You have invested time and money into your new aquarium inhabitants. Protect your investment by following one of our easy acclimation guides.

The reason you need to acclimate is simple. All aquariums have different parameters, your PH, Salinity and even nitrate levels may be different. Rapid changes in these parameters may shock your new arrivals if introduced at too rapid of a rate. Proper acclimation is key to helping your animals adjust to the new environment to prevent shock and death.

We recommend 2 different methods of acclimation below. Neither of the procedures should ever be rushed or it may void our 10 day guarantee.

Although not required it is recommended to quarantine new aquarium corals or fish in a separate aquarium for 1-3 weeks to ensure no parasites or pests are being introduced to your existing aquarium.

Floating Method

1. Turn of the aquarium lights. Leave off for at least 1-2 hours after introducing the new animals as it may shock the new animals from being in the dark for up to 24 hours. Never open the box in bright light.
2. Float our sealed bag in the aquarium for at least 15 minutes. This will adjust the temperature in the bag to match the aquariums temperature.
3. After floating the bag for 15 minutes cut the of the bag open using scissors then roll the bag over to create an air pocket so that it can easily float on the top of the water column. For large corals and fish you may want to utilize a plastic bowl or bucket.
4. After floating the bag discard half the water from the bag.
5. Continue by adding half a cup of water from your aquarium to the bag. Do this every 5-10 minutes till the water in the bag has doubled.
6. Once this process is complete discard all the water from the bag. Never discard the water from our shipping bags in your tank.

Drip Method

This method is for more sensitive corals or fish such as clams, shrimp, sea stars or wrasses. This process requires more attention and around 1-2 hours of time.

1. Just like the floating method float the bag for up to 15 minutes to adjust the temperature to the existing aquarium temp.
2. Carefully empty the contents of the bag to a bucket or other food safe container. Be careful not to expose sensitive animals to air. If there is not enough water to keep the corals/fish submerged tip the angle the bucket at a 45 degree angle and use something to wedge the bucket if necessary.
3. Using airline tubing setup a siphon drip to begin the acclimation process. Tie knots into the airline to increase or decrease the amount of drips (2-4 drops per second).
4. To begin a siphon start by sucking on one end of the airline tubing until water starts to flow through the line. This should start a siphon.
5. When the water in the bucket doubles, discard half of the water and continue until it doubles again.
6. Your new inhabitants are now ready to be introduced to the aquarium. Clams, gorgonians and sponges should NEVER be exposed directly to air. If you are introducing one of these simply place the bag under water and gently remove it so it does not expose to the outside air. Also to avoid any damage to your new animals never touch the fleshy areas as this may cause infection or damage.
7. Many fish and invertebrates are more sensitive to others to changes in specific gravity and other aquarium chemistry. It is important that you research these animals so that you are familiar with their needs.

Most Important
Be patient. These animals have traveled a long way to be housed in your aquarium as your new pet. Always follow through with the entire acclimation procedure as to produce as little stress on your new animals as possible.