Get your new tank
ready and have water conditioners, a thermometer and testing supplies
on hand.
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The most important water parameters to
coordinate when acclimating your new betta are temperature and pH.
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The amount of time needed to acclimate
your new fish may vary from 15 minutes to an hour or more.
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The following weeks after acclimation
are the most critical. Watch your new fish closely for signs of stress
or disease.
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Acclimating Your New Betta
Why Do We Acclimate Our Aquarium Fish?
Fish are hypersensitive to their surroundings and need to be
gently introduced to their new home. If you bring your fish home and
plop him directly into this new tank without acclimating him properly,
he may experience any number of stressors causing severe trauma or even
shock-induced death. It’s vital to check the basic parameters including
temperature and pH before adding fish to their new aquarium.
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Where to Begin the Acclimation Process
There are a few different situations you may find yourself in. You
might have set up an aquarium weeks ago and cycled it to
prepare for
your new fish. You may have a community tank already and have decided
to quarantine your new
fish for the suggested 4 week period before
adding him to the group or you may have decided to do full 100% water
changes and are setting up your aquarium just before the acclimation
process. If you’re setting up a new aquarium, it’s suggested that you
do it 24 hours prior to acclimating your new fish to allow for
off-gassing.
The first step in the acclimation process is to test the water
parameters in your fish’s bag or cup. Check and record the
temperature
and pH. You may also want to check for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, gH
and kh so you know what you’re starting with. After all, once you toss
that old water, you’ll never get that information back. Temperature and
pH, however, are the most critical. Then test and record the
temperature of the new tank. If the temperature is very different from
the bag water (more then 4 degrees Fahrenheit), then I suggest
adjusting the heater accordingly or adding cooler or warmer water to
get it within a few degrees. This will help reduce stress to the fish
as he gets used to the new temperature. If you’ve just set up the new
aquarium, don’t forget to treat the water with aquarium water
conditioners that will effectively neutralize chlorine, chloramines and
heavy metals. Once the water temperature is fairly close, go ahead and
test the pH.
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Adjusting pH
Bettas prefer soft water with a pH between 6.0 – 7.0; however, they can
adjust to a range of pH levels so long as they are consistent and not
rising or falling quickly. If you find that your tank’s pH is different
from the bag water, I suggest you take more time acclimating the fish
rather then altering the pH with chemicals like pH UP or pH DOWN. Those
chemicals tend to make quick drastic changes in the pH only to have
them quickly and drastically revert back to where they were. Remember,
those rapid fluctuations are more dangerous then a stable pH outside of
the ideal range.
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Floating the Bag or Cup
Once you have your parameters
checked and your water conditioned you are ready to float the bag or
cup. If the bag / tank water parameters were already very close then
usually 15 – 20 minutes will be sufficient. If the parameters differed,
then longer may be necessary. If the pH or other parameters were off
then I suggest adding a 1/4+/- cup of new tank water to the bag every
15 minutes for up to an hour or more. This may help the fish to avoid
any shock from pH, ammonia, or other parameters. Once the time is up
you can slowly release the fish trying to avoid adding dirty bag water
to the tank.
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Acclimating is Stressful
Remember, the acclimation process
can be pretty stressful for even the hardiest of fish. Even stretching
the process to an hour or two doesn’t really give the fish enough time
to adjust properly. Be vigilant of your new fish and keep an eye out
for signs of stress or disease,
especially in the first two weeks after
acclimation.
This is just one method for fish acclimation. If you have another, feel
free to write in and we’ll share it with our readers.
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