Need help fast! Is floating acclimation ok?

[Mackey]

Hey ya'll,
Just got some fish in and got them in differing parts of the store, so they came in different bags. I forgot I don't have enough clips for all of them. Wondering if I can just float the bag in the water for like 2 hrs putting in 1/2 a cup of water in the bag every 30 min? This question is time sensitive so any help soon would be greatly appreciated!
Thx!

 

[york1]

That would be better than no acclimation

 

[ActiveAngel]

It may be late, but yeah. Most aquarium fish are pretty tolerant of sudden water change. They swim through a variety of subtly different environments in nature.

Float the bag for 15-20 min to acclimate temp. Then open, (dump bag water as needed) and add tank water. This could be 25% -50% mixture of tank water to store water inside the bag now. Wait another 15-20 min. And if you want to repeat this, you can optionally do so until you get to >50%. Finally, take the fish out by hand, and gently place it in the tank. This is a good time to do a final visual inspection for injuries, disease, or parasites. That said, QT is highly recommended. Then dump the bag water down the drain; dont add it to your tank.

It somewhat depends on the store water salinity, but you can acclimate fish in 30-60 minutes with no supplies and little effort if needed.

 

[snowmansnow]

Just don't get any of the shipped water in your tank if you can help it

 

[Olong317700]

I've done it many times in a pinch.