Acclimation Guide
All you need is a net and a small bucket.
Dim the lights. Turn off your aquarium and room lights before opening the box. Your fish have spent hours in a dark box — sudden bright light can be shocking and stressful.
Float the bags in your aquarium for ~30 minutes to temperature-match the water.
Open one bag and empty the fish and water into a clean bucket.
Net the fish out of the bucket and release directly into your aquarium.
Discard the shipping water. Repeat for each remaining bag.
Don't be alarmed by high ammonia in the bag water — this is normal after overnight shipping and is not toxic until the bag is opened.
Drip acclimation can benefit sensitive or larger fish — but there is a common and dangerous misconception: longer is not better.
Drip for no more than 30–60 minutes. Beyond one hour, ammonia exposure becomes toxic and far more harmful than a salinity jump. Drip acclimating for over one hour may void your guarantee.
Do not place new arrivals in an acclimation box — it causes acute stress and can trigger illness or death. Use of an acclimation box upon arrival voids your guarantee.
If you're worried about aggression from established fish, put them in the box instead — they're not recovering from shipping.
We keep our systems at 1.018–1.019 SG with low-level copper for parasite prevention (industry standard). If possible, match your quarantine tank to this level and raise salinity gradually over time.
- —Keep lights off or very dim for most of the first day. Your fish have spent hours in a dark box — sudden bright light can be shocking and stressful.
- —Ensure a calm environment — minimize disturbances for the first few days.
- —Provide plenty of hiding spots: rockwork, caves, or PVC pipe.
- —Wrasses and sand-burrowers need a deep sandbed to feel safe.
- —Separate new arrivals from aggressive or territorial tankmates initially.
A common shipping stress response, especially in Tangs, Wrasses, Triggers, Angels, and Butterflies. Most fish bounce back within 24 hours. To help:
- —Add an air stone and increase surface agitation to saturate your tank with more oxygen
- —Confirm your return pump / wavemaker is running
- —Check parameters — ammonia must be undetectable
- —pH: 8.1–8.4
- —Keep the environment peaceful and dim
Not required, but keeping new arrivals in a dedicated observation tank for the first week makes it easier to treat issues early and ensures you can always access the fish if something goes wrong.
Note: our guarantee does not cover fish lost in the main tank that cannot be photographed. If you use a QT tank, make sure it's fully cycled with hiding spots — a bare tank is more stressful than a thriving main tank.
Completely normal. New arrivals often disappear into rockwork for the first day or two. They will come out as they settle into their new home.
If a specimen does not make it, you must provide a clear photo of the deceased fish outside of water, on a white background, with your order number and the date visible. Claims cannot be processed without this — no exceptions.
Click Here for complete coverage details and how to file a claim. Reading the policy before your order arrives will help ensure you're covered if anything goes wrong.
sales@reefbeauties.com · reefbeauties.com
Guarantee effective January 1, 2026