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I wasn't sure where to put this, but thought it might benefit someone just starting the hobby as well as me.

I was wondering, how do you get your fish out of the bag that stores put them in for transport? I tend to dump them into my bucket I use for acclimating, but when I to this the fish tend to hit the water pretty hard, some of them even seem dazed afterwards. When I try this with Plecos, they tend to hang onto the bag even after all the water is in the bucket, and I have a hard time getting them to let go of the bag and fall into the bucket.

So I was just wondering if you guys had any tips or tricks for getting fish out of the bags.

I float the bag on top of the water in the tank for 5 minutes, open the top and let some water in the bag (this gets them used to the new water), 5 minutes later do that again, 5 minutes later dunk the bag under water and ease the fish out of the bag.

that is the easiest way, I have found

I don't like getting the water from the store in my tank, just because I don't know what is in the water.

I float the bag for some times up to one hr and during this time I keep adding a little of the tank water at a time. I also add a few drops of Melafix. Because of the stronger new lights I also turn them off. To remove the fish from the bag I use a large kitchen bowl and over this I place my largest net, I then gently pour the fish into the net, then place them into the tank. The lights are still off and they remain that way until next morning when I turn them back on again and the timer takes over again. Note I do not feed until the next day.

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Keith

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I think the water at most LFSs are clean, as they use UV systems to purify their water, so no parasites usually.

I just poke little holes in the bag when it is floating, so the water just equalizes and slowly mixes, so the fish is used to the water by now......Then, i just dump the water into the tank, while it is still inside the water. For plecos, i use a net, and gently bump them out of the bag.

Other than that, i never do anything else.....

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Except for spiny-rayed fish like plecos and catfish, I try to avoid getting LFS water in my tanks. After floating for a while, adding a little tank water to the bag at 10-minute intervals, I dump the bag through a net that is held over a bucket or large bowl, and quickly move the net with the fish in it to the tank and let them go. Pretty much the same technique as Keith described. I don't have as much of a plan for catfish.

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Yeah, my acclimation procedure is along the same lines. I float the bag, and incrementally add tank water and remove water to a bucket. In the past I just poured the LFS water into the tank; usually there were no problems, but once or twice I'd have an ich outbreak. Otherwise the process actually didn't bring disease to my tank too often, so maybe I just got lucky. What I've done more recently is go into the bag with the net and take them out; it never even occured to me to pour the fish into the net, lol.

I usually try to feed same day, although since my fish are almost all nocturnal bottom feeders it means I try feeding the night of the same day I bought them. IME if I can get a fish to eat then I can almost guarantee some sort of survival, so I tend to worry about this first and foremost.

The water at LFSes cannot exactly be trusted; fish still get sick at the LFS, and on top of that many LFSes use centralized filtration systems, so diseases can pass around like wildfire, even if you don't see symptoms.

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I still have to come across a LFS that uses UV sterilizers and I have one of the biggest privately owned retail stores with excellent husbandry practices in the neighborhood. To assume that the water in sales tanks is clean is inviting disaster.

I float the bag at least 15 minutes to equalize the temps, add some water and float another ten minutes. repeat this a few more times and then take a small pitcher of water from the tank, net the fish by gently pouring the bag into a bowl with my net placed over and then into the pitcher. Then I just place the pitcher in the tank and let the fish swim out.
Note I never let the tank water into the tank. never know what yer getting. Many lfs use a single filter for all the tanks so whatever may be in one of them may be in many. Also don't feed till next morning.

Me I acclimate the way that the other guys do as well, the only difference I have is that after I acclimate them. At that point I take a container, (The same hang on tank type that the LFS's use) and put the fish into it, for fish with sucker mouth types I turn the bag inside out if they are sticking to the bag itself then I use a net to move them to the tank in question.

For multiple fish or fish to large to use the hang on container, I will use a bucket or the QT tank directly, after the acclimation, with tank water in it. I just open the bag and leave the open end of the bag in the bucket, and gently turn the bag upside down the fish will then swim out of it on there own. Then there is no sudden drop and plop stress.

Hope this helps.

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I float the bag for 10 mins then add a mug of water to the bag...wait 10 mins..another mug of tank water and wait another 10...drain off exess water from the bag if I need to and put in 1 last mug of water and wait another 10 minutes. its not always 'a mug of water' that I add it varys according to the ammount of water in the bag from the shops.

then I get a bucket and a net and pour the water and fish from the bag through the net and close my hand very gentily around the net (so the fish do not wriggle out) and slowly lower the net into the tank and let the fish swim out of the net when they are ready (I move the net a little so it ballons out).

The worst that has happened is the fish jump from the net while I am pouring and they just end up in the bucket below so I just scoop them out with the net once I have moved the others.

There are many shonky stores around here so I never trust store water and add melafix with fish when I add them.

Also depending on the fish and its sensitivity I lower the ammount of water going into the bag and increase the ammount of water additions and time.

I sometimes wonder how they do it with big fish. One guy at a LFS once told me he wraps a wet towel around the fish and lowers the towel into the water and unravels it. Crazy. I guess he is trying to avoid scale damage but it would have to be a clean-yet chemical free towel he is using.

Truestar,
Thanks for posting this question it was a real nice change of pace question! I like to float the bag for no less than 1 hour, during this hour I add cup fulls of tank water to the bag in 20 minute intervals. After the hour I pour the fish into a large/small net that is sitting over a bucket. Then lower the fish in, allowing him/her to swim out when ready. I have used this method with all of my fish and it seems to work out fine.

Justin

Colts Fan For Life
30g platy tank: 2 sunburst wag platys, 2 redtailed white calico platys, 2 red wag platys, 1 fry(not sure who it belongs to), 1 Golden CAE.
Bettas:1 VT male

Well I just found out giant danios are mighty little fish .

I saw 2 on their own at the LFS and I had 5 in my tank so I thought lets introduce them to the family.

I introduced them like I mentioned before but the bag & elastic were very poor quality and broke while I was introducing them so I put them in a really large coke cup (like a 7 11 big gulp) and it was about 1/3 full when I mixed the lfs water and tank water. I put an envelope over the cup and left it for 10 minutes. I put the cup on the cross brace on the top of the aquarium and when I come back they had jumped and pushed the envelope off the top of the cup and were both swimming with the others when I got back. Im glad they are strong and healthy .

I float the LFS bag for anywhere from 45 mins to over an hour, periodically adding some of my tank water to the bag.

After I have done that for acclimation, I simply net my fish out of the LFS bag and net them into my tanks. I've not ever had a problem doing it this way.

I take care not to dump any LFS water into my tank. You just never know if there's any water issues, and there's really no reason to dump it in anyhow.

Good luck!