Adding
Adding your aquarium fish correctly
You will have observed that wild animals are transported blindfolded, because this makes the journey considerably calmer and less stressful for them. There is a similar trick to reduce stress for fish. Stress leads to the weakening of the immune system in fish and often to an increased likelihood of illness.
Always catch fish with two fish nets! With the smaller one you drive the fish into the large net and lift them out of the water. When doing so, keep one hand BELOW the net. The fish will then struggle less and injure their mucous membrane less.
Most people chose fish nets that are too small. The fish net should at least have four times the size of the fish itself. Don’t touch fish with spikes and ideally catch them with a vessel instead of a fish net. But if you use a net, choose one with a VERY fine mesh where the spikes can’t get tangled up. If your fish is tangled up in the fish net, it often helps to put the net with the fish in the aquarium or transport container. The fish can then free itself alone.
Many pet shops add a few drops JBL Acclimol in your fish transport bag before closing it. With JBL Acclimol the fish are calmed, the stress is reduced, and, due to protective colloids, the fish’s mucous membrane is protected against infections which can occur when small injuries through the net create entry points for germs.
A transport bag should only be filled one third with water and transported in a lying position. This enlarges the water surface to a maximum and no oxygen problems will occur. As with wild animals it is quite helpful to darken the fish transport bag using paper or a paper bag. Additionally the paper has an insulating effect against high or low external temperatures.
As soon as you arrive home with the fish transport bag, please switch off your aquarium light and put the lighting aside. Open the bag, roll down its edge and put the bag onto the water surface. The rolled up edge will make the bag float on the water.
Gradually transfer small quantities of water from your aquarium to the transport bag until the water quantity in the bag has doubled, to acclimatise the fish to the new water values and temperature. Now add a dose of JBL Acclimol into your aquarium water to protect the animals after the relocation against germs in the aquarium which are new for them. After you have added about 10 „shot glasses“ of aquarium water into the bag you can put the fish, after about 30 minutes, carefully with a fish net from the bag into the tank. Please DON’T pour the transport water into your aquarium. It could contain new germs, problematic copper or residues of medications! Switch the light on again after one hour. With territory defending fish, like cichlids, we advise you slightly redesign the aquarium when adding new fish. That way the existing territorial boundaries can be fought out anew.