plz help have question about acclimation! !

bigjoncoop

Reefing newb
hey my fellow reefers,

I just ordered my clean up crew from live aquria.com. when my package gets here it each species of invertabrites will be In a seperate bag.

here's my ?

I know I need to drip acclimate them. but since there is going to be 8+ bags how should I go about it? can I dump all of them into one container and then drip acclimate them or do I need to do each bag seperate? I'm just trying to get them out of the bags and in my tank asap because of there stressful trip.

thanks for your help.
 
How big is your tank? You should be able to float all them on your tank. I wouldn't mix the animals together without proper acclimatization. The temperature in each bag could be different and also the water conditions. If they can survive an hour or more in their original bags then start with half of the bags and then do the other half.

I'll recommend you to add water of your tank to the bags every fifteen minutes for at least an hour or more. Discharge all the water from the bags after this. Do not add that water to your tank to avoid any unwanted visitors in your tank.

I strongly recommend you to read the instructions that came with them for their proper acclimatization.

Hope you enjoy your new buddies :).
 
Here's LiveAquaria's Acclimation giude:
Drip Method
This method is considered more advanced. It is geared toward sensitive inhabitants such as corals, shrimp, sea stars, and wrasses. You will need airline tubing and must be willing to monitor the entire process. Gather a clean, 3 or 5-gallon bucket designated for aquarium use only. If acclimating both fish and invertebrates, use a separate bucket for each.

  1. Start with Steps 1-3 of the floating method to acclimate water temperature.

  2. Carefully empty the contents of the bags (including the water) into the buckets (Fig. G), making sure not to expose sensitive invertebrates to the air. Depending on the amount of water in each bag, this may require tilting the bucket at a 45 degree angle to make sure the animals are fully submerged (Fig. H). You may need a prop or wedge to help hold the bucket in this position until there is enough liquid in the bucket to put it back to a level position.
  3. Using airline tubing, set up and run a siphon drip line from the main aquarium to each bucket. You’ll need separate airline tubing for each bucket used. Tie several loose knots in the airline tubing, or use a plastic or other non-metal airline control valve, (Fig. I), to regulate flow from the aquarium. It is also a good idea to secure the airline tubing in place with an airline holder. The Doctors Foster and Smith Acclimation Kit is a convenient alternative that simplifies the drip acclimation process.
  4. Begin a siphon by sucking on the end of the airline tubing you'll be placing into each of the buckets. When water begins flowing through the tubing, adjust the drip (by tightening one of the knots or adjusting the control valve) to a rate of about 2-4 drips per second (Fig. J).
  5. When the water volume in the bucket doubles, discard half and begin the drip again until the volume doubles once more – about one hour.
  6. At this point, the specimens can be transferred to the aquarium. Sponges, clams, and gorgonias should never be directly exposed to air. Gently scoop them out of the drip bucket with the specimen bag, making sure they’re fully covered in water. Submerge the bag underwater in the aquarium and gently remove the specimen from the bag. Next, seal off the bag underwater by twisting the opening, and remove it from the aquarium. Discard both the bag and the enclosed water. A tiny amount of the diluted water will escape into the aquarium; this is O.K. Also, to avoid damage, please remember never to touch the "fleshy" part of live coral when handling.
NOTE: Most invertebrates and marine plants are more sensitive than fish to changes in specific gravity. It is imperative to acclimate invertebrates to a specific gravity of 1.023-1.025 or severe stress or trauma may result. Test specific gravity with a hydrometer or refractometer.

As far as acclimating them together, float all the bags separately in your tank to get them at the same temp. Then you can dump them all into a bucket or container together and drip acclimate them all together. All of your inverts are coming from the same source and LA keeps all of their invert tanks at the same of close enough params that they can be mixed together.
 
Brian, not to undermine your advice, if I may recommend how John at ReefCleaners instructs his customers:

Acclimation

Since he does this for a living, I prefer his method, however, Brian's has the correct method for dripping. And for what its worth, I never really acclimate snails or hermits, but I did when I bought from John to honour his requests and in case I needed to alert him to any DOA's (which I didn't.).
 
When buying from him I follow his directions, since his animals are shipped differently then any other company does. LA however, ships their stock in bags full of water hence the different acclimation method.

To each his own, everyone acclimates their stuff differently.
 
Thanks guys for your help. I spoke to live aquaria and they had told me that the hermits and snails were not that sensitive but the serpent star was very sensitive. so I'm just going to drip acclimate them all.

is it safe to put the hermits shrimps snails and starfish in the same bucket?
 
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