Bag and Ship Live Fish
Any one wanting to breed or sell fish must learn how to bag and ship fish. There are two ways to bag them, the betta way (designed for bettas), and the regular fish method (for all other fish).
Steps
Shipping Fish in General
- Prepare the fish. Place the fish in a separate tank with the proper temperature and very clean water. It's best you not feed the fish for about two days. Check for any signs of disease, since you don't want to sell your customer diseased fish.
- Get ready to pay for overnight/express shipping. When shipping fish, it is best to do it via overnight shipping. This usually more expensive, but the fish has best chances of arriving alive with this method.
- Bag the fish, and fill the bag half full of water. Fill the rest of the bag up with fresh air, or oxygen.
- Triple, or quadruple bag the fish (put the bags inside each other).
- Tightly rubber band the bags closed. Attach a clip just in case also.
- Box the fish.
- Place the bagged fish in the styrofoam box. This will help insulate the water inside, and keep it a the right temperature. Line the inside of the styrofoam box with newspaper, so the bag doesn't shake too much.
- Use heat/cold packs wrapped in newspaper depending on the climate and type of fish. For example, if they're tropical fish add heat packs to the box.
- Tightly seal the styrofoam box shut, and place into a cardboard box. Tightly seal the cardboard box too.
- Ship. Contact the buyer and make sure that they will be ready to receive the fish when it gets there. Once again, only use Express Mail.
- Add labels to the outside of the box, like "fragile", or "live fish", or "this side up".
Shipping Bettas
- Get the betta ready. Place the betta in clean water and starve him/her for about two days. Watch for disease.
- Bag the betta. Use plastic bags designed for packing fish only. Only fill the bag enough to cover the betta, no more. Place the fish in the bag and fill it with air (be gentle).
- Box the betta. Place the bags containing the bettas in a styrofoam box. Fill the empty space with packing peanuts or newspaper. Place the Styrofoam box in a cardboard box that is labeled Live Fish.
- Ship the betta. Make sure to contact the buyer and make sure they will be there when the shipment will arrive. Only use Express Mail; many fish have died when shipped through Priority Mail.
Tips
- Bag only 1 fish per bag, because fish produce waste, which will turn into ammonia, and will in turn kill your fish. More fish means more ammonia in the bag water.
Warnings
- Do not put any food into the bag as this will pollute the water.
- Don't attempt to ship using Priority Mail. The fish is at risk because the bag may pop.
- Some fish, like Labyrinth fish, breathe at the surface of the air. Leave room to breathe if you are shipping these.
