Mr. Saltwater Tank TV Friday Am Quick Tip #102: Don’t Net Me Bro!
I love adding new fish to saltwater tanks. However, adding fish to your display tank can be dangerous for certain types of fish, specifically fish with spines line clownfish, tangs and lionfish. Here’s how to keep your finned friends safe and prevent excess stress before they reach your tank.
Browse the Store! Questions?
Good tip Mark, used the same method last night with the clown fish… 🙂
After two hours of drip acclimation my daughter return my “Reef Junkie” card.
Thank again Mark
Great tip Mark and thanks to Nick for the entry tip
Great idea, but what do you do when you need to get a fish OUT of your tank for whatever reason? My fish are rather lively and seem to forget the glass is there…
What do most people use at the end of the tubing to control the drip rate for drip acclimation?
Great tip–make sure to scrape off any sharp filings from making the holes!
@John Staubs – I got my fish really comfortable with me during feeding time, so if the day comes that I need to scoop one, I can do it with a specimen container during feeding. (Note: This may only work a couple times before the fish become less trusting of you.) The other option I employ is the acrylic trap, which can take weeks (I am now damsel-free!).
Bert, you can do two thing
1) tie the tubing into one simple knot, the tighter the knot, the less drip (not the best)
2) at your LFS they sell those little plastic valves made for use with airpumps, these are the best to use.
3) Dr Foster and Smith sells some drip acclimation kits, they are very nice, they have a nice “hard” u-tube that hangs on your tank edge, the tubing and the valve. I usually have 4-5 of these on hand and they are cheap.
whoops, that’s 3 things, sorta 2 1/2 😉
Great tip. Beginners beware, my local fish store keep copper in their water in the fish only tank. If you acclimate properly you’ll be using the water from the fish store. if they use copper and you dump the bucket into a reeftank, you have big problems. copper can kill your coral. please correct me if I’m wrong Mark. Thanks for the tip and enjoy your weekend.
Great Tip Mark and Nicholas!! I knew of the spines on the Lionfish and Tangs but was not aware of them on the clownfish…need to read some more. 😉
Mike…look up “clownfish cheek spines” and you’ll see what i’m talking about!
Bert…this Friday AM quick tip make drip acclimation easy. I love it and use it whenever I bring in new fish
congrats on kicking your damsel habit Merne! 😀
Mark… Thanks for all the great tips. One question: When drip acclimating, do we have to worry about the temperature of the bucket water cooling down too much? Won’t scooping a fish from room temperature water into tank temperature water cause undue stress? Thanks!
@Jordan – I use a small styrofoam fish box (as opposed to a plastic bucket) for this reason. I drilled a small hole in the side to accomodate teh drip hose, so it’s less likely to pop out of the box and start siphoning onto the floor as well. I figure it slows down any cooling. You could also employ a small submersible heater if you had an especially long acclimation.
@Eric – You’re right, copper will kill your inverts. The same issue can apply if you quarantined with copper, and you’re now ready to put the new guy into the display.
I use plastic cut off of one end of a hanger. tie with wire ties the air line to the cut off plastic hanger that looks as a ( V )for going in the tank. then the other air line end I use air line valve to control drip. I have second bucket with plastic cooking colander that you pour out the water in the second bucket with colander on top then fish is in colander to move to main tank.
Great tip, thank you. I personally learned not to use nets for spined fish the hard way. When i was introducing my hogfish to my tank, its teeth got caught in the net. That was unpleasant.
Thanks Mark. I looked it up and found that the Maroon Clown (Premnas biaculeatus) is the one with a spine on it. I will file that information away. The clowns I will be getting with be the A. Ocellaris. It is nice to know the other info for sure.
Great tip for not getting spines caught in nets, i use tupperware containers as well, however its important not to forget to temp acclimate after you drip as well!, at least thats the route i usually take.
I’m. A first timer when it comes to fish I’ve had lots of fish before but they have been from Walmart and I don’t have a big fancy water tank I just have a regular tank,I’m not that good with the enter net either and I live in Texas but I do have a aquarium store near me but I never get to go there because I don’t really have time I’m 12 years old and my mom does not like for me to have fish but I just love all kings of fish,and its my passion to have all kings of fish and take care of them just wanted to see you’r store.