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Likely the most damnable fact/oid re keeping aquariums period is
that near one hundred percent of folks drop out, leave the hobby every
year. Why is this; what reason/s are their for such huge turnover of
aquarists? Is it boredom? Far from it; though perhaps other easier
pastimes like video games are more attractive to many. Years back, some
industry notables declared that the principal challenge to the trade
(the business of aquariums), was the publics’ perception that keeping
tanks was drudge-ridden, that they were too stinky, likely to have water
spills…
I assure you they were and are wrong. The number one reason people leave
the ornamental aquatic interest is simply “lack of success”… they find
it too difficult to set up, stock, and maintain their systems; mainly as
measured by the loss (most often for unknown reasons) of their
livestock.
The purpose of isolation/quarantine is twofold: to lessen morbidity and
mortality of livestock by giving the newly acquired life a period of
time to rest, and you the opportunity to observe this livestock to
assess its health and avoid introduction of pathogenic disease and
often, undesirable hitchhikers.
First and Foremost: A Written Plan!
Pre-acclimation; indeed pre-buying you need to KNOW the livestock you
are buying; what are its needs, its compatibilities, range of
tolerances? What sort of system does it need? How much/little water
movement? Light strength/intensity? If studying from other than site
inspections (at fish stores, on site e-tailers) is what you have in mind
even available? How will you discern the better, best specimens; i.e.
what criteria to apply? Is there a knowledgeable friend who can help
you, assist you in choosing?
Transport:
Another important matter twixt planning and acclimation is
transport: getting your newly acquired stock from sources to your
system. Mostly we’re talking a concern for thermal and light insulation
here; though bumps, physical jarring of bags, containers should be kept
to a minimum.
For commercial and long-range shipping Styrofoam boxes with
cardboard liners are standard containers. Two to four mil (thousandths
of an inch thick) poly(ethylene) bags, perhaps doubled, maybe with a
paper et al. liner separating them (for light dampening and water
absorption/protection of the outer bag should the inner one be
punctured), oxygen and clipped or banded closed. Additionally, depending
on the weather, ice bags or heat packs may also be taped inside the
boxes.
For hobbyists a simple picnic cooler is fine. Pure oxygen should
be used if available, even if transiting for only a few tens of minutes;
as a higher concentration here acts as a mild anesthetic, lessening
overall stress and metabolite production.
Acclimation: Moderating tween shipping conditions and your
system
There are few more contentious issues in our interest
than “schools” (and their adherents) to given Standard Operating
Protocols (SOPs) of acclimation. Some (learned and not) folks do very
little; opening bags, and even pouring shipping water into their
established system. Don’t do this! Here I’m presenting a synthesis of
what institutions like public aquariums and culture facilities and the
largest/best livestock wholesale facilities employ. What is important:
Chemical/Physical conditions can be important; particularly
biochemical… hence the rationale for isolation of new stocks, mixing of
water over time. “pH shock” is mainly an issue with ammonia presence in
and outside the livestock itself. This phenomenon is a crucial
understanding for all who deal with aquatic life.
Bio-chemical acclimation IS the real deal. Animals and their cells
secrete and excrete ammonia as wastes… in urine and through respiration.
Amino acids (that make up proteins in food) catabolism results in
ammonia… And ammonia presence is debilitating in any concentration. Let
me repeat that for emphasis: ANY ammonia present/detectable is harmful
to your livestock.
Ammonium and Ammonia: A Tale of Two Very Different Molecules
Depending on what pH and temperature it occurs
“ammonia” occurs more as either NH4+ or NH3; lower to higher temperature
and lower to higher pH results in: ionized (charged) vs. unionized; less
toxic to very toxic, and germinal to our discussion here; during
transport… in a bag w/ a small volume of water two things happen:
through respiration oxygen gets used up and carbon dioxide (as carbonic
acid) accumulates; dropping pH… AND ammonia concentration increases…
Critically important damage can occur in moving the transported
livestock too-abruptly into “too high” pH water, due to the sudden shift
(inside the animals) of ammonium to ammonia.
A Nomograph: Depicting the toxicity (LD-50) of
a fish species (derived experimentally) exposed to ammonia/ammonium at
varying pH’s and temperatures
Four intersecting points to drive home the point:
Terrestrial vs. Aquatic Life: Oxygen and respiration issues
A bit of pertinent science to aid your appreciation
here: Recall that the “sea of air” we live in is about 21 percent oxygen
, 79 % Nitrogen, a smidgen of CO2 and other gasses. That’s 210,000 parts
per million of O2.
Underwater dissolved oxygen runs about 7-8 parts per million at
saturation; small wonder that hematocrits (packed cell volumes of blood)
are so high. There are dire consequences if there is loos of Red Blood
Cells (RBC) concentration in terms of oxygen carrying capacity.
Overall stress; particularly exposure to non-ionized ammonia causes
(among other bad things) hemolysis, rupture of RBCs… This should be an
“Ah Ha” moment for you; and give you pause to realize how important
acclimation can be; as well as isolation/quarantine for allowing newly
moved livestock opportunity to rest, recuperate ahead of being placed in
established systems.
Two Basic Shipping Scenarios: Short term (minutes) or hours
IF new acquisitions are being locally transported under an hour or so
vs. life being long-hauled in bags, from e-tailers…
Short term hauls; acclimation
Here’s a detailing of a classical approach to acclimating livestock that
has been “in the bag” just for minutes:
Long term hauls: hours in the bag
Acclimation Tools: Hobbyist
Acclimation Tools: Commercial
Invertebrates:
More sensitive at times;
require special/more care in acclimating
Quarantine: Easy and oh so beneficial
Quarantine Systems: Should not be expensive nor extravagant
Quarantine Maintenance: Keep it simple as well
Lastly: A few notes re how to place new
livestock in an existing system.
Cloze:
Many folks have argued that they’ve done just fine sans elaborate
acclimation, and always foregone quarantine… and never had problems. Am
sure you’ve heard of Russian Roulette… As stated above, ALL “real”
facilities employ these procedures as SOPs… to avoid what can be
tremendous heart ache and expense.
Bibliography/Further Reading:
WetWebMedia(.com): Articles and FAQs files on Acclimation,
Techniques/Tools, Quarantine, Dips/Baths
Fatherree, James. Quarantine or else! The Reefer, TFH 11/11.
Hemdal, Jay. 2012 Acclimating animals to aquariums, Part 1:
Introduction to techniques. TFH 3/12, Part 2: Advanced acclimation
techniques, TFH 4/12 |
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