Neptun
When acquiring new aquarium fish, it is always necessary to take special measures for transplanting them into their new environment. This is especially true for such finicky fish as discus. And do not want to spend a decent amount of money to buy new specimens, to deal with their further treatment or lose the fish at all. Therefore, acclimatization of discus should be carried out with care and compliance with the basic rules.
Acclimatization of discus – transplanting fish
The bag or dishes in which the discus are transported may have excellent insulating properties. But in any case, the chemical parameters and water temperature will be different from those in the aquarium prepared for them. If you simply pour the fish from the bag into the aquarium, the newcomers will be subjected to heat and acid shock. This may even lead to their death. Therefore, you should follow a simple method of acclimatization, which does not require anything special from the aquarist, except patience. And if you take into account that there are several ways, then everyone will choose the easiest for themselves.
Method one
This method is suitable for those who start discus in a completely new aquarium, in which no one has lived before. It is one of the most reliable, so it is recommended by many experienced aquarists. The essence of the method is that the transportation of discus is carried out in a large amount of “native” water (about 40-50 liters). For these purposes, buckets and cans made of food-grade plastic, which can be purchased in an ordinary hardware store, are excellent.
As a rule, eight adult discus can safely survive the journey for about 4-6 hours in a 50-liter canister. In winter, the canister can be additionally insulated. But this is not necessary if the car heater is on. Aeration can be neglected for the duration of the trip. At the end of the trip, the temperature may differ by 2-3 degrees.
The minus of such transportation is that it will be quite difficult to lift a burden of 40-50 liters. Therefore, you can fill the container not completely. And additionally take 10-15 liters of warm water with you on the road to add.
After transportation
Having reached the destination, you should pour 1/3 or 2/3 of the volume into the prepared aquarium. Next, it is necessary to organize a powerful system of aeration and heating in the aquarium with discus. The entire procedure of transplantation will take 1-2 hours. Therefore, you can use the heater from the main aquarium. During this time, the water will not have time to cool down.
For the next step, you will need a tube with a small diameter. So that it is possible to organize the overflow of water from the aquarium to the fish canister according to the principle of communicating vessels. The diameter should be small. So that the water overflow rate does not exceed half a liter per minute. Water intake is better to do in the upper third of the aquarium. And the opposite end should be fixed above the rising bubbles from aeration, without lowering into the water. Thus, the water will spread throughout the volume of the tank more evenly. And in a couple of hours (depending on the tube) the bidon will be filled. You can also do without using the tube, and just occasionally give the fish small portions of water from the aquarium.
Завершение переезда
After that, you should transfer the discus with a net. And the water from the bucket to drain into the aquarium. As you can see, this method is based on mixing the “native” water with fresh water. In this case, in the new home of fish will be transferred and microorganisms. This is of great importance for their immune system.
This method should not be used when there are other fish already living in the tank. Especially other discus fish. In ideal conditions, the new fish should be quarantined in a separate vessel. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to realize this. Then simply do not overflow the “native” water into your aquarium. And just drain it into the sewer. You can also use another method of acclimatization.
Method two
This method is simpler, but can cause additional problems if the fish are even implicitly sick. It requires a bag in which the fish are transported, a cup and a rubber tie.
A glass of water from the aquarium is poured into the bag with discus. After that, the bag is tightly tied and placed in the aquarium. These manipulations will have to be repeated several times every 10-15 minutes. When there is no more space left in the bag, then it is drained of 50% of all the water. And everything is repeated again.
After the equality of temperature and chemical composition has been achieved, you only need to use a net to transfer the discus into the aquarium. Water from the bag must not be poured into the aquarium.
This method is good because it reduces the chance of introducing unknown diseases into the aquarium. It is best used if you do not trust the seller. Or if quarantine measures are not in place.
Discus acclimatization method three
The third method is something in between the first and the second. This is due to the fact that most often the fish are still transported in bags. In this case, the fish together with their water are simply moved into an intermediate container, for example, a bucket. It is worth considering that it should be perfectly clean. If the bucket has previously been in contact with strong cleaning agents, it is better not to use it. The new bucket should be rinsed well with warm running water. Then everything is carried out according to the scheme of the second method of acclimatization of discus.
There is no need to try to match the same pH parameters to the “native” water of discus. Repeat every detail of the water composition will still not be possible. And in the future, this will cause additional hassle when replacing the water. It is unlikely that your water will match the water that has been in the aquarium from the beginning. The main thing is to be gradual. Then the adaptation of discus will pass unnoticed for their health. If you follow this simple principle, you can avoid undesirable consequences.
Acclimatization of discus, discussed here in brief, can save you not a little effort and nerves. I hope you found this article useful enough to want to share it on your social networks.
