Old wives tale?

[Juck]

I'd always heard that shrimp were very sensitive to changes in salinity, temp, PH etc. I've always acclimate ornamental shrimp like peps and skunks for at least an hour.

I bough some grass shrimp a couple of weeks ago from my LFS,,, thought I'd give my little snowflake eel something to munch on while I was out of town for a couple of days.

So anyway,,,, I dumped a dozen in the tank and 2 weeks later there are still 11 of them left. Straight from 76 degrees, low PH freshwater to full strength 82 degree 8.3PH seawater with no acclimation. One of them even has eggs.

Are grass shrimp just really tough? Or are shrimps in general a bit more hardy that I've been led to believe?

 

[Unarce]

I shouldn't admit it, but I've never bothered to acclimate shrimp. I've always considered them to be tough as nails.

 

[Juck]

*gasp*

What else have you all been lying to me about?

 

[waymack97]

i just dumped mine in also. cleaner/peppermint/coralbanded. did not bother any of them. and they all get along to. 8O
_________________
Dating Advice Forum

 

[Anonymous]

I don't acclimate my SPS corals either, and at $80+ a piece, that is quite a risky thing not to do.

But I did acclimate invert and fish very carefully when I started the hobby, and as I gained more experiences in past 5+ years, I feel I have enough sense to know a point where I can give myself a little break without harming the livestock.

Oh, one very important fact you must know... my last shrimp died many years ago...

 

[Unarce]

I don't acclimate my SPS corals either

When it comes to that, I put each piece through a Lugol's Dip.

 

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't ever post this in a newbie forum, but I don't acclimate anything but sea stars. Those I acclimate over an hour.

Shrimp? I open the bag, reach my hand in, grab it and fling it into the tank, making sure it makes a small spash and skips once or twice as it enters the water.
Same with snails, crabs, etc.

Tridacna clams? I float for 5 minutes just to make sure the temp variance isn't too great, and drop the thing into the tank.
Same with all corals, bubble anemones, fish...
The only fish I would acclimate by dripping and such are certain VERY delicate species, and I don't bother with those anyway.
Or, certain delicate anemones, but again, I don't bother with those.

This is why I laugh my rear end off at posts where people talk about acclimating snails for 3 hours and such. :roll:
Most critters are just not as delicate as people think.

Jim

 

[Unarce]

:lol: :lol: :lol:

It's probably not a good idea to air out our improper practices. In case some newbies do catch wind of this, just remember it's always best to err on the side of caution.

It really depends on circumstance. For example, I also acclimate clams the same way the JimM does with no problems, but I wouldn't go that route for a clam that has just been shipped. It's very vulnerable and should even be acclimated to the light in the room.

Another factor is the benefit of having LFS that have reputable suppliers and healthy livestock in quality systems. Others might not have that luxury and should acclimate if the fish were exposed to poor conditions or are in a weakened state.

 

[Anonymous]

For the newbies, I will invoke the "Do as I say, not as I do" clause.

 

[Anonymous]

:lol:

Yeah, it is amazing how lax we get with some time under our belts ain't it?

I do temp acclimate pretty much everything (mostly I just toss the bag in the tank and finish putting away the other crap I bought while I was out runnin around) but other than that... Polp!

 

[reefann]

I feel I have a lot of exp with fish corals inverts etc and I still drip them. Some stuff gets a nice quick drip but I try to treat everything like it is delecate. My idea is aviod stress whenever possible.

 

[Anonymous]

I feel I have a lot of exp with fish corals inverts etc and I still drip them. Some stuff gets a nice quick drip but I try to treat everything like it is delecate. My idea is aviod stress whenever possible.

And you can't be faulted for your actions, even if they are superfluous for the most part. Better to er if favor of the animals if you're not sure.

 

[Anonymous]

I can't believe you people!

 

[Anonymous]

I dump in grass shrimp for feeding and they seem to survive no matter what.

I have put in peppermint shrimp without acclimating and had them die like I was dumping them in battery acid. I acclimate them now.

 

[Jolieve]

I guess I am still new to this. *chuckle*

I acclimate corals, snails, everything. For most things though, rather than doing a drip line (I only run that for corals, clams and other stuff I am not too sure about the hardiness of) I do pour overs in the bag and temp acclimate for 15-20 minutes.

 

[Anonymous]

I usually test the salinity of the water that the shrimp was bagged in compared to my water, and I base my acclimation time on how different they are.

 

[Anonymous]

unmarked for archiving

8O

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

I drip most things. It's such an easy thing to do...dump the critter into a bucket and run a drip line. Better off safe than sorry.

Besides, it just pains me to see animals suffer, and I've never read anything on what animals feel when subjected to fast salinity changes and pH changes...the osmotic pressure must have some effect on the animals. Do they feel pain? I've seen freshwater fish die of pH shock, is osmotic shock just as horrible? The animal may not die, but how do we know what it suffers thru as it's body acclimates itself?

I have a freshwater rainbow crab that lives in my quarantine tank. He has a bowl of freshwater to drink, which is balanced on a jutting piece of live rock just above the three-quarter water level. The little sucker jumps back and forth between salt and fresh water like it was nothing.

 

[Anonymous]

Both myself and the LFS's I frequent use Ocean water, so I don't worry about osmotic shock. Honestly, I've never in recent memory lost a single thing to acclimation stress.

An interesting anecdote for you...
Do fish feel paint? Well I've seen large mouth bass get hooked through the eye, get released, and get caught again a few minutes later.
Now, an animal in pain wouldn't be thinking about eating methinks.
Food for thought.

Jim

 

[bboyin4lyf]

dont mean to be a smarta** but theres no nerves in the eye- so no pain, still you think it would have learnt its lesson. did u release it again? lol