Will cichlids survive the trip

[bzzh8c]

Greetings,

I found a nice 90 gallon cichlid tank in Sandusky OH. Problem is I live a bit north of Detroit, a few hours drive.

It has a great slate of cichlids in it now, doing well. I'd love to buy the tank, transport everybody back, set it up again, and put the fish back in it somehow. But that seems a herculean task, and I'm not sure how many would survive. They'd be out of the tank probably 6 hours.

If I take like six 5 gallon buckets and take as much tank water as I can with me, keep my truck hot inside, do you think I could pull this off? Once i set the tank back up and pour in the water I've got, I can cut it with some warm tap water but probably not enough to run the systems.

Thoughts on how likely this attempt is to succeed, and advice, is asked for.

Thanks!

Todd

 

[Maridia]

I would also like to know... How long can fish survive being transported? Of course that probably depends on water volume. Maybe taking an airstone would increase the survival rate?

 

[Brandon D.]

They will be ok for a few hours fish r shipped and live a few days in bags so they will be ok just make sure u leave a little extra air room in watever u move them in

 

[parky]

You can find all the stuff you need to transport your fish safely on ebay. If you are going to do it you might want to look into if the fish need to be fasted. As if their going to be in a bag for six hours you don't want lots of poop. Plus don't scrimp max of 3 fish in a bag dependant on the size.

 

[parky]

You'll need polly box, bags and heater packs by the way.

 

[VioletGoby]

Don't forget to have the current owner check the water parameters currently in in the tank. When I bought a used tank (fish included) the guy admitted he hadn't cleaned it in approx 3-4 months.

We lived only 30 min away, but x4 home depot 5 gallon buckets and a stressful drive later... one of the cichlids ended up dying from what I would guess was ammonia poisoning.

I was trying to get their tank setup as fast as possible...it was really chaotic. Especially because some fish were jumpers. :S

If I could do it over again, I would have brought some aquarium ready water to mix in with their current water, more buckets, & ammonia lock.

Good luck to you!! I wish you the best!

 

[SonicsDC25]

+1 on checking the fish's current water parameters, doing so will allow you to adjust the water to your liking and also to avoid your fish from getting shocked due to completely different water parameters. If everything pans out fine, water wise, then just put the tank water in 5 gallon buckets with an air stone, keep the bucket dark (via towel/blanket) and the car temp 70-75 degrees. 6 hours should be fine, just make sure you keep that bacteria alive from the filters.

 

[Rare]

Buy one of these.....$14-$18 This will run 24-48hrs. & what I use to keep my white bait alive when i'm fishing in the keys bridge for 2.5 days. You never know what could happen along the way & this will keep them in good shape. If you have a fishing store/bass pro or even walmart..they sell something like this.

How many cichlids are we talking about? If me...I will fill fresh water at the guys house with your 5g bucket & add Prime or whatever you use, add the bubble box and be done.

How many cichlids are we talking about here?

 

[chevypride]

When I moved mine were out of the tank for 4 hours. And they all lived and were perfectly fine. I only have a 40 gallon but I used 3 5 gallon buckets with just water, a bucket for the sand with tank water, a bucket for the rocks and decor with tank water (and through the filter media in this one) (so a total of 5 buckets) and put my fish in fish bags in a Rubbermaid container with a blanket (as insulation) and cranked the heat in the truck. I was moving them in -50 degree Celsius weather. I didn't feed them for 2 days prior.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

A drop of Hydrogen peroxide will add oxygen in the tank or bucket if you notice them starving for air. Probably the cheapest method to transport livestock. Club members use that trick on fish at all weekend conventions

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