# What drip per min/sec (DPM/DPS) should be used for acclimation?



## AquaNekoMobile (Feb 26, 2010)

Ok right now I'm doing my drip acclimation for my dwarf puffer (DP) but going very slow right now as it is a special little guy/gal. 

I took a 1gal 'sweetie' container and a new 1gal ziplock bag to line the container. I poured the DP into the sweetie tank then double tied an airline tube with a few clamps to slow the waterflow down. I am getting 1 drip about every 2-2.5seconds (while counting 'one one thousand, etc'). 

What should my DPS or DPM be? The little thing is all tail curled.  Should I throw a small ramhorn snail in right now? The water level is about 1in right now including the original LFS water. 

I'm putting this DP into my 1gal tank I got off Bigfishy for a while as a QT tank. I asked the [email protected] and they said the DP can go with my z.danios for temp time being as it is about almost 1cm looking and that the z.danios can avoid conflict as they are fast enough. I do know DP's can be territorial as they age. My z.danios (5) are in a 10gal.


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## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

You should drip for 15-25 mins. I have never sat there and counted drip by drip so I don't know the drip per second.

If the puffer is that small I would not put it the danios. They are super fast and much stronger than the puffer they might and could stress it out really badly or even nip it's fins. The other major issue is feeding. The puffer will have a hard time getting to the food before the danios.

DP's are not aggressive fish. You just have to choose the right tank mates.


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## matti2uude (Jan 10, 2009)

Wow 15-25 mins! I usually drip my fish for 3-5 hours at about 1 drip per second.


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## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

matti2uude said:


> Wow 15-25 mins! I usually drip my fish for 3-5 hours at about 1 drip per second.


It all depends on the situation. 
If I just grabbed a shipment I will drip them from 1-3 hrs. They need it after being in a box for a day or so.
If they have been bought from a LFS or fellow hobbyist I don't drip for too long. Maybe 45 minutes max if I think the fish needs it for that long. It also depends on what type of fish it is and how sensitive they are. 
I think 3-5 hrs is going way too long. At that long and that slow it is hard to keep the temp of the water in the drip bucket the same as the water in the tank you are waiting to put the fish in. I am not saying 3-5 hrs is bad. I just think it is overkill when dealing with most fresh water fish.


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## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

matti2uude said:


> Wow 15-25 mins! I usually drip my fish for 3-5 hours at about 1 drip per second.


I usually do 2 or 3 drips a second and it takes me around 2-3 hours, I thought thats how it was suppose to be. I never do any other form of acclimation.


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## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

what I do is:

drip rate of 3-4 drops per second.

length of time: usually 3-4 hours if its a delicate fish or shrimp. If its something like cherries or other hardier fish, then I usually increase the rate to like 5-6 drops per second and drip for like an hour.

For the 3-4 hour drips, I have a small 25watt heat in the 5gal bucket to maintain water temp to that of the same as the tank.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

I usually aim for a constant drip (like around 1drip/second) and don't aim for a time duration, but rather try to double the water volume. I don't think dripping anything for 3-5 hours is necessary.

Often times I will just test the pH and TDS. If both match, or are close to it, I will just do a quick float to ensure the temperature is the same.


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

I scoop water in in 3 or 4 shots over about 15 minutes, once the temp is the same. I will double or triple the amount of water in the bag.


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## KhuliLoachFan (Mar 8, 2008)

I have found that unless your fish is stressed, or is a truly non-hardy species, any drip acclimation at all (at least 15 minutes) is enough, and that you don't need to spend hours. I have never lost a fish that I hurried through at 20 minutes. My worry with a 3-5 hour acclimation period would start to be that there could actually be an increase in ammonia in the unfiltered bucket where I am drip acclimating. The water volume is small.


W


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