What is Acclimation and how does it work
Acclimation is the process where fish and other aquatic life is moved from one tank into another, they need to be gradually acclimated to the new water conditions. This is true whether the fish have been shipped from far away, or if you are moving them from one tank in your house to another. The most important water parameters that the fish need to be acclimated to are temperature, pH and nitrates level.
It is highly recommended that you never dump the water from the fish store straight into your tank. It can harbor parasites and increase the chance of infections and parasitic transfer from the fish store to your tank.
There are a number of methods for acclimating new aquarium fish to a tank that are widely used by the majority of aquarist in the world. This does not mean that this is the only way to do it, or that there are not other good ways. First, float the bags the new fish come in in the tank for 10 minutes -- no more. Next put the new fish and the bag water they came in into a container that will hold about four times the amount of water that is in the fish bags. Make sure that this container is one that is dedicated ONLY to use with your fish tank(s), and make sure there has never been any soap in it. Put the fish and the bag water they are in into the container. Then, every couple of minutes over a half hour period, take some water from the tank the fish will be going into and put this water into the container. The water added from the tank to the container (each time) should be about 20 percent of the amount of water in the container from the fish bags. After half an hour, net the fish out of the container and put it into your tank. Dispose of all of the water in the container. It is very important to observe your fish for as long as possible after introducing them into their new tank, as you want to make sure they are not getting picked on by the existing inmates in the aquarium.
It is highly recommended that you never dump the water from the fish store straight into your tank. It can harbor parasites and increase the chance of infections and parasitic transfer from the fish store to your tank.
There are a number of methods for acclimating new aquarium fish to a tank that are widely used by the majority of aquarist in the world. This does not mean that this is the only way to do it, or that there are not other good ways. First, float the bags the new fish come in in the tank for 10 minutes -- no more. Next put the new fish and the bag water they came in into a container that will hold about four times the amount of water that is in the fish bags. Make sure that this container is one that is dedicated ONLY to use with your fish tank(s), and make sure there has never been any soap in it. Put the fish and the bag water they are in into the container. Then, every couple of minutes over a half hour period, take some water from the tank the fish will be going into and put this water into the container. The water added from the tank to the container (each time) should be about 20 percent of the amount of water in the container from the fish bags. After half an hour, net the fish out of the container and put it into your tank. Dispose of all of the water in the container. It is very important to observe your fish for as long as possible after introducing them into their new tank, as you want to make sure they are not getting picked on by the existing inmates in the aquarium.