Pond Boss Forums Thread Like Summary - Extended transport time of fish for stocking

I thought I would share some experience on what worked to keep fish healthy during extended transport times. I'll start by saying that I am certainly not an expert. I read what I could find on how to successfully transport fish over an extended time period and got advice privately from some of the experts here. The following are my observations. Forgive me for needing to be vague about some details, but I'll be happy to address any questions that come up in this discussion as I'm able to.

My pond was stocked with SMB and YP after a forage base was established. Unfortunately there were more than 13 hours from the time the fish were sourced to the time they were stocked. Thankfully only one died during transport and I have since found only one floater on the pond. Because it seemed to have worked well, I thought I would post my observations and (non-professional) techniques here to illustrate that on a small scale, you don't need elaborate equipment to keep fish healthy on the road with the right conditions.

The fish were put into large heavy duty clear plastic bags (a very large version of what pet stores use to sell fish). They were about as big around as a typical 5 gallon bucket yet at least a foot taller. About a gallon or a gallon and a half of water was put into it using the water that the fish came from. All the atmospheric air was squeezed out of the bags and they were then filled with 100% oxygen and sealed shut. In comparison, the atmosphere at sea level is 21% oxygen.

Each bag contained about a dozen fish between 5-8".

The fish were kept in the shade with an ambient temperature of high 30s to mid 50s that day. Nothing was added to the water and no ice, etc. was used to maintain the water temperature. I bought a product called Prime from Seachem that was recommended somewhere, but forgot to use it. It's a small investment and might help, so it's worth considering. I'm not sure if the fish were fasted, although I have read that this helps as it decreases their manure in the water and therefore decreases ammonia levels.

When they got to the pond, the bags were floated for 20 minutes. The pond surface temperature and the water temperature in the bags were confirmed to be the same (46F) using an aquarium thermometer, then the fish were poured into a large plastic container with the water from the bags and about an equal part pond water. More pond water was slowly added over about 20 minutes to allow them to adjust not only to the temperature, but also to the chemistry of the pond water.

After this was complete, they were released into the pond. It was the middle of the night by then. The SMB were much more lively than the YP, maybe because they were smaller and therefore had more residual oxygen available in the bags as they consumed less during transport given their smaller size. The YP weren't lethargic, but they were not nearly as robust as the SMB.

A couple weeks later, there have been only two confirmed casualties; one during transport and one floater since then.

What I believe contributed to the success is:
1. A relatively small amount of water with a large amount of pure oxygen in the bags. I would say that if you are doing this for the first time and you're not nervous about how little water is in the bags, there is probably too much. Dump some out to allow for more room for oxygen.

2. The temperature. Although they were not put on ice or in coolers, they were kept in the dark without a heat source and ambient temps were cool. Surface temps when they were released were 46F.

3. Having healthy fish to begin with.

4. Taking the time to acclimate them when they arrive. At a minimum, let them acclimate to the temperature and verify that it is the same or nearly the same. There's no need to rush this. Taking the extra step to let them also adjust to the chemistry of the pond water might not be an absolute requirement for success, but it's a small effort when compared to what it takes to create a pond and get it ready to stock.

5. Double bag them. It wouldn't take much for their fins to puncture the bags and cause a leak.

6. Not overcrowding the fish in the bags. In fact, I would suggest fewer fish per bag than what I did if you're able to. A few more bags are a small investment to make in comparison to what it takes to create a pond and get it ready to stock.

7. Pure oxygen, not atmospheric air. I suspect that the 21% oxygen in the atmosphere would be fine for an hour or two, but after that they're going to get into trouble.

8. Keeping the bags on their sides, not upright. In my mind, having a larger surface area for oxygen to be absorbed into the water made the most sense to me.

I know that there are a variety of ways to move fish, but this fairly low tech and low budget way worked for my pond so I thought I would share it so others could build upon it for their own success.

Important note to Mainer's informative post for transporting lower numbers of fish for pond stocking. He makes some wise and valuable suggestions.

1. Note the air temperature when fish were transported: air temps 30-50F and pond temperature 46F. Especially for long transport times lower temperatures are much more important for better success than moving fish during warmer temperatures above 60F. The warmer water is the less oxygen it will hold. The warmer water the more oxygen fish will consume due to more body metabolism.

2. Not over crowding the fish in transport bags. My rule for transporting fish is - You are much better having fewer healthy fish upon release than arriving with lots of dead fish.

3. Fish were slowly exposed to the receiving pond water. This avoids stress of body adjustments to temperature and water quality conditions.

4. Keeping the transport bags away from the sun is a big benefit. Fish in bagged water in the sun can become very warm due to influence of heat from sunshine.

5. Smaller fish almost always transport better in the bagged oxygen water compared to larger fish. This is due to fish with more body mass consume more oxygen and produce more overall gaseous and metabolic waste products compared to smaller fish.