Aclimating New Rams

[TetraFreak]

My shipment of M. Altispinosa are arriving today(hopefully) and I'm wondering what steps need to be done to acclimate them to the new tank.

The Water Params are very close to what they were raised in so would temp be the only thing I really need to worry about?

The 55 does have lots of hiding places & live plants so that should be good for them as well.

Ideas? Suggestions?

This will be my first experience with Cichlids so I want to make sure that they're happy & healthy!

 

[Cathy G]

I am not sure how long they will have been bagged. You might think about adding a drop of ammo lock or something when you first open the bag -
One thing I do know, keep the tank lights off for a few hours and if they still looked stressed tomorrow, turn them off as well.
Usually one has to acclimate really slow - over the period of an hour/hour-1/2. But, I don't think this procedure is correct for shipped fish. Hopefully someone else will chime in here before your FedX man arrives!
Cathy
P.S. I thought I was being sooo clever buying older Bolivians, they were easily sexed and I figured ready to go. Ha, they are still the biggest chickens in the world and it has been nearly a month now. Your youngins will adapt to their new lives very quickly.

 

[Cathy G]

Opps,
Forgot to mention, there is a thread here about preventative treatment for all incoming SA Dwarfs. I think it is New Fish/New Home. You might want to check it out, as tjudy gives me some great advice for new rams. (Blue rams, not as strong as your Bolivians will be.)
Cathy

 

[Mike Wise]

I personally never put new fish in a planted tank until they have been quarantined for at least a month in a quarantine/hospital tank. If the stress of shipping brings on a disease or parasitic outbreak, you will find it hard to see in your planted tank & the medication can be rough on the plants, too.

 

[TetraFreak]

Ram Update!

Well, I got them yesterday...they're sooo cute! even though my wife says they're ugly! LOL

Anyway.....
After what seemed like forever, actually about 2 hours, I got them aclimated to the ph of the water that they'll be living in...I took them out of the shipping baggies and into a large bowl. Tested pH and ammonia/Nitrites, added some Amquel to improve the water quality & slowly removed the bag water & replaced with the tank water they'll be living in. did this in small increments as the pH they arrived in was lower than I expected.

After the initial change & add of tank water to their bowl, I gave then some cichlid pellets and they were starting to munch right away. This made me happy as it's a good sign that they're not too picky.

Water replacement & pH testing continued until I raised the pH in the bowl to where they'll live and they seemed happy with that! I also added some crushed flake food which they munched on as well. At this point, they seemed to be adjusting quite well so thet them swim in the bowl for a bit longer before transferring them to their tank.

Once they started to get setled into the new tank, they actually started coloring up. a Beautiful Yellow Belly on most. I guess they're happy to be out of the shipping bags and enjoying the water quality. Looks from the batch that I got that I may have gotten lucky with possibly 2 pair out of the six. a couple aready started pairing up so there's hope!


I'll post more as it occurs!


PEACE!

-TetraFreak