Fish Acclimation Boxes

[Ryan S]

http://coralnuggets.com/product_info.php?products_id=409&osCsid=25d9b6c0c992b89a4978a44836fb5e5e

 

Do any of you have this unit?

 

I want an acclimation box for new fish for my tank. There aren't many on the market. Here is another one. And here too.

 

What are your experiences using acclimation boxes? Have they worked for you? How long do you keep fish in them for your tank? 1 day? 3 days?

 

Mod: Can someone please change type in title from Boxex to Boxes? Thank you

Edited October 17, 2012 by Ryan S

[onux20]

I have the elite aquatics version. Not bad. I only did it for one day. A 4" tang in a small swim area made me nervous. Hard to tell if it made intro easier.

 

I would observe the new fish and tank mates to determine how long to leave in the box.

[Der ABT]

i just used an overflow acrylic box that i have, little smaller than this but has done well for me, just put a mag float in it to hold it up, egg crate on top and done, had it sitting around

 

you could also make one pretty cheaply form HD with a few cuts and some glue....

mine didnt have that many slits in it, eas a solid box except the tope, i left it and inch or so under water....made it so the fish didnt have to swim in the current non stop etc. and the other fish could see the fish and get used to it

 

worked great for the anthias that were trying to fight thru it.

[zygote2k]

I've made various cages from eggcrate and glued one side to a mag float to house corals and fish. Works great and only costs about $10 to make.

If you want the 'cool' look you're aiming for, use colored egcrate and zip ties.

[Chris]

I was in the same boat as you. I recently added a convict tang and a fairy wrasse to my tank. I already had a yellow tang and 2 other fairy wrasses and was worried about aggression. So after they were quarantined they were put into an acclimation box in the DT for about two days. I tried the technique with the tang first. He was perfectly fine in the box and when I released him he acted like he had always been there and no one paid him any attention. I put the fairy wrasse in the acclimation box for two days as well but there was still chasing and agression from the other wrasses. I probably could have kept him in there for another day and maybe that would have helped. I ended up turning the lights off for the rest of the day and tried placing a mirror next to the tank to distract the fish that were bullying him when the the lights came back on. I only left the mirror up for a few hours but they haven't really bothered the new guy ever since. It totally worked.

 

I didn't want to buy an expensive box so I ended up using one of those kritter keeper things from like petco. I tried to drill some holes in it without much success. So i pretty much used it as is and it worked great. There was good amount of flow inside the keeper and the fish seemed 100% fine with the arrangement. I also tried to leave the box in a few different areas over the two days so that the fish would get a chance to see the new guys in different areas of the tank.