Containment system for aquatic animals

A system for displaying aquatic animals in a retail environment comprising:

• a base including a plurality of substantially horizontal shelves;
• a plurality of removable containment elements positioned on the plurality of shelves, each containment element being a cup that includes a bottom, a top, and a side extending between the top and the bottom to enclose a volume of water less than that which sustains ten or more fish, the top including an aperture, wherein each containment element is configured to be removed from the system and transported to an aquarium to move the fish to the aquarium;
• a pump operable to produce a flow of compressed air;
• a main manifold coupled to the pump to receive the flow of compressed air from the pump, the main manifold operable to direct a separate shelf flow of air to each shelf;
• a plurality of shelf manifolds each positioned adjacent one of the shelves and operable to receive the shelf flow of air from the main manifold;
• a plurality of tubes each having a first end connected to one of the shelf manifolds and a second end selectively engageable with the top of one of the removable containment elements to direct air from the pump through the aperture of the respective top;
• and
• nozzles coupled to the second ends of the tubes, each nozzle including a nozzle positioning guide that positions the nozzle within the aperture, a termination end that extends into the containment element and delivers air directly into the containment element, and a tube connection end that couples with the second end of one of the tubes.