How to Acclimate New Fish to Your Tank

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By Mitestarossa
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Fish are very fragile when you first bring them home.

Fish are very susceptible to shock and they can die if they are not moved very carefully.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Step 1

PREPARE TANK - If you used tap water to fill your tank, make sure you use a water conditioner. Chlorine and other things in tap water can kill fish. The water conditioner will balance it out.
Step 2

OTHER FISH - If you have fish in your tank, feed them prior to introducing the new fish so that they leave the new ones alone.
Step 3

ACCLIMATE THE TEMPERATURE - Leave the fish in the bag they came in and float the bag in the tank without opening it. The water in their bag will slowly reach the same temperature as the tank water. TOTAL FLOATING TIME AT LEAST 30 minutes including step 4 below.
Step 4

AFTER 10 minutes of floating the bag, add some of the tank water into the bag. About 25% more than is already in the bag. Then reseal the bag. Do this again every ten minutes.
Step 5

AFTER 30 minutes of floating the bag, you can open the bag and roll down the top (like a shirt sleeve) so that the bag slowly floats down and the fish can slowly exit into the tank.