To give your new coral the best chance to thrive in your tank, proper acclimation is critical. Coral are extremely sensitive creatures that require gradual changes in water chemistry or stress and damage can occur. Following these best practices gives you the best chance at survival.
Before you start, ensure your aquarium is within best practice parameters:
| Temperature | 76°-81° |
| Salinity | 1.023-1.026 SG |
| pH | 8.1-8.3 |
| Calcium | 380-450 ppm |
| Alkalinity | 8-12 dKH |
| Magnesium | 1200-1400 ppm |
| Nitrate | 1-10 ppm |
Once you confirm your tank is set up for success:
- Turn Lights Off. Intense lighting after being in a dark shipping box can be stressful and "burn" corals.
- Float the PE bag containing your new coral in the aquarium to equalize temperature (5-10 minutes).
- Open PE bag and carefully empty the bag, water and coral, in a specimen container (or cup). If possible, use a container that allows for contact with the aquarium water to maintain temp.
- Remove water from the specimen container as low as you can go without exposing the new coral to air.
- Every few minutes, add tank water to the specimen container 1/4 cup (60ml) at a time until at least 75% of the water in the container is from your aquarium. This should take less than 30 minutes. Longer than that risks temperature drops. This is to equalize water parameters like pH, Salinity, Alkalinity, and other chemical properties which coral are sensitive to.
- Recommended: Dip your coral in pest control solution using the instructions provided by the manufacturer. I do my absolute best to keep my aquarium parasite/pest free (UV sterilization, pest eating tank inhabitants, dipping new coral, etc), but it is never 100% guaranteed, no matter how hard people try.
- Rinse the new coral in a cup of clean aquarium water, and place the piece within your aquarium somewhere with low flow and towards the bottom of the tank for reduced lighting.
- Either utilize the acclimation settings on advanced LED lighting systems which drops light intensity down significantly, and gradually increases it daily to normal levels; Or, keep the new frag on the bottom of the tank, furthest from the lights, and gradually move them to where their final placement will be over a week or more. This reduces the chance of the lights "burning" the coral.