Hey all,
Over the weekend I decided to try and create a better way to transport and acclimate fish. I wanted to solve for a few things:
1) Eliminate the plastic bags because I've had more than one fish get injured when the bag crushed them in transport.
2) Find a way to keep fish segregated during transport.
3) Keep the fish warm and aerated during transport and acclimation.
4) Be able to drip acclimate without having to move them from the transport container.
5) Eliminate the use of a net when transitioning to the display tank. I hate seeing a fish get gill hung when moving them with a net.
6) Once they are moved to the display tank, I wanted to have an easy way to keep them segregated for a little while so they can adapt to their new surroundings without being hassled by other fish.
The end game is all about reducing stress for the fish to increase the probability of success. The result of my efforts is essentially a portable live-well with four separate sections for livestock, an integrated heater, two independently controlled air-stones, and a 500 watt inverter to power the entire thing. It also has a pass through for a drip acclimation line, and each independent basket has flotation so that you can transfer the livestock to your tank and the basket will float at the surface. This allows the fish to get used to its new tank without other fish being able to pick at it.
I showed it to Scott Crowe at Ocean State Aquatics, and he posted a facebook live video of it. I'm prepping plans and a parts list in case anyone would like to build one of their own. See the video here: https://www.facebook.com/OceanStateAquatics/videos/1446626798723592/
Enjoy !!
Over the weekend I decided to try and create a better way to transport and acclimate fish. I wanted to solve for a few things:
1) Eliminate the plastic bags because I've had more than one fish get injured when the bag crushed them in transport.
2) Find a way to keep fish segregated during transport.
3) Keep the fish warm and aerated during transport and acclimation.
4) Be able to drip acclimate without having to move them from the transport container.
5) Eliminate the use of a net when transitioning to the display tank. I hate seeing a fish get gill hung when moving them with a net.
6) Once they are moved to the display tank, I wanted to have an easy way to keep them segregated for a little while so they can adapt to their new surroundings without being hassled by other fish.
The end game is all about reducing stress for the fish to increase the probability of success. The result of my efforts is essentially a portable live-well with four separate sections for livestock, an integrated heater, two independently controlled air-stones, and a 500 watt inverter to power the entire thing. It also has a pass through for a drip acclimation line, and each independent basket has flotation so that you can transfer the livestock to your tank and the basket will float at the surface. This allows the fish to get used to its new tank without other fish being able to pick at it.
I showed it to Scott Crowe at Ocean State Aquatics, and he posted a facebook live video of it. I'm prepping plans and a parts list in case anyone would like to build one of their own. See the video here: https://www.facebook.com/OceanStateAquatics/videos/1446626798723592/
Enjoy !!
