Fish Breathing Bag Discontinued

Fish Breathing Bag | ARCHIVE

Fish Breathing Bag
Discontinued

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SKU: KOR81

This item has been discontinued or is no longer in stock.

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These bags allow the transfer of simple and complex gas molecules through the plastic wall of the bag-carbon dioxide and oxygen in particular.
 The plastic is very tough, yet flexible.
 The thickness is 1.5ml for the two smaller sizes and 3ml for the liner bag.
 Can be used in transportation or shipping of fish or plants(which transpire just as animals do).
Kordon ® Breathing Bags™ represent a new approach to the problems of shipping live fishes and other aquatic animals and aquatic plants, including over long distances or for extended time periods. The product development staff at Kordon, teamed with plastics chemical engineers, have taken a technology first developed in space/military research and refined it to produce the bags being offered today. The Breathing Bags allow the transfer of simple and complex gas molecules through the plastic wall of the bag -- carbon dioxide and oxygen in particular, as well as other gases - providing a true "breathing" bag in place of a "barrier" bag as is used in plastic polyethylene bags. As long as there is a breathable atmosphere outside the Breathing Bag, the animals inside will not run out of oxygen. Carbon dioxide exits the bags at 4 times the rate oxygen enters the bags, thereby constantly purging the water of toxic carbon dioxide, and allowing oxygen to replace it in the water. Kordon has shipped around the world millions of bags (termed "Sachets") of living foods (tubifex worms, brine shrimp, daphnia, glass worms, etc.) for aquarium fishes using the Breathing Bag technology, and hundreds of thousands of Breathing Bags have been used successfully to ship fishes, coral reef animals, and aquatic plants. 
CHARACTERISTICS 
 The plastic in the "Breathing Bags" is surprisingly tough and flexible. The thickness is 1.5 mil for the regular bags and 3 mil for the liner bag. [Note: 1.5 mil is 1.5 thousandths [10-1.5] of an inch [0.0254 x 1.5] thick....3 mil is double that thickness.]
 Small punctures such as from fish spines often do not penetrate the plastic, and if they do, the molecular structure of the plastic tends to realign and reduce the size of the holes or reseal itself. Some fishes may damage the bag film enough to cause leaks or ruptures. Only experimentation and experience will determine which individual species of fishes are safe to transport, without leakage. However, even if there is some leakage, absorptive materials in the shipping box can be used to take care of it, without the boxes leaking.
 For spiny fish and aquatic invertebrates that tear the Kordon Breathing Bags, it is recommended to use a vegetable produce bag perforated with holes, such as those used for grapes, fitted inside the Breathing Bag to help with the puncture problem. For most smaller spiny fishes it is sufficient to multiple bag them, Breathing Bag within Breathing Bag, preferably with the inner bag wrapped in one or more layers of wet paper. Another way with less breathability is to have water in both the inner and outer Breathing Bag. There is a proportionate loss of breathability (up to approximately 50%) for one bag inside another, which will affect different animals differently. The user should experiment to find acceptable conditions for multiple bagging. 
 Breathing Bags function well when packed in conventional foam plastic or corrugated boxes. Foam and cardboard boxes have a high rate of breathability, even if these containers are sealed with tape. Air is normally over 21% oxygen, which is over 210,000 ppm (parts per million). Aquatic invertebrates and fishes normally have only about 4-14 ppm oxygen available to them in water. 
 It takes only a small amount of air passing through the packaging materials to sufficiently oxygenate the water in the Breathing Bags. This is even true for shipping boxes in an air cargo space that is not pressurized. There is sufficient oxygen at higher altitudes for the aquatic life in the Breathing Bags. If it is required for some special purpose, additional oxygen can be added to the Breathing Bag as is done in the traditional barrier bag. The Breathing Bag will retain the oxygen for several days
. Higher temperatures increase the "breathability" of the bags, the rate at which oxygen and carbon dioxide is exchanged. 
 When packing individual bags in shipping boxes, it is best to separate each bag, such as with flat pieces of corrugated cardboard or layers of newspaper, wrapping paper, or plastic "peanuts," so that as much bag surface area as possible is exposed to the air in the shipping container. These materials are completely porous to air and oxygen. 
 Breathing Bags should not be shipped inside a "barrier" type plastic liner bag. The barrier effect of the outer non-breathing bag will prevent the Breathing Bags from performing properly. 
 During tests, fishes, both freshwater and marine, have survived for one month and more in shipment, including on successive flights and land transportation. However, there is no uniform answer as to how long individual shipments will survive using Breathing Bags. There are many variables. Under a wide range of conditions it should be weeks for successful shipments. It is suggested that tests be conducted at the user's facility to determine the proper parameters for successful use of these bags.

Don't be fooled by other bags claiming to do what Kordon's Breathing Bags do - there are no "Second Generation Breathing Bags" that are produced from the same or improved material or that can claim the same Oxygen Transfer Rate as genuine Kordon Breathing Bags.

A TOTALLY UNIQUE NEW WAY TO SHIP FISH:

Breathing Bags are a completely new approach to the shipping of live fishes, as well as aquatic invertebrates and aquatic plants, in plastic bags. The special plastic film used in the Breathing Bags generates the constant transfer of carbon dioxide out of the water in the bag through the walls of the bag, and the absorption of oxygen from the atmosphere through the bag walls into the water in the bag. This provides a constant source of fresh oxygen that fish and other aquatic specimens use to breathe.

Kordon ® Breathing Bags™ represent a new approach to the problems of shipping live fishes and other aquatic animals and aquatic plants, including over long distances or for extended time periods. The product development staff at Kordon, teamed with plastics chemical engineers, have taken a technology first developed in space/military research and refined it to produce the bags being offered today.

HOW THE UNIQUE BREATHING BAG FILM WORKS:

The Breathing Bags are constructed of a special film that has a micro-porosity that allows the transfer of simple and complex gas molecules through the plastic wall of the bag. Carbon dioxide and oxygen in particular, as well as other gases - are constantly passing through the plastic bag via the micro-porosity. In other words - the plastic has gaps so small that water molecules cannot pass through - yet gas molecules can move freely. This provides a true "breathing" bag in place of a non-porous "barrier" bag as is used in traditional plastic polyethylene bags. As long as there is a breathable atmosphere outside the Breathing Bag, the fish or animals inside will not run out of oxygen.

Carbon dioxide exits the bags at 4 times the rate oxygen enters the bags, thereby constantly purging the water of toxic carbon dioxide, and allowing oxygen to replace it in the water. Kordon has shipped millions of bags around the world (termed "Sachets") containing living foods (tubifex worms, brine shrimp, daphnia, glass worms, etc.) for aquarium fishes using the Breathing Bag technology. Hundreds of thousands of Breathing Bags have been used successfully to ship fishes, coral reef animals, and aquatic plants.

OLD TRADITIONAL SHIPPING METHOD:

Prior to the invention of Breathing Bags, the only plastic bags available for shipping fishes and aquatic invertebrates were made of polyethylene and had created a non-porous "solid-film barrier bag". There was no porosity-mechanism to allow the passage of gasses through the bag wall. When using these "barrier" bags any oxygen required to sustain the life of the fish or other aquatic life inside the bag must - of necessity - be added as a gas inside the bag prior to sealing.

This process has many problems.

1 - High concentrations of oxygen can cause flammable conditions.

2 - The presence of oxygen gas inside the bag takes up a lot of valuable shipping space.

3 - Once the supplied oxygen is used up there is no more available - fish can quite literally drown in traditional old-fashioned "barrier-bags".

4 - A bag partially full of water with the rest filled with oxygen allows the contents to slosh during transport, stressing and possibly injuring fishes.

5 - Toxic carbon dioxide from the fishes' breathing builds up in the water, displacing the oxygen. The oxygenated air in the bags may not be satisfactory for fishes' breathing, because (particularly from sources in underdeveloped countries), the bottled oxygen may be contaminated.

IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE: Time in the bag has always been the cause of losses in shipping live fish. With old, traditional air-chamber bagging methods there has always been a short time span between bagging the fish and getting safely to their destination. You typically have a short time span allowed before the air in the bags is depleted of all available oxygen and the fish begin to deteriorate. Long distance fish shipping using the old methods has always required periodic opening of the bags and adding of new oxygen. With Kordon Breathing Bags fish have been sealed into bags and sent on long transfer trips that have lasted for 7 to 10 days with no re-bagging and no addition of oxygen. The fish shipments have repeatedly arrived at their destination with very low losses and healthy, non-stressed fish. The continual flow ow carbon dioxide out of the bag and oxygen into the bag allows for safer shipping no matter how far the distance.

In comparison - using the Kordon Breathing Bags allows for no sloshing and no stress. The Breathing Bags are sealed with as little air inside as possible. Ideally only water touches the inner surface of the bag. No air chamber of added oxygen means no slosh-zone and turbulant travel for the fish inside. You can test this by laying a filled Breathing Bag on a flat surface and allowing the fish to settle down. Picking up one edge of the bag - you can roll it until it is totally reversed - upside down - yet the fish inside will not move at all. No sloshing, no jiggling... no stress. Less stress equals less losses or injuries during shipping or transfer of live fish.

 Avaiable in 3 sizes:
 KOR81-4" x 8" bag (50100)
 KOR82-11.5" x 19" bag DISCONTINUED
 KOR83-16" x 14" x 30" liner (50109)

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