article: Handling Fish

Handling Fish

Creating a water garden that is going to hold fish requires you to learn how to handle fish. Moving fish from the hatchery, from the pet store, and from tank to tank when you are gardening, in the water garden will be ‘smoother’ and your fish will thrive longer when you handle them with care. Some fish are going to be more delicate than others, trickier to catch and will require special containers when you are moving them around. Here we are going to discuss some of the most asked questions about handling and moving fish for healthy and thriving fish.

When you have already stocked your water garden, sometimes you may be leery about adding fish and the water from the handler where you have obtained your new fish but you don’t have to worry. The majority of the time, when you have done your research, you are going to be purchasing fish from a reputable dealer who cleans his or her water and the water will pose no threat to your water garden or the fish that you already have in the water garden. If your water garden is established with a filtration system and the environment is already ‘balanced’ when you are adding new fish, any trace problems will easily and quickly be taken care of by your diligence and care.

Gardeners that use nets and hands to transfer fish should realize that they are putting just as many germs or risks into the water garden as the new fish itself does. There are problems with using nets when transferring fish though, the fish lifted out of water, the net pulling on delicate portions of the fish, and the air that the fish is in when being transferred to the pond will add stress on the fish. Putting the fish directly into the water garden from the container that you bring it home it is one of the best methods for transferring fish so you aren’t going to touch it, your net won’t hurt it, and the fish is not put under additional stress.

Moving the fish to your new pond when you are just purchasing them, or when you have to quarantine a fish should be done in small steps. Moving fish is traumatic fish experience and handling them carefully will ensure that you don’t loose any fish. When you are transporting fish in a bag, you should set the bag in the water, so the water in the bag will slowly become the temperature of the water garden. Keeping the fish in the partial sunlight, not in the full sunlight when you are transporting them is recommended as well so the water in the bag or container does not become too hot adding more stress for the fish. When you are transporting the fish in a bag or container and it has been a long ride, setting the fish in the container for a few hours on a stable place will lessen the stress levels for the fish.