Shipping Fish

[NiaCas]

Hey all! I'm probably about a few months away from shipping my first fish. I'm waiting for some albino long fin bristlenose plecos to get bigger so I can choose a male to keep and then I'll want to sell the rest, and my female cockatoo cichlid just laid her first batch of eggs in the new breeding tank where no one will eat the fry lol.

Anyway, I obviously want to know all I need to BEFORE shipping and be totally prepared. When I receive fish in the mail, I often get them in a styrofoam box (inside the cardboard box of course). Where do I get the styrofoam boxes? I know where to buy the fish bags online, but what about oxygen in the bag? Do I need to buy one of those oxygen machines to inject the oxygen in? Maybe a fish store would let me use theirs? I don't like the blue solution that fish sometimes are shipped in. Every single time (all 3 times lol) that I've received a bag with a dead fish in it, the fish were in that blue solution. Is a sedative necessary? I'm guessing the disposable ice packs and heat packs can be bought on Amazon unless anyone knows of a cheaper or better place to get them? Any other tips and advice would be awesome!

 

[toddnbecka]

I get heat packs and breather bags from kensfish.com, poly bags too. Poly bags are necessary for shipping BN larger than 2", smaller juvies and most similar-size fish go in breather bags. I've never used sedatives for shipping, but I do put a small piece of polyfilter in the bag to absorb ammonia and other organic pollutants in transit. Pure O2 isn't usually necessary, main thing is to pack small amount of water ad plenty of airspace in poly bags. Usually good for 3 days like that unless the bag is crowded. Ice packs are hardly ever used, heat packs are necessary if the low temps are below 50. You can buy sheets of styro at Lowe's or Home Depot and cut it to fit your box. The cheapest is the white used for insulating between wall studs, comes in a pack of 4 sheets.

 

[NiaCas]

Thanks! This was super helpful!

 

[Fishfur]

That blue solution is actually to help reduce nitrites. Some shippers add some salt, as it also helps to reduce the effect of nitrites, but I'm not sure how much they use and I know some fish are very intolerant of salt.

If you want pre made styro boxes, check a packaging company. No idea what they cost, but tons of companies ship in this kind of package for temperature sensitive shipments so there are places to buy them. Just depends whether it's cost effective for your needs.