Transferring fish without acclimating
 

I have had a Kole and a Gramma in QT for 3+ months and today is the day they go into the DT
I have the temps and Sg matched perfectly, and the pH readings are a close match (8.15 & 8.05)
DT has no measureable params and the QT has 2.0 NO3 (was time for a WC)
I haven't tested the QT for the other big 3

My plan, to reduce stress, is to net them one at a time, hold the net in a bucket of their water for the walk, and release them in the DT
I'll do this after dinner when only half the DT lights are on

Anyone have any opinions, good or bad ?

Thanks

Yeah I've done it lots. As long as salinity is the same and temp

I've done it with softies and lps a lot. But havent with a fish yet. I've seen it done, and sure its probably fine, but the way I see it, and this is your predicament, they've been in qt for three months where you've monitored them daily, and now its time to do the move... Do you risk acclimating them or risk not doing so.. that's how I'd feel anyway, which is why I'm sure you asked lol.

If your temp and params are the same, it would probably be less stressful to skip acclamation rather then dump them in a bucket only to scoop them up again for another move.

That's what we are thinking

It's fine. I'd try to catch them in a container vs net, but the water move is fine.

I was pondering this awhile back - thanks for the reminder :wink:
I have a large specimen container I'll herd them into

As long as the water is about the same in both tanks it should be fine. I've done it a lot of times transferring fish between my own tanks. As Brad said use a bowl or container to catch them., its so much easier on them than being netted.

I have never acclimated a fish. Fish swim, they are used to swimming into different "zones" whether it is the mouth of a river or the upsurge of colder water from the deep and I have never had a problem just plunking them into their new home

I have also done it many times with my own tanks, never been a problem. Never bothered testing params either.

Thank you everybody
Really nice to get positive feedback about this from so many experienced reefers

So exciting - the last 3 months have been torture, on both me and the critters :smile: