Acclimating Native Fish to Tank

I am planning on catching a smallmouth bass and eventually a bullhead for my new tank and I was wondering if anybody knows how I should acclimate the fish to the tank after I catch it? Back in the day when I was little and had a fish tank you would let the fish sit in it's plastic bag floating in the water to get the temperature the same before you drop him in. Obviously that isn't going to work here.

What is the best way to get him home? I was planning on filling a cooler with creek/lake water and taking him home like I do baitfish.

It is a 210 gallon BTW.

Edited by bjbass, 22 May 2010 - 07:30 AM.

well i would say that you should have an already established filter on it. (maybe from another tank) if not i would say your best bet is to take substrate from the lake that will have the bacteria needed. water wont do much. i would say just make sure the temperature is the same as the water they are in. bullheads can tolerate ALOT. found in very polluted waters.

I like to run a small siphon such as a piece of airline tubing from the tank into the bucket or cooler as it sits on the floor. That slowly replaces the water in the cooler (don't let it overflow!) and provides good acclimation.

A knot in the hose helps regulate the flow down to a drip.

I also use the airline drip method. Take your time and replace at least half the water with tank water and get the temperature within a couple degrees. Take water out of the cooler if it gets too full.

Also, it would be a good idea to get relatively small fish to start with. They are much more adaptable than full grown ones.

Also salt in the transport cooler, 1 teasp per gal, may help fend off Flexibacter and fungus infections on newly caught fish.

I caught two small perch and a small largemouth bass last week. I transfered them in a 5 gallon bucket with the lake water they came from. When I got home, I grabbed a large plastic bag, filled it half with the lake water, half with the tanks water (been established for a month). I zipped it up and let it acclimate for about an hour in my tank so the temperature change isn't shocking. Then released them in. They are all healthy and seem pretty happy after a week (except the get a bit crazy when they see their relection in the glass).

I caught two small perch and a small largemouth bass last week. I transfered them in a 5 gallon bucket with the lake water they came from. When I got home, I grabbed a large plastic bag, filled it half with the lake water, half with the tanks water (been established for a month). I zipped it up and let it acclimate for about an hour in my tank so the temperature change isn't shocking. Then released them in. They are all healthy and seem pretty happy after a week (except the get a bit crazy when they see their relection in the glass).

Thanks for your replies!

This sounds like a good method. The only problem I see is that my bass is going to be a minimum of 12" as that is the minimum size requirement in Pennsylvania when bass season opens on June 12th. I will probably have to use the bucket method and keep changing the water out just based on the size of the fish.

Oh yeah, my fish were like 3 inches. Haha.

This might be controversial, but if you already have an established tank you shouldn't have to do much as far as acclimating the fish. Keep in mind these fish live outside year-round adjusting to water temperature and quality daily. When I have caught something I thought might have any trouble, like something that came out of a mud hole, I just took a plastic sandwich bag and mixed the water they came out of with water out of the tank, 50/50, and floated it in the tank for 20-30 minutes. Haven't lost one yet.

This might be controversial, but if you already have an established tank you shouldn't have to do much as far as acclimating the fish. Keep in mind these fish live outside year-round adjusting to water temperature and quality daily. When I have caught something I thought might have any trouble, like something that came out of a mud hole, I just took a plastic sandwich bag and mixed the water they came out of with water out of the tank, 50/50, and floated it in the tank for 20-30 minutes. Haven't lost one yet.

Very good point. I wonder how long I will need to cycle my tank? I have a bottle of Seachem Stability to use on it. Hopefully I will only have to run it for a few weeks.