Netting fish from a bag

C

Cksnffr

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Aug 5, 2013
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Here's a total noob question for you.

I brought home a gourami and six panda cory cats from the LFS yesterday. The gourami was in one bag and the cats in the other. I drip-acclimated them using two separate tube kits into their plastic bags. When it was time to put the cory cats into my tank, I really struggled with using the net inside the plastic bag. I got one, but I was getting really worried about squashing them with the net frame or just stressing them way out. So eventually I just poured out most of the water and poured the last five guys into my tank. That means I did get some LFS water in there, but it was diluted with my own, and I was out of ideas.

The gourami was easier to catch because he was so much bigger.

So, how do you do it? Should I have transferred them out of the LFS bag in the first place?
 
Easiest option is to put the net over a bucket, gently pour the fish into the net, and then release. With cories...it's tough, because the spines can be caught in the net.
 
With fish like cories, I do what you did, but in a glass vase. Most of the time I just scoop an ounce or two at a time because it's easier than dripping.

I never worry about a little lfs water in the tank. If you're concerned about pathogens, you should quarantine all new fish for a few weeks or a month before putting them in with healthy fish
 
Gotcha. Yeah, there was no need to quarantine them since they were the first fish in the tank anyway....

The whole thing got me to thinking about making a device for acclimating and then transferring fish. You know those pasta pots that are basically a big stock pot with a slightly smaller colander-like pot inside? When your pasta is done, you just lift up the internal pot; all the water drains out but the pasta stays behind. It would be cool to have a small container setup like that for fish; once the drip acclimation is done, you could just lift up the internal container and pour the fish into the tank.

Someone has probably beaten me to that one....
 
Cksnffr said:
Gotcha. Yeah, there was no need to quarantine them since they were the first fish in the tank anyway....

The whole thing got me to thinking about making a device for acclimating and then transferring fish. You know those pasta pots that are basically a big stock pot with a slightly smaller colander-like pot inside? When your pasta is done, you just lift up the internal pot; all the water drains out but the pasta stays behind. It would be cool to have a small container setup like that for fish; once the drip acclimation is done, you could just lift up the internal container and pour the fish into the tank.

Someone has probably beaten me to that one....
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Walmart has what your talking about in the fishing section. They are called bait buckets.
 
OrionGirl said:
Easiest option is to put the net over a bucket, gently pour the fish into the net, and then release. With cories...it's tough, because the spines can be caught in the net.
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Agree. I never drip acclimate...just float the bag. For most fish it isn't neccessary. Just float to acclimate the temp...that is it. Always have done it that way...hundreds of fish later...never had a problem.
 
Like OG said, gently pour your fish from their bag, into your net, discarding the bag water. I don't even let the wet net touch the tank water.

I've never drip acclimated either.

I float the bags for as long as I have patience for, open the bags, discard the majority of the store water from the bag and add little bits of tank water in several sessions for as long as I have patience for..:nilly: Dump from bag, into net over a bucket, gently release fish from net to tank w/out the net getting into the tank.
 
FreshyFresh said:
Like OG said, gently pour your fish from their bag, into your net, discarding the bag water. I don't even let the wet net touch the tank water.

I've never drip acclimated either.

I float the bags for as long as I have patience for, open the bags, discard the majority of the store water from the bag and add little bits of tank water in several sessions for as long as I have patience for..:nilly: Dump from bag, into net over a bucket, gently release fish from net to tank w/out the net getting into the tank.
Click to expand...
If you're *that* concerned over a wet net, you should probably a: rethink where you're acquiring fish from, and b: quarantine.
 
As a point, even with the first fish going in to a new tank, it's still important to quarantine in a separate setup.

Quarantine is useful for verifying more than just health of the fish. It also allows you to observe the fish where you can easily control where they will hide, more readily identify and remove any fatalities, and more critically, permits you to effectively medicate the animal without nuking your primary filter or exposing your tank to 'staining' medications (ie, copper based treatments or malachite green).

I seldom worry about the water. Really, odds of an infectious agent being in the water but not on the fish are pretty darned slim. I won't go so far as to say non-existent, but the fish are a far more likely vector than the water.
 
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