Adding the shrimp to your tank – Acclimatisation

 

What you will need:

 

  • A meter or more of airline.
  • Container or bucket, yogurt or ice-cream or anything else suitable.
  • Airline Clamp (a knot in the airline will suffice if you don’t have a clamp).
  • Suction cup to attach the airline inside the tank (wedging it between the tank lid may also work).
  • Patience.


Now follow the instructions below carefully for safe acclimatisation of your shrimp once you get them home.



  1. Empty the bag into your container. If you have received shrimp in different bags, DO NOT mix those, you need to acclimatise each bag by itself!
  2. You should now have a container filled with water from the bag and your new shrimps. Carefully pour out most of the water, leaving a couple of centimetres and enough for the shrimp to swim in. Place this container below your main tank.
  3. Place the airline with one end a little below the water surface of your tank (using a suction cup or wedge it in your tank lid to stop it popping out of the water) and the other end just over your container with new shrimps. Then add the clamp or knot on the airline just above the container to regulate the flow.
    Alternatively, you can just add a small amount of water manually every 5 minutes.
  4. Now suck on the end until the water starts to come through and quickly place the end over the container. Tighten the clamp or the knot until the water drips at about 1 drop per second into the container.
  5. When the container is full, remove half the water and start again with a slightly faster drip. Repeat, each time halving the water and filling it up again. This should take about 2 to 3 hours. If at any time the shrimp start swimming about rapidly, pause the process for about 30 minutes until they settle, then carry on. You want to end up with the majority of the water being from your tank and the shrimps are looking lively and happy (but not frantic). If you have a TDS Meter, you can stop the process when the TDS in your container matches that of your tank. Seeing the shrimps searching for food is a good sign of well-being.



 

 

 Due to shipping: Some shrimp might display pale colouration; their colour will come back to the original intensity after a few days.



Please feel free to download these instructions as PDF below. Additionally we will include a printed copy of this with each shrimp order.