


If you need any additional help with acclimating your new fish, just ask. Email us at support@handpickedaquatics.com