Re: air in bags

[Wright Huntley <huntley1 at home_com>]

> Mark Francis wrote:
> 
> Should you leave any air, in a fish bag full of eggs.
> Some people roll the bag of peat from the bottom up. and leave not
> much air inside.Others like myself, leave about 25% of air in the bag.
> Who is correct? Mark Francis Vancouver Killifish Club.

I think either way is OK. Most people don't realize that there is some slow
diffusion of gasses through a poly bag, particularly the thinner fish bags
(1.5 mil).

I have accidentally killed eggs by using vinyl electrical tape to seal peat
in plastic petrie dishes for more than a few weeks. From that lesson, I
learned to never use thick freezer bags, too. [They prevent freezer burn by
excluding oxygen.]

I like to keep storage compact by closing and excluding most of the air from
a bag, but with the peat still well fluffed up.

I also pick out any strands of Java moss that might respirate in the dark
and use oxygen. Rot eats oxygen, so food and anything that decays must also
be rigorously excluded by manually picking and/or rinsing. Worst case, I
pull eggs individually and place in freshly-boiled peat.

I'm more careful about long-gestation eggs, but still use Petrie dishes for
those that develop in 4-6 weeks (I may open once or twice to see if they are
eyed up, which adds air). 

I never, ever, use any kind of zipper bag, for I don't trust the seals. If
the seal is good enough to prevent dry-out, the only ones thin enough to
pass oxygen are the sandwich bags. Fish bags, tops folded and taped closed,
are safest, and a whole lot cheaper.

I always use labels, for the toluene and other solvents in marker pens goes
right through most plastic bags. Nasty stuff, too. Marker pen on Scotch
"Magic" tape works, too. That tape even takes pencil, but it can get hard to
read.

Bottom line is that the eggs do need oxygen and don't want to dry out. Well
fluffed peat in a 4" 1.5mil plastic fish bag is hard to beat. If the peat is
well fluffed, you do not need to leave any extra air in such a bag, for it
will diffuse in without letting water diffuse out.

That's my $0.02, anyway.

Wright

-- 
Wright Huntley, Fremont CA, USA, 510 494-8679  huntleyone at home dot com

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References:

• air in bags
• From: "Mark Francis" <fishes at lynx_net>

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