Best fish bags?

[Noahspurlin]

Good morning 😃, I’m looking for the best fish bags for shipping and transporting small fish. I’m a new fish breeder and want to have the best chances of success as possible. If you guys could recommend me any that you have had great success with please let me know. Thanks! 

[Ken Burke]

@tolstoy21 and @Fish Folk are two of the bigger fish shippers so I tend to listen to them first, though there are a few others that ship regularly.

 

here is a thread from my first attempt if it helps.  

 

[Fish Folk]

I’ve successfully used these three bags…

Long Life Breather Bags:

Aquatic Arts Breather Bags:

Variously sized 3-mil Fish bags, Packed with Oxygen. Here’s how I add Oxygen to non-breather bags…

 

[tolstoy21]

I use 3mil poly bags I get through Jehmco --> https://www.jehmco.com/html/plastic_bags.html

Not sure if these are the "best", but I've not yet had any issues with them.  I double bag my fish, fill the bags with O2, close with an impulse sealer, the use tape to round off the corners on both the top and bottom of the bag. 

However you can achieve the same results with rubber bands and air from the atmosphere.

I use Long Life breather bags for shipping shrimp. I have never had a leak shipping shrimp in these, but for some reason I've had some leaks when shipping fish. Not sure if I had defective bags, or if I just didn't tie them off well enough because I had too many orders to fulfill and got sloppy. 

My personal preference poly bags (except for shipping shrimp) because I find them easy to use, I can achieve a greater packing density, they have yet to fail on me, and they are much less expensive than breather bags over the long-term.

Example of how I bag below. (You can find inexpensive impulse sealers on Amazon, which is where I got mine).

Edited July 9, 2023 by tolstoy21

[tolstoy21]

On 7/9/2023 at 11:32 AM, Fish Folk said:

I’ve successfully used these three bags…

Long Life Breather Bags:

Aquatic Arts Breather Bags:

Variously sized 3-mil Fish bags, Packed with Oxygen. Here’s how I add Oxygen to non-breather bags…

 

For O2 I invested in a 20lb tank. It was a little but of a cash outlay at first, but I can get it refilled locally for about $40 and have filled hundreds of bags with it (and I still have yet to exhaust the tank). 

I'd only recommend that route if you plan on shipping a lot of fish over the long-term. It may be expensive up front, but the long-term costs are much, much lower.

I started out simply, with breather bags, then re-invested what I made into an O2 setup.

Edited July 9, 2023 by tolstoy21

[JettsPapa]

I've had good luck with these:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09M6X73DR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1.

They're 10" x 20", with rounded corners.  I use them to ship guppies; usually splitting 50 into three bags.  I add two cups of fresh water, two cups of tank water, and then as much air as I can get into the bag (roughly 1/3 water and 2/3 air).  I double bag and pack them with the bags upright in an insulated box.

They typically arrive two or three days after shipping with no deaths.

[Maximus]

What about square bottom bags? Or are those usually for larger bags only?

[tolstoy21]

On 7/11/2023 at 11:56 AM, Maximus said:

What about square bottom bags? Or are those usually for larger bags only?

The goal in the end is to make sure there are no corners a fish can get trapped in during shipment. Whatever works to achieve this is legit. 

Bags with rounded corners work. Bags with square bottomed  can work.You can get rid of corners with an impulse sealer. You can use tape (like I do). You can use rubber bands, etc. Every method works, you just have to decide which is for you.

I tend to pick things based on a balancing act of cost and usability. I don't want to overspend, but I also don't want a bag that makes bagging fish more time consuming and labor intensive. Bagging is the one aspect of breeding fish that I don't care for.

I personally use tape because it's quick and easy. I saw Dean doing it in a video, and someone I buy from overseas sends fish to me packaged up just like I have depicted in above thread (like fish are in a burrito or a capsul). I believe Dan's Fish angles the corners with a sealer (or at least he used to).

I think one of the things that we need to be aware of that it's important to not have corners in the top of the bag. This is vital because we can't guarantee what way is up once the fish leave our hands and are in the hands of the shipper.

The tops of my bags are squared off because I use squared bags and an impulse sealer. I can take care of the bottom, but its not easy to round off the top once the bag is filled with O2. (So I solve this problem with tape).

If you use rubberbands or breather bags, then the top of the bag isn't an issue. So in this case a round-bottomed bag secured with a rubberband or tied off with a knot works quite well. 

For shrimp, I use round-bottomed breather bags and tie the tops with a knot.

[JettsPapa]

On 7/12/2023 at 8:28 AM, tolstoy21 said:

The goal in the end is to make sure there are no corners a fish can get trapped in during shipment. Whatever works to achieve this is legit. 

Bags with rounded corners work. Bags with square bottomed  can work.You can get rid of corners with an impulse sealer. You can use tape (like I do). You can use rubber bands, etc. Every method works, you just have to decide which is for you.

I tend to pick things based on a balancing act of cost and usability. I don't want to overspend, but I also don't want a bag that makes bagging fish more time consuming and labor intensive. Bagging is the one aspect of breeding fish that I don't care for.

I personally use tape because it's quick and easy. I saw Dean doing it in a video, and someone I buy from overseas sends fish to me packaged up just like I have depicted in above thread (like fish are in a burrito or a capsul). I believe Dan's Fish angles the corners with a sealer (or at least he used to).

I think one of the things that we need to be aware of that it's important to not have corners in the top of the bag. This is vital because we can't guarantee what way is up once the fish leave our hands and are in the hands of the shipper.

The tops of my bags are squared off because I use squared bags and an impulse sealer. I can take care of the bottom, but its not easy to round off the top once the bag is filled with O2. (So I solve this problem with tape).

If you use rubberbands or breather bags, then the top of the bag isn't an issue. So in this case a round-bottomed bag secured with a rubberband or tied off with a knot works quite well. 

For shrimp, I use round-bottomed breather bags and tie the tops with a knot.

When shipping shrimp, or fish in bags with corners, I typically invert one bag in the other.  That eliminates the corners.  This is with non-breathable bags, of course.

[tolstoy21]

On 7/12/2023 at 10:04 AM, JettsPapa said:

When shipping shrimp, or fish in bags with corners, I typically invert one bag in the other.  That eliminates the corners.  This is with non-breathable bags, of course.

Yeah, I've seen that done with rubberbands on polybags with a few fish I have received.  It is an easy and effective method for sure.

[anewbie]

On 7/9/2023 at 11:19 AM, tolstoy21 said:

I use 3mil poly bags I get through Jehmco --> https://www.jehmco.com/html/plastic_bags.html

Not sure if these are the "best", but I've not yet had any issues with them.  I double bag my fish, fill the bags with O2, close with an impulse sealer, the use tape to round off the corners on both the top and bottom of the bag. 

However you can achieve the same results with rubber bands and air from the atmosphere.

I use Long Life breather bags for shipping shrimp. I have never had a leak shipping shrimp in these, but for some reason I've had some leaks when shipping fish. Not sure if I had defective bags, or if I just didn't tie them off well enough because I had too many orders to fulfill and got sloppy. 

My personal preference poly bags (except for shipping shrimp) because I find them easy to use, I can achieve a greater packing density, they have yet to fail on me, and they are much less expensive than breather bags over the long-term.

Example of how I bag below. (You can find inexpensive impulse sealers on Amazon, which is where I got mine).

I've used the jehmco bags without issue - i don't sell my fishes but from time to time i give a few away. 

 

Btw (and the reason for this post) the type of bag you use depends on the type of fish you are shipping. For example cat fishes will frequently puncture bags so it is critical to use thick bags and double bag (of course you should always double bag). Small cichild won't puncture bags (they lack the spikes that catfishes have) so it is not as critical to use thick bags. Btw most (all?) catfishes can breath air and as long as they stay moist are fine.

[nabokovfan87]

Here's these as well.

[Flynn Naysmith]

I quite like the SERA bags 🙂