Acclimating shipped guppies to a new tank

[Robinowitz]

I'm struggling to keep new guppies alive that I buy online that are shipped to me.  My water parameters are all within recommended ranges.  What acclimation process is everyone using to transition the fish from the shipping bags to the aquarium?  

Edited May 20, 2022 by Robinowitz

[FlyingFishKeeper]

Hi, for me I've had success following the directions Aqua Huna has here. If you've had all the fish from one supplier you might want to try a different one (assuming they have the strain you want) to see if perhaps it's an issue on the supplier's end?

[PineSong]

Likewise, I test the pH in the bag to compare with my tank, and gradually add my tank water to the shipped water over the course of a couple hours. Then I net the fish out and add them to my QT tank.

I’ve had great luck with shipped fish compared to fish bought in local stores, though I use the same method.

Edited May 20, 2022 by PineSong

[Torrey]

On 5/19/2022 at 8:14 PM, Robinowitz said:

I'm struggling to keep new guppies alive that I buy online that are shipped to me.  My water parameters are all within recommended ranges.  What acclimation process is everyone using to transition the fish from the shipping bags to the aquarium?  

It depends on the shipper, the time it took for them to arrive, and temps.

Fish are almost always shipped in low pH water, to reduce ammonia toxicity. Add new water to the bag, and if your home water is above 6.4 pH, the ammonia from shipping just got extremely toxic.

Once upon a time, before the dinosaurs, when I worked for a fish store, we picked up fish from the airport that was almost 4 hours away, drove straight to the store, and as we unpacked each box determined if temps were same as tanks. If yes, bag was dumped in a net, and fish were dumped straight into QT. Net went in methylene blue, other net was grabbed, and process was repeated. We almost quit losing fish after she bought a UV sterilizer for her QT.

Most of the places I get fish include floating plant or sponge with the fish, so there's bb to deal with ammonia in shipping. That's a little easier on the fish.

Trans shippers, those fish have been bagged and fasted ~ a week. They need into fresh clean water, ASAP. Temp is the most important thing to match.

[Robinowitz]

Thanks everyone.  Appreciate the feedback.  

[gardenman]

Many guppies are raised in less than ideal water, often brackish water, simply because that's what's available for the breeders. You can find videos of guppy farms on YouTube that will give you some idea of how they're raised. They're often spawned at one facility. The fry then get moved to local farmers who raise the fry until they're a sellable size, then back to the original breeder where they're bagged and shipped. A bit of salt added to the QT tank can often help the adjustment process. Many "domestic breeders" now also import guppies since they can often get a more reliable supply that way and while you think you're buying fish bred by a private breeder, they're just reselling guppies they bought that were raised overseas. The guppy marketplace is really a buyer beware zone these days. Some people who developed good reputations as private breeders are now more acting like a pet shop and reselling fish they bought at wholesale prices from overseas rather than fish they raised themselves.

[Robinowitz]

On 5/20/2022 at 8:08 AM, gardenman said:

Many guppies are raised in less than ideal water, often brackish water, simply because that's what's available for the breeders. You can find videos of guppy farms on YouTube that will give you some idea of how they're raised. They're often spawned at one facility. The fry then get moved to local farmers who raise the fry until they're a sellable size, then back to the original breeder where they're bagged and shipped. A bit of salt added to the QT tank can often help the adjustment process. Many "domestic breeders" now also import guppies since they can often get a more reliable supply that way and while you think you're buying fish bred by a private breeder, they're just reselling guppies they bought that were raised overseas. The guppy marketplace is really a buyer beware zone these days. Some people who developed good reputations as private breeders are now more acting like a pet shop and reselling fish they bought at wholesale prices from overseas rather than fish they raised themselves.

Yes, there are a lot of variables to consider when looking at raising fish.  I’m attempting to control what I have control over, which in this case is how I acclimate the fish.  I’ve used both methods advised by others in this thread.  I haven’t been successful with either.  I pay very close attention to my water quality and can keep all other varieties of freshwater fish and invertebrates  alive in my tanks.  The guppies have been kicking my ass. For the delivery I’m receiving today I have changed my supplier.  Not sure what acclimation method I will use today but I will tweak what I do to reduce stress with some of the information I’m gleaning from reading here and other research.  The question is, do I open the bag and immediately net the fish into my tank to avoid Ammonia poisoning or slowly tritrate the shipping bag water with my aquarium water to equalize the ph?  There are ways I can improve on both methods from how I’ve done them in the past.  

[sumplkrum]

On 5/20/2022 at 11:16 AM, Robinowitz said:

The question is, do I open the bag and immediately net the fish into my tank to avoid Ammonia poisoning or slowly tritrate the shipping bag water with my aquarium water to equalize the ph?  There are ways I can improve on both methods from how I’ve done them in the past.  

I follow this procedure:

1. Let the bag float in the tank for 15min to adjust the temperature.
2. Water and fish from the bag get dumped into some temporary container. Jar, bowl, whatever.
3. Check parameters of the bag water to see what you're dealing with.
4. I add some of my tank water to the container to allow the fish to aclimate to new conditions. ... If the water is vastly different, I'll add it in several stages.
5. After they've adjusted for at least 20-30mins, I dump the container contents into a net while it's over the sink. The fish are in the net and the water is dumped.
6. Fish get plopped into your quarantine tank for observation. Lights stay off initially and don't feed them the first day.
7. If the fish look fine a day or two later, I'll start the med trio as my quarantine procedure. Typically I don't add salt, but for guppies it can't hurt.