Acclimation is the process of introducing new fish to your water conditions. Depending on where you get your fish, the water parameters might be very different than your own. I am particularly lucky that San Francisco water has almost 0 kH and gH, making it very easy to acidify the water (using Indian Almond Leaf) for my low-pH loving fish. However, not everyone has soft water!
Since SF water is so different, I used to be extremely cautious when acclimating new fish. If I was really worried, I would set up a drip acclimation that would go for an hour or more. However, I did find that my fish were stressed out being confined in a bag or bucket during the length drip process - they don't have anywhere to hide at all in those containers. I realized, though, that when I do my 100% jar water changes, or when we set up fish at shows, that Bettas do just fine with rapid acclimation straight out of the bag. Rachel O'Leary, owner of Msjinkzd, an extremely popular provider of specialized nano fish and invertebrates, has a great video that details the "Plop and drop" acclimation method along with some great explanations to go with it. Far less stress = happy fish! I've used it ever since and I haven't lost a fish yet to poor acclimation.
Since SF water is so different, I used to be extremely cautious when acclimating new fish. If I was really worried, I would set up a drip acclimation that would go for an hour or more. However, I did find that my fish were stressed out being confined in a bag or bucket during the length drip process - they don't have anywhere to hide at all in those containers. I realized, though, that when I do my 100% jar water changes, or when we set up fish at shows, that Bettas do just fine with rapid acclimation straight out of the bag. Rachel O'Leary, owner of Msjinkzd, an extremely popular provider of specialized nano fish and invertebrates, has a great video that details the "Plop and drop" acclimation method along with some great explanations to go with it. Far less stress = happy fish! I've used it ever since and I haven't lost a fish yet to poor acclimation.
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