Acclimatising New Corals And Fish The Correct Way

The purpose of acclimatisation is simple - the water that the animal is packaged in may have a different temperature, pH and salinity than that of your aquarium. Aquatic life (especially corals and invertebrates) are very sensitive to minor changes in water parameters therefore acclimatisation is a requirement for success.

There are two ways which are recommended to acclimatise your new purchase to your aquarium. Neither of these should be rushed and should both be performed with the aquarium lights off. The lights should also remain off for a further 6 to 12 hours after the animal has been introduced to the quarantine tank, or the main display tank, whichever you are using.

Floating Bag Method

Before you commence ensure that the lights on your aquarium are turned off. Also ensure that the lights in the room where you will be unpacking the animal are turned down to a minimum. Bright lights will cause excessive stress to the animal.

• Float the bag whilst it is still sealed in the aquarium for a minimum of 15 minutes. Do not open the bag at this stage. This allows the water in the bag to slowly adjust to the temperature of your aquarium.
• Once a minimum of 15 minutes has passed open the bag as near to the top as possible and either attach this to the side of the aquarium, or create an air pocket in the top of the bag so that the bag will float.
• Once the bag is open add half an egg cup of your aquarium water to the bag and wait 5 - 10 minutes.
• After 5 - 10 minutes again add half an egg cup of your aquarium water to the bag and wait another 5 - 10 minutes.
• Continue with this process until the bag is full.
• Once the bag is full remove the bag from the water and discard at least half of the water from the bag.
• Re-float the bag in the water and repeat the steps of adding half an egg cup of your aquarium water to the bag again until the bag is full (Remember to wait 5 - 10 minutes between each water addition)
• Once the bag is full capture the fish using a proper aquatic net and release into the aquarium. Corals can be removed from the bag and placed in the aquarium. When some corals are touched they could produce a great deal of slime - this is nothing to worry about and is perfectly normal. However do not introduce any of the water into the aquarium. Invertebrates need to be released into the aquarium under the water.
• You should never allow them to be out of the water in air. To release invertebrates lower the bag into the aquarium and tease the animal out of the bag. Some of the water will escape into the aquarium, however attempt to keep this to a minimum.
• Discard the water in the shipping bag - never introduce the water from the shipping bag into your aquarium.

Leave the aquarium lights off for at least 6 - 12 hours after the introduction to allow your new purchases to become acclimatised to their new home.

Drip Method

The drip method of acclimatisation is normally used for more sensitive inhabitants, however more and more fish keepers are using this method for all livestock.

Before you commence with this method ensure that the lights on your aquarium are turned off. Also ensure that the lights in the room where you will be unpacking the fish are also turned down to a minimum. Bright lights will cause excessive stress to the fish.

• Float the bag whilst it is still sealed in the aquarium for a minimum of 15 minutes. Do not open the bag at this stage. This allows the water in the bag to slowly adjust to the temperature of your aquarium.
• Remove the bag from the aquarium and very carefully empty the contents of the bag into a marine safe receptacle (do not use too big a receptacle). Ensure that the animal is fully submerged. If the animal is an invertebrate do not allow it to come into contact with the air - they must remain submerged at all times.
• You will need to use some airline so that you can set up a drip line from your main aquarium to the receptacle.
• In your aquarium secure the airline tubing so that it cannot fall out. On the other end (the end which is in the receptacle) add an airline control valve (this will allow you to regulate the flow of water).
• With the tubing in your aquarium submerged and the other end in the bucket start the siphon by gently sucking on the airline tube. This will start the siphon and water will start to pass from your main aquarium to the bucket. As soon as water begins to flow adjust the valve so that you are getting between 2 to 5 drops per second.
• Now wait until the water in the receptacle doubles the initial amount, pause the siphon using the control valve, discard half of the water from the receptacle and start the siphon again using the control valve.
• Wait until the water doubles again and then stop or break the siphon. You are now ready to introduce your animal to the aquarium.
• If the animal is a fish then capture the fish using a proper aquatic net and release into the aquarium.
• If the animal is a coral then you can simply lift it out of the receptacle and place it into the aquarium.
• If the animal is an invertebrate then you will need to capture it under water and keep it under water until it is introduced into the aquarium. Try to retain as little as possible of the receptacle water when doing the transfer.
• Discard the water from the receptacle - never introduce the water into your aquarium (apart from that necessary for invertebrates).
• Leave the aquarium lights off for at least 6 - 12 hours after the introduction.

Remember that it is very important to be patient. The acclimatisation period should take as long as needed.

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Tags: aquarium, Aquarium Maintenance, aquarium-livestock, Care, Corals, Fish, Invertebrates

The Mantis Shrimp

Mantis shrimps are not the shrimps normally chosen by a marine aquarist to live in their display aquarium, and for good reason. They are very efficient predators. Aquarists are much happier with cleaner shrimps etc.

Sometimes a mantis shrimp gets into the display aquarium, perhaps with live rock, or the rock attached to a coral. The shrimp is noticed as it scurries into its hide hole and the best way of removing it is to lift out the entire rock if that is practical.

If not practical the normal way is to attempt to catch it using a narrow necked bottle of suitable size - clear glass ones are the best. The bottle should be of the type where the neck is more narrow than the bottle itself, the glass opening out from the neck to the body.

Ensure that the bottle is absolutely clean inside and out. Then, place some food in the bottle, but not too much. Flake isn’t of use, but a small piece of fish such as sold for aquarium use or the like will do. Then lower the bottle into the aquarium allowing it to slowly fill with seawater. Leave it standing more or less upright if possible, with the top rim close to the rock where the shrimp lives, again if possible. Don’t leave the food in the bottle in the aquarium long enough for it to rot - remove the bottle and renew the food.

The idea is that the shrimp will detect the food and track it down. Having found it, the shrimp cannot get out of the bottle again because it is too smooth.

Alternatively the aquarist could try using a commercial device designed to catch livestock, though the aquarist could end up with a caught fish.

The capture method will need patience and a number of attempts may be required before there is success.

As said, the easiest and quickest way is to remove the shrimp complete with its rock.

Once caught what can be done? Put it in the sump is one possibility, where it can become interesting in its own right. If there isn’t a sump available, perhaps pass it to an aquarist who has one, or take it to the local retailer.

If they can be interesting in a sump, why are they not welcome in a reef? As said, they are efficient predators and can take fish and crustaceans as prey. This isn’t going to please the aquarist.

Where does the name mantis shrimp come from? It is derived from the land based praying mantis as it is thought there is some similarity in the way that insect sits and waits for and then captures prey. There are two attack methods used by mantis shrimps, spearing and clubbing.

The spearing mantis will usually attack fish and other shrimp. If these come within reach the forward legs flash forward and the victim is speared on the spines.

The smashing mantis will normally hunt hermit crabs, ‘normal’ crabs, snails and other shrimp. Once in range it will club the victim so hard that it is stunned. Three or so hits with the club will normally cause the victim’s armour to crack. It is interesting to note that scientists have measured the power of the club in action, and have found it to be only a little less powerful than the impact of a .22 bullet!*

There are around 300 species of mantis shrimp of various sizes, and all of them are predators.* If prey is not available (for example they have been moved to a sump) they will take mysis shrimp, krill, and small de-frozen fish and the like.

The shrimps can be just 5cm (circa 2″) in length up to a whopping 40cm (circa 15¾”).* I wouldn’t like my finger near one of the latter! Most seen in aquaria are of course small types.

So if a mantis is spotted in the aquarium it needs to come out.

If a sump is available, or another small tank, keeping a mantis is interesting and different. They are efficient predators, and can be fed quite easily. All they need is a rock or two to call home.

(* Reference: Marine Atlas. Hans A Baensch & Helmut Debelius)

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Tags: cleaner-shrimp, Invertebrates, marine-aquarium, pistol shrimp, reef-tank, shrimps

The Pistol Shrimp

Shrimps are very well known to the marine aquarist. Perhaps the most well known are the cleaner shrimps, which are so interesting and ‘friendly’ - they climb around on the aquarist’s submerged hand without a care, though they’re actually looking for a morsel to eat. The hand must look like a very strange fish, but then there are some very strange looking fish in the wild, just look at frogfish as an example.

The mantis shrimp is less well known and much less welcome. This shrimp is a predator but doesn’t deserve to be relegated to the ‘must avoid’ list really, as in a selected environment, such as a sump, they are interesting and easy to keep.

There is another shrimp that could be called the ‘sudden shock’ shrimp. There’s the aquarist sitting watching TV when the sound of an aquarium glass pane breaking sets him/her bolt upright! Careful checking of the condition of the glass reveals nothing wrong, and there won’t be as the crack sound was generated by a pistol shrimp.

Pistol shrimps are widespread and can be found in large numbers on the wild reef - they are the most common family of shrimp on the reef.* They have varying colouration according to type and can be attractive. They eat detritus and/or hunt smaller shrimp or very small fish. They prefer isolated lives and are likely to shy away from bright lights. The aquarist is more likely to hear one during the aquarium lights-out period when it is hunting.

Certain pistol shrimp are fairly well known, these are the ones that live in a symbiotic relationship with certain goby fish. As far as I know the following has not been proven, but the pistol shrimp is thought to have very poor eyesight - when they are digging and maintaining their caves they are in constant danger of predation. The goby fish sits in front of the shrimp and in physical contact with it, and at the approach of danger the goby warns the shrimp and they both enter the cave. The advantage to the shrimp is obvious, and the goby fish obtains security as well.

The majority of pistol shrimps live without any relationship in what might be considered a normal shrimp lifestyle.

The pistol shrimp is so called because it can generate a sound that can be likened to a pistol shot. It is easily heard outside the aquarium, and as mentioned there has been many an aquarist who has assumed they have a glass aquarium problem.

This sound is generated by one of the shrimp’s claws. This claw is much larger than the other and has powerful muscles which cause it to snap together which in turn produces a strong jet of water. Nature’s reason for this is to create a shock - the shrimp cracks the claw within striking distance of prey and the prey is stunned. The prey is then easily caught.

The pistol shrimp does not form a threat in the reef aquarium that a mantis shrimp does. The pistol shrimp would in fact be in danger from the mantis.

Many years ago I had an aquarium in the wall, designed as a living picture. It was successful and I derived a great deal of pleasure from it. I clearly remember the first time I heard a ‘crack’, I had no idea what it was, and examined the glass where of course nothing was found wrong. Research showed me that it was in fact a pistol shrimp. I heard him (her?) many times, but try as I might, night or day, I never ever got a glimpse of the creature. I didn’t make any attempt to catch it as no harm was being done. Obviously prey of some kind was being caught, but the populations of tiny life in the rocks didn’t seem to diminish.

So if there is a sudden startling ‘crack’ it doesn’t necessarily mean that water is escaping through a new leak in the aquarium glass. It could just be a pistol shrimp obtaining a meal.

(*Ref: Marine Atlas. Helmut Debelius & Hans A Baensch)

Here is an interesting video which was located on You Tube. It’s very good so I recommend you watch it.

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Tags: aquarium, Invertebrates, mantis shrimp, reef-tank, saltwater-aquarium, shrimps