transporting fish ???

[screaminbuckeye]

Well winter break has come and gone and now I need to go back to my dorm. I'm taking my cichlids with me and my new eel. I am used to transporting my cichlids but my eel has never taken the trip. It's a 2 hour drive back to OSU. What should I do to make it easy on my eel? I'm thinking I should use a large zip lock bad and keep the bag partially open for air. Are fw eels good fish to transport? I really don't want to leave him with my parents. My dad will be driving me so I will have both hands free to take care of my fish. I've had back luck transporting gouramis before so I am really concerned about my little eel. Suggestions?

 

[Bearfan]

What size tank is the eel in and what size is it going to?

The reason I ask, is your best bet is to transport as much of the original tank water as possible . The baggie IMO is too small, I would use a large rubbermaid container.

 

[davoz]

Why not just get a 5gallon bucket with a top to house the fish in rather than bags. You can do a bucket for the cichlids and another for the eel. Fill them 1/2 way with water and go. If you are really worried you can buy a battery powered air pump from Petsmart or a local bait shop and supply them with air via the pump.

 

[Bearfan]

The eel, if it is of any size, won't like a 2 hour drive (plus time to pack/unpack) in 2.5 gallons of water. Rubber maid containers are cheap. A 22 gallon is on sale at Menards through tomorrow for $2.99.

 

[screaminbuckeye]

The eel is currently in a 5 gal qt tank (small i know but the eel is 3 inches long and seems happy) and is going into a 20 gal tank. I just bought a bucket so I'll put the eel in the bucket. The cichlids seem ok with the bags. Any one know how eels do in transport?

 

[TheNewGuy]

I would go with the bucket plan that will leave the fish plenty of room to swim and also create less stress if you can keep it dark for them.


*EDIT* eels don't like to be moved. most die the first 24 hours after being moved. If yours is live you are lucky and need to take great care when moving again.

 

[screaminbuckeye]

Well all went well. Cichlids are fine and the eel loves his new bigger tank. but my filter has died so i gotta get a new one.

 

[Bearfan]

Congrats.

 

[illuminum]

by the way, what kind of eel is it?

 

[madasafish]

Just FYI, oxygen is not transferred well into water with little surface agitation. As a result, an open bag will do little more for you than a closed bag. If a bag is what you're considering, you're better off to do as the fish stores do: quickly close the top of the bag (plastic like at the LFS, not ziplock) to seal in as much air (roughly 20% O2) as possible, and then twizzle the bag top until the bag is quite taught. This serves a purpose, as increasing the pressure on the air in the bag increases the pressure of the air on the water, and thus the amount of air/oxygen that can exchange with the water.

A 3-inch eel is obviously much less of an issue than larger specimens, which can be quite sensitive if stressed (esp. since most spiny eels are cautious and nocturnal). It's often good to throw a blanket or towel over the bag containing such a fish (they *are* fish) so that they don't see just how much they're moving, even if they feel it. I find that virtually all fish are much more relaxed if they don't see you looming over them while they're in a bag or bucket.

Ex post facto, I know, but I hope this helps for future moves!