How long should fish be in the bag?

[SwiftStorm]

My delima is the better fish stores are 90 minutes from my house. How long can fish stay safely in the bag? Would they be better in a bucket with a sealed lid?

Help

 

[Musovski]

you should be fine, just keep the car at a decent heat level. the ammonia in the water wont be too toxic, but can give it a burn. so qt may be necessary.

 

[dylana407]

Keep the temperature in the car warm. Warm enough to wear tee and short. Blackout the bag completely to reduce stress.

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

You can always ask them to use the larger bags also because of the time the fish will spend in the bag

 

[ndrwater]

If the fish are bagged with Oxygen, a very common practice, they'll be fine for up to 24 hours, not counting many factors. Temp being one.
Keep in mind that most fish in our tanks came from many thousands of Miles away, have endure plane rides, being trucked to wherever, all in the same bag.
90 minutes is no big deal.

 

[gtrider]

wouldn't hurt to bring a cooler to toss the bag in.

 

[Pbh-reef]

I buy fish from an LFS about 90 minutes from my home and it seems fine. If you are QTing the fish you can find out the salinity at the LFS and match your QT to it. Then all-you- have to do is float to temp acclimate and then get the fish out of the bag and release. That’s what I do and I’ve not had any issues with acclimation.

 

[Waters]

Remember, fish are shipped overnight in bags. As long as it is packed correctly, it will be fine.

 

[SwiftStorm]

Unfortunately I do not have a QT. We usually float for a bit then drip acclimate. Recently I've had 2 fish not make it through the night, but I have a mean Coral banded that I'm trying to catch without taking my tank apart.

 

[d2mini]

I leave fish in the bag all day long. They're fine.

 

[Jesterrace]

My delima is the better fish stores are 90 minutes from my house. How long can fish stay safely in the bag? Would they be better in a bucket with a sealed lid?

Help

90 minutes in a bag should be fine, although I personally prefer if they are coming from the LFS' holding tank rather than the shipping bag that just came off the plane.

 

[norfolkgarden]

Definitely in a cooler. Time in the bag shouldn't be a problem at all if you're going straight home.
Locally the 3" fish get about a pint and a half to a quart of water in the bag. Most don't use O2.
I put everything in a cheap Styrofoam cooler for the 35 minute ride home.
Can never be sure if I'm heating the bag too much or letting it get too cold otherwise. [emoji846]

 

[Dragon52]

I keep a Styrofoam box that some fish came in from Live Aquaria/DD in my car all the time for just this purpose. I drive to Columbia, SC which is an HR drive & have never had any issues bringing anything home. I've also driven to Atlanta which is 2HRs.