Acclimatization: understanding the principles

I am often asked the question about the acclimatization of Aquazolla's critters: should we carry out acclimatization for these invertebrates, and how should we proceed?

I think that above all, we need to understand what this necessity of acclimatization corresponds to, which we know well for fish, for example. We generally know how to do it, but we must recognize that we apply learned rules without always questioning the why.

For example, you were told that the temperatures between the starting water and the arrival water of a fish should be equalized very gradually. Because a thermal shock could be fatal, even by a few degrees.

However, aquarists who take their fish out in the summer to a poubellarium have noticed something surprising.
Indeed, when a fish at the surface sees you approaching, it immediately dives, just like its counterparts do in nature. Because in a poubellarium, the fish become wild again, much to their delight.

The temperature difference between the surface and the bottom of a poubellarium often reaches 6°C. And sometimes even more in a pond. How is it that these fish voluntarily inflict such a gap in half a second, while you are told to acclimate the fish you buy? Isn't there a contradiction here?

To understand, one must look at the concept of stress.

Many years ago, my job required me to travel a lot. While flying had never been a problem for me for years, one day I suddenly developed a fear of flying. Off to the therapist, to try to understand and especially to solve the problem.

I then learned that stress can be positive or negative depending on the circumstances and especially on their accumulation.

In my case, flying used to be enjoyable, and takeoff or landing was quite fun. A bit like people who love rides and roller coasters.

But when the accumulation of stress in my life became significant, close to a personal limit for each individual, every additional stress became harmful, unbearable. And the plane, once enjoyable, became in a way the last straw.

When stress, through cumulative effect, becomes too harmful, it can no longer be absorbed and it makes one sick. It can kill.

Now, let's go back to the fish.

"It is the experience of the poubellarium that allowed me to question and understand."

"My fish to whom I offer vacations in the garden sees many stresses disappear from its life: artificial lighting suddenly turned on and off, the incessant noise of pumps, glass walls unknown in nature and omnipresent humans, it discovers the wind on the surface, the rain, the little creatures that fall into the water, that lay eggs there, a living, fresh, infinitely varied food..."

In short, he is happy. His stress tolerance is at its maximum, and running away in your sight must be fun for him. The 6°C he is enduring at that moment is even "funny"!

"The fish you buy looks more like me when I was unhappy at work. Any new stress is then too much."

This fish was born and lived in Asian or Czech farms, in conditions anything but natural, deciding nothing about its life, crammed together with an abnormal density...
"He then makes a journey, trapped in plastic bags, after being chased and caught with a net. The water keeps moving."
He arrives at the wholesaler in the country of arrival, is retrieved among his dead companions. His life changes completely... for only a few weeks before everything starts again: heading to a pet store.
Light, temperature, shocks and movements, spatial references nonexistent in a soft bag: nothing that corresponds to its capabilities.

"The fish you buy is not able to withstand the slightest additional stress, and that is normal. It has become extremely fragile, but no one can know where it stands."

"That is why we must handle it with infinite caution and spare it any new shock: the water parameters, the temperature, everything must be gradual, its ability to adapt and 'withstand' being very compromised. The ideal is even to leave it in the dark, to acclimate it after the lights are turned off, in calm."

"The following summer, when you see him chasing the daphnia in his tub aquarium in the garden, you won't recognize him! He will no longer be the same, and this will be very concretely reflected in his health."

This issue of stress is the same for absolutely all living beings.

Even plants, depending on the species, lose their roots (Azolla, Pistia, etc.) when they are moved to a different environment, in order to readapt. And that is perfectly normal.

And it cannot be otherwise for invertebrates: shrimp and other crustaceans, snails, worms, etc.

"That’s why I only collect your critters from my farms on the day of shipping. That’s why your water lice are shipped with a felt pad to cling to (this makes all the difference for them, it reassures them). Thus, we reduce the stress chain."

But after all journeys, one must recover from their emotions. And you (like me) know nothing of the "feelings" of the living being you receive, whether animal or plant. What stress has it accumulated, seen from its own "eyes"?

"Hence the cautionary guidelines. It is therefore impossible to formulate absolute rules. The only rule is to understand this principle of cumulative stress, the particular (and temporary) fragility it creates in every living being, and thus the gradualness of changes to avoid 'the last straw.'"

The first thing to do, once it is confirmed that everything is fine, is to open the received bags to give back oxygen. Then possibly empty them into a glass or a bowl depending on the species without harsh light, allowing the temperature to evolve on its own. Then, depending on your perception, the drip method or partial water exchange, you will see.

Later, when you change your water lice from the tank, you will be amazed by their tolerance.

Especially if you have offered them a life... without stress!