📦➡️🐟 New Fish Arrival — Technical Protocol

Legend:
🧪 test • 🌡️ temperature • 🧯 emergency • 🧫 chemistry • 💧 water change • 🫧 oxygen • ⚖️ salinity/SG • ⏱️ timing • 🧰 gear • 🧠 note

---

⏱️ Minute 0–5 — Intake & Documentation

• 📸 Photograph the outer box + each bag (proof for DOA claims).
• 🔦 Lights off on the tank/QT; keep room dim/quiet.
• 🧰 Stage gear: clean bucket(s), airline + valve (for drip), net, thermometer, ammonia binder, towels, and for marine/brackish a calibrated refractometer.

🧠 Rule #1: Never pour bag water into your tank. Fish go in; bag water gets discarded.

---

🧫 Why shipped bag water is risky (in 30 seconds)

• In a sealed bag, fish respire CO₂ → pH drops, and excrete total ammonia (TAN: NH₃ + NH₄⁺) which remains safer as NH₄⁺ in low pH.
• The moment you open the bag, CO₂ off-gasses → pH rises → a larger fraction converts to toxic NH₃ (unionized ammonia) → gill burn risk.
• Therefore: temp-match first, then minimize time between opening and transfer or neutralize with a binder immediately upon opening.

🧮 Quick NH₃ fraction guide (25 °C, freshwater)

At total ammonia = 1.0 mg/L (ppm):

• pH 7.0 → NH₃ ≈ 0.006 ppm (0.6%)
• pH 8.0 → NH₃ ≈ 0.053 ppm (5.3%)
• pH 8.5 → NH₃ ≈ 0.15 ppm (15%)
  Even “small” TAN becomes dangerous at higher pH—especially for shipped fish.

---

🔍 Choose your acclimation track (decision matrix)

Track A — 📦 Shipped Overnight (bagged 6–48 h) → Likely ammonia present

• 🌡️ Float sealed bag in QT 15–20 min to equalize temperature.
• ✂️ Open bag in a bucket. If you smell ammonia or will drip at all, dose an ammonia binder to the bucket immediately (per label).
• 🏃 No long drip in high-ammonia water. Net fish gently and move into QT within a few minutes.
• 🗑️ Discard all bag water.

🧠 Rationale: opening raises pH; unionized NH₃ spikes. Quick transfer to clean, matched water prevents gill damage.

Track B — 🛍️ Local pickup (<2 h in bag, clean water) → Gentle drip optional

• 🌡️ Float sealed bag 15–20 min.
• ✂️ Open into a bucket, start a slow drip (2–4 drops/sec ≈ 60–120 mL/min).
• ⏱️ 20–40 min to double the volume (or until pH/temperature closely match QT/tank).
• 🕸️ Net fish to QT/tank; discard bucket water.

Track C — 🌊 Marine/Brackish specifics (plus Track A/B rules)

• ⚖️ Match salinity (SG @ 25 °C). If ΔSG ≤ 0.002, you can temp-match + quick transfer.
• If ΔSG > 0.002–0.004, do a controlled drip until within 0.001–0.002 of the QT. Aerate the bucket.
• 🪸 Inverts/corals: slow drip + aeration; avoid rapid swings.

---

🐟 Quarantine (QT) Setup — specs that matter

• 📦 Volume: 10–40 g (or appropriate tote); tight lid (jumpers).
• 🫧 Filtration: seeded sponge filter (mature media), gentle flow; prefilter sponges on intakes.
• 🌡️ Temp stability: within target ±0.5 °F (±0.3 °C). Use two smaller heaters or a controller on larger QTs.
• 🧪 Water: 0 NH₃/NH₄⁺, 0 NO₂⁻; NO₃ as low as practical (<20–30 ppm; delicate species <10).
• 🪵 Hides: PVC elbows/plants; reduce line-of-sight stress.
• 💡 Lighting: dim (acclimation day), normal thereafter.

---

⏱️ First 60 minutes in QT

• 🌙 Lights off/very dim for 12–24 h.
• 🫧 Add airstone if respiration is fast; ensure surface ripple.
• 🧪 Test NH₃/NH₄⁺ in QT at 30–60 min if fish were shipped long; do a 50% water change if any ammonia is detected.

---

🗓️ First 72 hours — exact targets & routine

Day 0 (evening)

• 🍽️ Skip feeding or offer a tiny easily-digested meal (most won’t eat immediately). Remove leftovers after 2–3 min.
• 🧪 Re-check ammonia before lights-out; water-change if needed.

Day 1

• 🍽️ 1–2 small meals; favor frozen daphnia/brine (freshwater) or mysis + nori (marine grazers).
• 🧪 NH₃/NO₂⁻ daily, NO₃ every 2–3 days; pH & SG (marine/brackish) daily.
• 💧 20–40% water change if NH₃ > 0 or NO₂⁻ > 0.1 ppm; add binder if needed.

Day 2–3

• 🧠 Evaluate behavior (appetite, posture, respiration, flashing).
• 🧪 Keep NO₃ < 20–30 ppm (delicate dwarfs <10).
• 🍽️ Increase feeding quantity slowly; keep oxygen high.

---

🧯 Triage guide (fast differential & fix)

* Nitrite safety tip: chloride competes with nitrite at the gill. In freshwater, 1–3 g/L plain NaCl (short-term QT) is often used to protect during spikes. Avoid with salt-sensitive species (some plants, loaches, certain catfish) and do not use in marine/brackish.

---

⚖️ Salinity & temperature math (for precision)

• Salinity drift limit (fish): aim ≤ 0.001–0.002 SG change during transfer.
• Inverts: even tighter; go slow with aerated drip (30–90 min).
• Temperature ramp: within 1–2 °F (0.5–1 °C) per 15–30 min until in range; once within normal band, prioritize stability over speed.

Drip rate planning (bucket ~4 L starting vol.)

• 2–4 drops/sec ≈ 60–120 mL/min → 20–40 min doubles volume.
• Stop once pH/SG/Temp are within the thresholds above.

---

🧪 Testing priorities & acceptable bands

Freshwater (community baseline):

• NH₃/NH₄⁺: 0 • NO₂⁻: 0 • NO₃⁻: <20–30 ppm (delicate <10)
• pH: stable in the seller → QT range (avoid sudden >0.3–0.4 jumps)
• GH/KH: stable (don’t chase unless extreme)

Marine (fish-only/reef):

• NH₃/NH₄⁺: 0 • NO₂⁻: 0 • NO₃⁻: 2–20 ppm (reef often 5–15)
• PO₄: 0.03–0.10 ppm (reef) • Alk stable
• SG (@25 °C): 1.025 ± 0.001 (reef typical), fish-only often 1.020–1.024

---

🧴 Optional therapeutic tools (use judiciously)

• Methylene blue bath (separate, aerated container): supportive for gill stress/transport damage. Follow product concentration/time; do not add to biofiltered QT (it nukes nitrifiers).
• Salt (freshwater QT): 1–3 g/L short-term for nitrite protection/osmotic relief. Avoid with known salt-sensitives and live plants.
• Broad anthelmintic (e.g., praziquantel) after fish are eating (days 3–7).
• Ich/velvet meds only with a clear diagnosis or cluster of signs. Avoid shotgun multi-med mixes unless directed.

---

🧳 When to skip drip entirely (freshwater)

• Long-haul shipments (12–48 h) with known TAN in the bag.
• Large pH gap upward on opening (bag pH ≤ ~6.5, tank pH ≥ ~7.5): quick transfer to pre-matched QT after temp-matching; add binder in the bucket if you must pause.

---

🧰 Minimal viable QT kit (ready before delivery)

• Seeded sponge filter + air pump, heater, lid, thermometer
• Liquid test kit(s) for NH₃/NH₄⁺, NO₂⁻, NO₃⁻, pH (+ SG for marine/brackish)
• Ammonia binder, plain NaCl (freshwater QT), methylene blue
• Buckets, airline + valve, fine net(s), towels
• Hides (PVC/elbows/plants), dark background

---

🧾 Arrival checklist (printable)

1. 🔇 Lights off; stage QT & gear.
2. 🌡️ Float sealed bag 15–20 min.
3. 🪣 Open into bucket; binder if any ammonia smell/reading.
4. 📦 Shipped fish: no long drip → net & move to QT.
5. 🕰️ Local fish: gentle 20–40 min drip if desired.
6. 🕸️ Net fish only; discard bag water.
7. 🫧 Boost aeration; dim lights 12–24 h.
8. 🧪 Test QT; WC if NH₃/NO₂⁻ detected.
9. 🍽️ Tiny feed later/next morning; remove leftovers.
   🔟 📆 2–4 week QT observation.

---

🏁 Bottom line

Keep it simple and safe: temp-match → (binder if needed) → fast transfer for shipped fish, slow drip for short, clean trips, never bag water in the tank, and let the fish rest in stable, well-oxygenated, zero-ammonia water. The first 72 hours are all about stability, oxygen, and gentle feeding.