acclimation for crustaceans

[digitalsteve]

hey guys, how long do you acclimate your crabs, shrimp and snails for your reef tanks?

[Beverly]

I put my new animals (crustaceans, fish, etc.) into a rubbermaid container, then get out my pH probe and turkey baster. I determine the pH in the tank the animals are going into, then put the pH probe in the container. Using the baster, I remove water from the container and replace it with water from the tank every few minutes. When pH in the container is the same as that of the tank, the animals go into the tank.

How long that takes depends on the difference in pH between the container and the tank. Sometimes it's an hour, sometimes less.

[Aquattro]

A note on snails. Lately I've bought snails from the LFS and bagged them without water. When I get home, I just throw them in the tank. I've had no losses doing this.
Shrimp have always just had the temp adjusted, a couple of 1/4 cup swaps of water, and in they go. Only things I give special treament to are stars, cucumbers, and things well known to be sensitive.

[Delphinus]

I thought shrimp, at least Lysmata shrimp (cleaners, peppermints, etc.), are particularly senstive to SG. I've found just throwing them into water that's different by 0.002 (i.e. 1.023 vs. 1.025) to be disastrous. I always drip acclimate them now over 1/2 hour to an hour (depending on how different the SG's are. If they're identical SG's I'll still do the drip but maybe not as long). For stars and urchins I'd consider a really slow drip acclimation. When I acclimated my linckia, I set up a container in the sump (for temperature control), then slowly dripped into the container over 16 hours before releasing him into the tank. It seemed to work OK, but even so I noted that the star did not really move much for the first 3 weeks or so. Then he climbed to the top and circumnavigated the tank a few times (seemed like he was exploring his new environment, discover the limits/extents of the "tide pool"). It was weeks yet before he would wander the rocks. Now I find him zooming (by comparison) all over the tank. Makes me think that even with the 16 hour acclimation, it was still a hard hit for him to get over. What was the original question? I've forgotten. Oh, I see it had nothing to do with stars. Crud. I've gone off on another tangent. Sorry, my bad.

[digitalsteve]

what about hermits? do they need an acclimation period or can they , like snails be just tossed in if they come in dry?

[albert_dao]

Originally Posted by digitalsteve

what about hermits? do they need an acclimation period or can they , like snails be just tossed in if they come in dry?

I've NEVER, EVER seen a dead hermit.

[digitalsteve]

so is that a yes or no ? i am just curious , i am picking up an bunch this week for a cleaner crew and do want them to all die off obviously.

[Samw]

For me, shrimps have always been harder to acclimate. If not acclimated properly, they will shake back and forth and are basically paralyzed and vulnerable to getting eatened.

I'm always reading about messages where people threw their shrimp into their tanks only to have them eaten by a fish and then they say things like you can't keep sexy shrimp with clownfish or whatever. To me, I have 3 sexy shrimps and 1 tiny anemone shrimp living with a Leopard Wrasse, Hippo Tang, Clowns, Flame Angel, Lg Fireshrimps and Peppermint shrimps, and Serpent Star. Yet, my tiny sexy shrimps and anemone shrimp are all alive after months (some over a year). There's no problem at all but others will swear that these little shrimps are not compatible with even a clownfish, when the real problem was that they didn't acclimate the shrimps.

[Aquattro]

Honestly, if there is any question at all, it's best to err on the side of caution. Nothing bad can happen from acclimating anything for an hour, and what's an hour? If you're unsure, drip acclimate for an hour or more to be safe.

[Delphinus]

Hermits I wouldn't worry about so much. A lot of them are found in intertidal areas, tidal pools, river estuaries, so one could speculate that they are perhaps adapted to varying salinities/temperatures/etc. Just speculation though. If it's a species collected from deeper water this may not hold true.

That said, I think it's "nicer" to them to acclimate rather than throw them straight in. If that helps you any...