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I am pretty sure beginners would like to know how to you experienced people acclimatize new fish.
My preferred method is to stick plastic bag into tank in which fish will live , for 20-30 minutes so fish will get used to temperature Then i transfer fish into bucket and using vinyl tube ( same as you using for air bubbles) with valve i let water drop into bucket to acclimatize fish with water parameters. Usually ill wait till water in bucket is higher ( 50 -70% more water then fish came with ) then i gently pour water with fish into tank . I do leave lights off for 2-3 days so fish wont be stressed that much . For first feeding i usually wait until evening of first day lights were turned on.
So that's my story
how do you people do that?

I usually do the dripping.As long as 4 hours steady drip removing water as the bucket fills up.
I have also just skipped acclimating entirely and just poured the bag of fish into a net then straight into the tank,after reading this article.Check the 13th question and answer in the interview
http://aquamaniacs.net/forum/cms_view_a ... php?aid=36
Never lost a fish this way.But pricey fish,and stuff Ive been waiting for I still drip,more for my peace of mind than the fishes benefit I suspect.

nice find

It all depends on the fish and how long they have been in the bag. I have found over the years that as long as the pH is very close and the tank temperature is a bit warmer than the bag temperature you can net them out and add the fish to the tank. If I have the time, I will float the bags for about 15 minutes. Other times I just net out the fish and put them in the tank.

Float for 5-10 min open and net out for most fish. If I am concerned with a pH difference for some reason float 5-10 min, open bag, dump in small pail, add a cup of tank water wait 5 min, repeat 2 or 3 times, net out.

A few variables.
Depends on the fish. Depends on the water in the bag.
If the water in the bag is old or dirty I will not trickle. Adding fresh clean water slowly to dirty water I am told creates a pH crash and ammonia spike.
I have been warming the bag in the tank then either dump them in he tank, water and all. If it's dirty, blue or spiked with hypno, I strain the fish out in a net over a bucket.
If pH is an issue, I test the bag water and try to match it.

Good point Al.If the water looks bad,the fish are gasping or if I smell ammonia,right into clean water they go.

Have to say i agree with Al on this there are a lot of variables. I NEVER trust any "foreign" water going into my tak from the fish bags no matter how well i know the supplier. I use a water replacement system of replacing the water over half an hour then "strain" the fish into a net over a bucket and then put the fish into the tank.
When i was importing from SMG years ago, we started putting straight into tanks and the "ph shock" used to make the fish jump out of the tanks in shock so we decided to use buckets and mix with the bag and tank water gradually until it was level and then put into the tanks. The last you you want to do when spending a fair amount of hard earned money is to lose the fish through a simple procedure

Oh, I also try to use a quarantine tank to protect from "hitchhikers" getting into the general population.

Depends depends depends
how long in bag
how much h2o in bag
type of fish
size of fish (fry,etc)

the most important thing is to change the environment slowly and steady

I use a cup or syringe to add water to the bag that is floating

Another good point Al.
Quarantine.Any new fish I buy dont get to meet any of my present fish for 6 weeks,regardless of who they came from.I havent had a single issue but haunting the net like I do,Ive seen way too many stories of weeks of medication and lost tankfuls of fish to do it any other way.

Here is the way I acclimate fish. If the water is clean, I float the bag for 10-15 minutes to get the temperature as close to the tank as possible. Then I empty the bag and fish into a 5 gallon bucket. I take a airline hose and tie a knot on one end of the hose and slowly drip the tank water into the bucket. After approximately 30 minutes of acclimation I catch the fish and add them to the tank. I never add the water from the bag into the tank. If the water is extremely dirty when I receive the fish I float the bag to get the temperature as close as possible to the tank. Then I catch the fish to the tank and discard the water that is in the bag.

Let float with bag open - 15 min.

Add small amounts of tanks water to bag. (about 5% of water in bag volume) about every 5-10 min.

Carefully net out fish.

Be careful not to add any of the water that was in the bag to your tank. You don't want the ammonia-polluted water this fish has been sitting in because you don't know what viruses or bacteria its previous tank may have harbored.

If at all possible, its recommend no place the new addition into a quarantine tank. This will help prevent contamination to the main community.

Good luck!

Really helpful information here, I'm glad that i saw this thread.
I always thought the dripping method is the safest way to acclimate fish, now i know it's a different ball game when it comes to acclimate fish with alkaline water.
This will definitely help me to take the appropriate action when the fish i'm trying to import arrives.

My method is similar. Float 15 minutes, Open bag dump out half and add tank water. Wait 30 minutes, net fish, rinse in new tank water. Add them to the temporary tank for a week's observation.

Most deaths are caused by stress before you get them. Nothing you do helps if that was the case.