How Long Can Fish Survive in a Bag?

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"Most"? Based on shops up here, I'd change that to "very few".




Fish being shipped are normally not fed for a couple days, allowing them to "purge" their gastrointestinal tracts and reducing waste products excreted in the bag. Not really comparable to fish from a LFS that may have been fed minutes before being netted/bagged.

But, yeah, for a couple hours it doesn't matter. Seven hours is pushing it a bit.
Stated "MOST GOOD" shops. Not that most shops are good. I agree with you most LFS are a poor excuse for aquarium stores. The only thing I buy from LFS are hard & dry goods.
 
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I've many times gone 12+ hours with fish in bags. Just wrap the bags up in a jacket or blanket or something to keep the temps a bit more stable, really not a problem.

There was one post on a fish MB by a guy that got a load of fish, unpacked them all and threw the boxes and packing material in the corner of his fish shop. A month later he got around to cleaning it up and found a bag with a live betta hiding in the packaging.
 
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I just brought a ton of fish home from the ACA Triple Crown and lost 4 fish. 3 baby cichlids and one black skirt tetra. The cichlids had been in the bag for a week I suspect and the black skirts, who knows? I rode home with them in styros boxes and it took 11 hours.
 
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