Transporting Fish

[fishfield]

Will be moving shortly and have to break down the tank. My concern is a 3+ hour drive. Want to transport the fish but don't know if any will make the trip. Any advice would be most appreciated.

 

[Andy Sager]

Will be moving shortly and have to break down the tank. My concern is a 3+ hour drive. Want to transport the fish but don't know if any will make the trip. Any advice would be most appreciated.

You have a few options:
#1) you can put your fish in a bucket or cooler with a battery operated airpump (usually can be bought in a bait and tackle store for live bait) and this will keep the water aerated for your trip. ( drive carefully so you don't spill the water )

#2) You can take your fish to a local pet store and ask if they would bag the fish and use oxygen in the bag for your transit. ( The fish then should have about 48 hours to be in the bag(s).

#3) You can put the fish in a bucket or cooler with no air pump and haul butt to your new place and if the fish start to look stressed or are coming up to the surface for air, use your hand and splash the water surface to help reoxygenate the water for the fish.

Any one of these 3 choices will work. I would just make sure that the fish tank is set up and running for a day or so in the new location to make sure it doesn't leak from the relocation before adding the fish back in. (This is why I prefer the pump method.)

FYI: I am about to embark on driving fish from NJ to FL. I did it before just reoxing the bags every few hours so I know this method works for a 3 day trip so you should have no problem with 3 hours.

 

[FishCr8zy]

You have a few options:
#1) you can put your fish in a bucket or cooler with a battery operated airpump (usually can be bought in a bait and tackle store for live bait) and this will keep the water aerated for your trip. ( drive carefully so you don't spill the water )

#2) You can take your fish to a local pet store and ask if they would bag the fish and use oxygen in the bag for your transit. ( The fish then should have about 48 hours to be in the bag(s).

#3) You can put the fish in a bucket or cooler with no air pump and haul butt to your new place and if the fish start to look stressed or are coming up to the surface for air, use your hand and splash the water surface to help reoxygenate the water for the fish.

Any one of these 3 choices will work. I would just make sure that the fish tank is set up and running for a day or so in the new location to make sure it doesn't leak from the relocation before adding the fish back in. (This is why I prefer the pump method.)

FYI: I am about to embark on driving fish from NJ to FL. I did it before just reoxing the bags every few hours so I know this method works for a 3 day trip so you should have no problem with 3 hours.

Yes
Everything Andy said will work.
However, what kind of fish do u have?
Anything larger than 6-7 in will be hard to transport. Especially in a bag.

 

[Andyg23]

I recently transported a 6in ebjd and 4in bgjd over 150 miles in a large tub full of tank water. I stopped 2 times and used a cup to take water out and dump it back in to keep oxygen in the water. They made the trip safely and went into their tank the next day with no problems.

 

[Airgoose2222]

I transported 30 Tanganyikan Cichlids 8 hrs using two coolers and a battery powered aerator. The biggest fish was my 11" Frontosa. The rest were in the 3-8" range. I did lose one fish, but overall, I can't complain. I set up the tank right away and moved them in with no problems. The one fish that died was survived the trip, but was floating next day in the tank. I was very nervous about it, but anyone that knows how long it takes for Tanganyikans to grow should realize I didn't want to start all over and wait two-three years for them to mature. I wish you luck!!!

 

[FishCr8zy]

I transported 30 Tanganyikan Cichlids 8 hrs using two coolers and a battery powered aerator. The biggest fish was my 11" Frontosa. The rest were in the 3-8" range. I did lose one fish, but overall, I can't complain. I set up the tank right away and moved them in with no problems. The one fish that died was survived the trip, but was floating next day in the tank. I was very nervous about it, but anyone that knows how long it takes for Tanganyikans to grow should realize I didn't want to start all over and wait two-three years for them to mature. I wish you luck!!!

Dang
30 cichlids in 2 coolers. And an 11" frontosa! Those coolers must have been crowded. Lol

 

[Airgoose2222]

A little. They were big coolers though and used tank water. I lucked out, but only option I had. Very nerve racking though!

 

[fishfield]

To all, I am VERY grateful for the information. All of my fish are hearty albeit a little more of the Tetra variety...peaceful but stalwart none-the-less. The largest I have is my 5" "plico". I am very encouraged now that I will actually be able to get em home. Thank you all. This is a great community.

 

[Airgoose2222]

Just curious, how'd the move turn out?

 

[fishfield]

The move went great! Because of all the great advice received here, every single fish made to to their new home and are doing really well. I never thought i could transport them and have them all survive. I got a large plastic container which I rinsed with plain water, then filled it with water from my tank. I pumped a lot of air into the water it before I transferred the fish into it. I then put a top on the container (love the fish but didn't want water splashing about with every turn and bump), then put it on the floor of the car. I would occasionally scoop and dump water into the container to add a little air and it worked just fine.Thank you all!

 

[FishCr8zy]

The move went great! Because of all the great advice received here, every single fish made to to their new home and are doing really well. I never thought i could transport them and have them all survive. I got a large plastic container which I rinsed with plain water, then filled it with water from my tank. I pumped a lot of air into the water it before I transferred the fish into it. I then put a top on the container (love the fish but didn't want water splashing about with every turn and bump), then put it on the floor of the car. I would occasionally scoop and dump water into the container to add a little air and it worked just fine.Thank you all!

Great! Happy that all fish made it to new home safe and sound.

 

[Andy Sager]

You have a few options:
#1) you can put your fish in a bucket or cooler with a battery operated airpump (usually can be bought in a bait and tackle store for live bait) and this will keep the water aerated for your trip. ( drive carefully so you don't spill the water )

#2) You can take your fish to a local pet store and ask if they would bag the fish and use oxygen in the bag for your transit. ( The fish then should have about 48 hours to be in the bag(s).

#3) You can put the fish in a bucket or cooler with no air pump and haul butt to your new place and if the fish start to look stressed or are coming up to the surface for air, use your hand and splash the water surface to help reoxygenate the water for the fish.

Any one of these 3 choices will work. I would just make sure that the fish tank is set up and running for a day or so in the new location to make sure it doesn't leak from the relocation before adding the fish back in. (This is why I prefer the pump method.)

FYI: I am about to embark on driving fish from NJ to FL. I did it before just reoxing the bags every few hours so I know this method works for a 3 day trip so you should have no problem with 3 hours.

Update: If you are wondering how long the fish can go in transit, my trip consisted of purchasing fish at 4 stores between NJ and VA. None of these stores used oxygen to blow up the bags so I was using options #1 & #3. At each store I asked them to over size the bag and to give me a large bag of extra water. I had brought along an air pump, airline, valves and airstones and each night I opened each bag and placed an airstone in the bags. I did partial water changes before closing the bags for the follow day's trip. The NJ fish were in a bag for 7 days and the VA fish were in for 3. During traveling days, I stopped every 3-4 hours to open the bags and reclose them after exchanging their air for good clean atmosphere air I even had to do total water changes on a couple of bags in transit. Once I arrived home, I tested the water in the tanks I previously set up for these fish prior to my trip, only to find that my water parameters were too far apart from these fish's to chance just a quick acclimation so they stayed in their air pump oxygenated bags another 2 days while I fixed things. My end result: 12 fish arrived and survived the trip, 1 died prior to the return trip from NJ and 1 died once back in FL. ( This fish died however because the other 2 fish in the bag kinda beat him up a bit. Not a transportation issue? )
Anyway, the point is, with proper planning and supplies ( I also added PRIME to the extra water to make sure ammonia was not an issue during transit) fish can be transported a long distance with no harm.


Glad to hear of the OP's moving success as well

 

[audrey02600]

That's so awesome that you were able to do this transport! Gives me a little hope but scares me at the same time. I'll be transporting my son and a dog in the car with me... I wonder if it will all be too much?