Bagging Koi or larger fish in plastic fish bags
Done correctly there’s a lot of success in transporting fish in plastic bags.
And if they’re valuable – it’s well worth the time.
Here are the basics:
- Fish in a bag need to have more air than water.
- Bag should be made “for that purpose” and nearly puncture proof.
- The water should amply cover their backs. But they should not be packed in “like sardines” and the water needn’t be “deep” as if they were going to swim around in there. In fact, well, look at the image.
If you’re just running somewhere for 15 minutes you usually don”t need a plastic bag and actually a cooler with lid is just as good.
Transporting fish in warm water is dangerous because warm water carries less oxygen.. And water that’s 84 or higher carries little oxygen at all. You can be chasing Koi with a net in 88 degree water and have them die of stroke. The oxygen is too scarce. I know, I’ve seen ’em do it.
So if the water is cooler than 78 DF you can transport fish pretty safely. The bag should be 2/3rds air over 1/3rd water.
The oxygen can come from the new, portable oxygen cylinders they use for hiking. One large cylinder has enough oxygen for a big bag. BIG bag. (Oxygen cans Boost hiking oxygen )
Amazon sells a 3-Liter can which wouldn’t even fill a one-gallon bag. You need at least a 10-liter can, which has enough to fill a 2+ gallon bag.
This is not the only place you can get oxygen for bagged-transport but it may be the easiest.
