Essential Equipment    Putting it all Together    Acclimating Fish    Maintenance     Nitrogen Cycle    Filtration    Aquarium Calculator

Probably one of the exciting experiences for the aquarist and maybe one of the most dangerous times for the tropical fish, is the trip from the store to their new home.  Changes in the water parameters and temperatures increase fish stress levels and lowers their disease defenses.  These changes should be brought about gradually to maintain the new arrivals in healthy condition.

Make sure that any fish you select is compatible to the water conditions you have in your aquarium.  If they aren't, no matter how carefull you are at acclimating your fish, they will eventually die.  You should know the pH and temperature of your tank water and the pH and temperature requirements of the fish you want to introduce as a minimum.  The fish species section of this website indicates the pH and water temperature requirements of many common community tank fish.  They should not only be compatible to your conditions, but make sure they are compatible with the other tank mates they will have.  You certainly don't want to be bringing dinner home for some of your more aggressive fish or visa-versa.

Many advanced aquarist, when dealing with expensive fish, will actually measure the pH and temperature of the water in the store; duplicate those conditions in a quarantine tank and slowly bring the quarantine tank water parameters to the parameters of the tank where they will be housed over a period of a couple of weeks.

Even without going to all of the trouble of matching pH's, a quarantine tank is a good method of introducing fish to your home environment.  It let's you to observe the new arrivals for diseases and allows them to acclimate to your water conditions without the harassment of other fish you may have in their future home.  You can read about quarantine tanks in the articles section of this website or by clicking here.

Whether you are acclimating them to a quarantine tank or directly to your main tank, it needs to be done slowly.  As fish are becoming accustomed to their new surroundings their defenses are down and stress high.  This is perfect for such stress related diseases as Ick.

When you pick up your fish at the store, they should be in plastic bags.  I like to keep no more than one or two specimens per bag.  Make sure that there is plenty of air in the bag.  Ideally you more air space than water in bag.  Many fish stores have compressed oxygen availabIe and your trip is long, (4 or 5 hours) you may want to ask them to add some of the pressurized oxygen to the bag.  This will assure good water/oxygen exchange.  I have had fish in pressurized bags for trips of more than 24 hours. 

Once you are assured that you have plenty of oxygen, the second step is to keep the temperature fluctuation to a minimum.  If you live in a cold climate, you may want to consider placing the bags in a styrofoam cooler to maintain the water temperature on your way home.

For those really long trips, try adding some zeolite into the bag. This will absorbs the toxic ammonia formed from the fish waste.

Once you are home with the fish, float the plastic bags on top of the tank for at least 20 minutes to ½ hour to equalize the tank and bag temperatures.  After ½ hour add a small amount of your tank water to the bag and wait another 1/2 hour.  Add more water every ½ hour for at least the next 2 hours until most of the water in the bag is your tank water.  I personally do this step over a 4-hour period, the longer the better.  The purpose here is to adjust your fish to the pH and hardness as well as other conditions of your tank water.  Rapid pH changes can severely affect otherwise healthy fish.  You can get further details on the affects of pH and hardness by reading the Water Chemistry section of the website.

Another method often used, is to use a piece of airline tubing and an air valve. Place one end of the airline tubing inside the tank below the water line (you can attach it to the glass wall of the aquarium with a suction cup).  Attach the air valve to the other end of the tubing which will eventually be placed in the bag with the new fish.  The fish bag must be placed below the water level of the tank on the outside.  Start a siphon by sucking on the airline tube where the valve is and adjust the valve to slowly drip water into the bag.  Adjust the amount that drips so that after 5 to 8 hours most of the water in the bag is tank water.

After the bag is filled mostly with your tank water, carefully net the fish and put it in your tank.  Do not put the bag water in your tank.  You want to avoid introducing parasites, bacteria, algae, etc that may be present in the fish store water into your tank.

Carefully observe the new arrivals over the next few days for any signs of disease or other fish nipping at them.  Assure they are active.  Many fish won't eat for the first two to three days.  This is nothing to worry about; they will eventually adapt and start feeding.  Do not medicate the fish unless there are visible signs of disease.  Medicating healthy fish only lowers their resistance and increases their stress levels.

Another common problem when adding new fish is they become targets for other territorial fish in the tank, since they are unfamiliar with these pre-established territorial boundaries.  With fish that are territorial in nature, it is a good idea to re-arrange the decorations in the tank just prior to introducing the new fish.  This helps even things up as everyone will be looking to establish new territories.  If you don't like the new decoration arrangement, simply put it back the way it was after a couple of weeks and everyone will again establish their territorial lines.

Following the simple step above will help assure that your new arrivals will have long and healthy lives in their new homes.