Comprehensive Acclimation Guide
There are two different ways to acclimate fish, each having their pros and cons. The process you choose is dependent on the particular animal you purchased and the amount of transit time it took to get from the seller to the recipient. The two different methods of acclimation mostly differ from each other by where the acclimation is taking place. The drip method is where you use a small diameter hose to siphon water from the tank to a bucket that houses the animal and the water it was receive in. The floating method is where tank water is added to the bag the animal is house in while it floats in your aquarium system. The floating method is considered a more beginner-friendly acclimation process. The drip method is considered more advanced, as it tends to be more suitable for sensitive animals such as marine invertebrates, corals, and sensitive wrasse species. The floating method, done correctly, will yield the same desirable end point as the drip method despite the different process. Below we will outline the steps to each of these methods. Feel free to download or print out the PDFs for future reference.