Fish survival in petstore "bags"

[fyrfytr]

So I got my Christmas suprise, now I am going to maybe pay it forward...maybe.

Suprise of all suprises (to my wife, not me) I have managed to not kill the 3 fish that we got at Jacks so I have been given the yellow light (working on a green light) to stock some more fish other then the 3 damsels that we have in there now. So I was thinking that maybe it would be fun for Santa to bring the 3yr old a nemo, but how do I pull this off since I work Christmas Eve (night shift)?

How long can marine fish live in a bag? If I ask for an extra big bag with extra water and air how could he go 3-4 hours? Thinking if I shorted myself a little sleep I could get the lil booger about 5...son should go to sleep around 9 (hopefully). If I showed the wife how to accimate think it would work? Dont have a QT tank

 

[Ltoutjian]

Yes, when the fish are shipped they are shipped in those bags over night. The only thing is you have to keep it at temperature

 

[JMSKI333]

Float the bag in your sump to keep it up to temperature and you should be good.

 

[fyrfytr]

There in is the kicker....dont have a sump yet. Went off the petsmart employee recomindaton and use bio-spira tuesday....tested 4 times before we had it inhabited on Wednesday. Almost wondering if it is too soon to add another one or two tank members. there are 3 damsals in there now

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

I think it is a little too soon to add anymore fish. However if you decide to get the fish, I would put the bag in a temperature stable spot and keep it dark. Also, make sure the bag is about 75% oxygen and 25% water.

 

[Fishinizer]

If you have a battery powerd air pump when you go fishing that would work well

 

[Kworker]

well, first. what is the size of youre tank?
second, what type of damsels

sorry but i think its too soon to add anything else, and would probably wont end well if "nemo" dies.
honestly i would wait, love the idea though. IMO would def work if no damsels. clowns aredamsels too. adding it may cause the 3 damsels to fight for their claimed territory unless youhave plenty of room.

 

[kschweer]

I think it is a little too soon to add anymore fish. However if you decide to get the fish, I would put the bag in a temperature stable spot and keep it dark. Also, make sure the bag is about 75% oxygen and 25% water.

+1
The amount of air in the bag is just as important as the water and is often over looked. Good luck

 

[Singlefin]

Not sure you should be adding fish at this point, but a new 5g bucket and air stone should hold it for a while. Kinda like a qt tank with no rock or anything. Just keep changing the water. Keep fish in a qt/hospital tank for weeks with no rock just a PVC pipe to hide.

 

[fyrfytr]

@seahorsekeeper - If I do it I will put it in the stand under the tank. Plenty dark and almost the same climate as the tank, only dry. The 3yr old has full access to the tank (for viewing, not for touching) but is not allowed in the stand. Plan on making sump/fuge there so I am working now on keeping lil hands out of it. I had worried about too much too fast, but it hard to pass up the chance for santa to do something cool and "magical" like that since he knowes fish have to acclimate and it wasnt there when he went to sleep.

@fishinzer - I don't fish...I just scuba dive and watch from behind glass.

@kcbutnotsosunshine - 36gal bowfront about a 2.5-3 inch sandbed and probably about 35-40lbs of liverock. There is a 3-spot domino, blue velvet, and I think a fiju blue. Yes, if nemo kicked the bucket I think Santa would end up on the naughty list and would not be a so merry Christmas. When I did the rockwork I tried to make a lot of small caves, holes, and swimthroughs. Plan was those that were not inhabited or claimed would make good holes for frag plugs in the future.

@kschweer - +1 on the +1 I looked at a video from live aquaria (i think, may have been reefs2go) about their shipping and they talked about pumping in pure oxygen...and it hit me.....the gas exchange is at the surface so the more air in the bag vs water the longer the gas exchange would take place (does it show I have a chemistry background)

@singlefin - I wasnt sure about it either. I know that there is plenty of room in the tank for him and the other fish havent done a lot with the bio load and the skimmer isnt getting much anymore (had been, used rock and sand). I am all for slow and steady wins the race, but like I mentioned above...the chance at some true Santa "magic" is what is tempting me.

 

[Kworker]

i think in the long run you may have issues with fighting in youre tank with the list. especially because of the domino.

The only time i think damsels are ever an alright idea is for instance. im doing a Eel tank build down the block from me, damsels are just miniature sharks.

 

[fyrfytr]

The damsals were to put something relitivly inexpensive in the tank so if I was wrong about my knowledge of saltwater we were not out a lot of money. Looks like a family friend is going to follow my lead and do a salt tank, they may go to their tank if the 3yr old isnt too attached.

 

[marinelife]

I would not add anything else to the tank. I feel even the Damsels were added to early. As said on the local forum, the longer you wait the better. This hobby takes patients.

 

[Kworker]

plus, why give santa the credit? lol my parents were telling me after a couple years they were sick of santa being the one giving the cool stuff

 

[fyrfytr]

Santa gets credit because at 3 he gets so very excited by Santa. He goes out nightly to make sure the "Santa please stop here" sign is still up and the lights that we put around it are on

 

[Mike171]

The 3yr old has full access to the tank (for viewing, not for touching) but is not allowed in the stand.

The real question of this thread is how do you get a three year old to understand not touching?

 

[fyrfytr]

He has been around fish tanks since birth. When he was born I had a freshwater tank that had a red-belly piranah. Once he stopped swimming it became an african cichlid tank, so he is used to agressive fish. He is really good at not touching, but does LOVE to feed them and watch them eat.