Shipping Fish

[guppymonkey]

I have been thinking about shipping some fish to a friend of mine that lives too far away to drive to. I am just unsure about a couple of things. Do you need to pump the bag full of oxygen (like they do at petsmart) from a tank? If you don't use the oxygen how long will the fish last in a bag? Where do you get the heat packs needed during the winter?

Any advice you can give will be a great help! Thanks!

 

[BWBettas]

if it was me id take somewater from the tank and palce 1/3 of the bag full of it then get an air pump the day before and just pump the water full of oxygen, then go outside and run through garden (stay with me ) with the bag filling with water. oh wait the oxygen wont stay in cs youll hae to go in and put fish in.

i would defo put an airstone in there for a good few hours before you ship and as for heat packs well maybe some small drinks bottles with warm water in.

Hope i helped a little lol

 

[Synirr]

You don't need to pump the bag full of pure oxygen as they do at Petsmart, just so long as you make sure it is full of air. There are methods of holding the bag so as to trap air in it as you close it, but I find just using an air pump and a piece of airline tubing to fill it up works great. Use about 1/3rd water and 2/3rds air. It depends on the size of the fish and the size of the bag how long it will last, but they can definitely make it several days. You'll need to fast the fish for 2 days before bagging it so it doesn't mess the water up as quickly.

It depends on the temp where you live and where the fish is going if you need a heat pack or not, but if you do, you can order them pretty cheaply from Aquabid (shipping materials section). You will need to put a layer of newspaper or something between the fish and the heat pack so it doesn't overheat. It's also good to line the box with styrofoam sheets that you can buy at any home improvement store in the insulation section and cut to size

 

[guppymonkey]

Thanks for the advice! You can pump air into the bag using an air pump? This actually works? Wow!

 

[Synirr]

Yep yep, just hold the bag tightly around the air tube, pull the tube out and quickly when the bag is full and twist the bag shut, then tie/rubberband

 

[guppymonkey]

Thats great! Its a lot cheaper than trying to rent an oxygen tank and explaining that no i don't need it for a person but to ship fish! Now I just have to buy some heat packs. I found them online but only from one company, uniheat but they seem to be pretty reasonably priced.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

be sure to add enough water so that the fish is completely covered even if the bag is tipped onto its side.