Saltwater Aquarium Acclimation & Conditioning
Whenever a new saltwater tank is acquired, moved, or undergoes its monthly cleaning it must be acclimated in the proper manner to ensure the crab population it houses thrives.
NOTE: our aquariums are about 75 gallons. It is ok to round up on Stability when dosing them since they can't overdose, nor will the Stability hurt animals that are in the aquariums if it's added while they're in them.
New Aquariums
When a new aquarium is installed it has to be acclimated to support the animals so they don't suffer "new tank syndrome". These new tanks are a blank slate with nothing of the complex ocean environment (bacteria, nutrients, nutrient cycles, etc.) to support life. Thus, before animals can be added to a new tank some acclimation must be done.
To acclimate a new tank:
Add old water (from a currently functioning tank) to provide some starting bacteria and nutrients. Do this for a couple of days to get a strong start of nutrients and bacteria in the tank.
Take some of the Bio Balls from an existing tank and add them to the new tank (you can swap these with the brand-new Bio Balls from the new tank). These will provide a starting culture of healthy bacteria to build up the new tank’s colony.
Dose the new tank with Stability for the recommended dosage for the recommended number of days. Stability is concentrated bacteria that jump-starts the colony of the tank along with the Bio Balls.
After acclimating the tank for the recommended length of time with Stability, wait a day and then test the water. If the nitrogen and other nutrient levels are low, add a crab leg (or something similar in size) and allow it to marinate in the tank for a couple of days. This will help to bring the nutrient levels of the tank up and have the proper nutrient cycles functioning in the tank now that there is a bacteria colony living in the Bio-Balls. Re-test the water and if the nutrient levels are ideal you can begin to add animals to the tank.
***Start by adding a couple of animals to start. Don't overload the tank by putting the maximum number of animals it can hold!! Wait until you are sure that the tank is sustaining them well (if they don't die within a couple of days the tanks are doing fine) before adding more than a couple of animals.
Moved Aquariums
By removing all the water in the tank you are removing the nutrients in the system and killing bacteria as they dry out. However, since you aren't removing all of the water some bacteria and nutrients will survive. Refill the tank as quickly as possible after it has been moved. To help the tank revive to its healthy state give it a one-time dose of Stability as recommended on the bottle. After waiting a couple of days for the bacteria colonies to re-establish happy levels you can re-introduce animals to the tank.
To move the aquariums, they need to be drained of the majority of their water. Don't drain them dry! Leave some water in the lower reservoir, the overflow chamber, and the main tank to keep the bacteria colony moist and thus partially alive. Also, don't leave the tank in this state for more than 48 hrs. You want to drain the tank as soon as possible compared to when it's being moved to decrease (as much as you can) the stress on the system.
Full Tank Cleaned Aquariums
Once a month, to help the tanks hit a reset button and maintain healthy nutrient and bacteria levels, they need to be fully cleaned. After fully cleaning the tanks a one-time dose of Stability should be added to provide fresh bacteria to the tank to help it reset.