Traveling with fish

[snaily]

Hi guys! Greetings from North Dakota! The land of the barren... where the fish stores are 200 miles away from me..

I am heading up to a town that is about 180 miles away from me and am planning on staying the night at a hotel. The two LFS's they have there are pretty decent and more than likely I will find some decent angels that I will want to bring back My question is, what will I need to bring with me to keep my fish alive while they are in the hotel and on the road? Is it possible? They will be spending about 18 hours out of the tank. Here's what I was thinking, but am running into several holes that I don't have enough experience to work out for myself

I will bring a larger plastic tub, and a bottle of Prime, fill the tub with just enough water for the amount of fish that I have and put an airstone in it with a couple of plastic plants that have are already established with BB from my tank (carry those in tank water in plastic bags. Bring one to two larger adjustable heaters. The fish can then stay in the hotel through the night and while I am out and about the next day. And then bring them home in the baggies that the fish store had already given to me.

Do I need a filter?
Will these even give these fish a remote chance to survive or am I destined for failure on this one?
What other accessories will I need?
Am I nuts?

 

[Homer8]

what i would do is get 1 or 2 5gal homedepot bucketsand fill them up with some prime treated water. if you have an air filter you can seed with some filter media that would be great or just a mesh bag filled with substrate. Use a small heater while your at the hotel and just keep them in the buckets for the ride home.

 

[Pamiam]

Here is what I do.

I travel with my fish all the time and have never lost one. I go from Maine to Ohio, a 2 day trip.

My packaging of the fish depend on the fish. My delicate, small fish (EX: pea puffer) goes in her own small container, I used a mason jar, wrapped in bubble wrap and holes cut of the lid

For my hard body fish (ex; striped raphael catfish, bristlenose plecos) they go in a plastic large tupperware type container.

The others also go either in a clean cooler, or like the above post said a home depot type bucket. Since I have cats, I use empty, very clean large kitty litter tubs. I like these because they already come with a lid.

While in a hotel, I use air stones. I have never used a heater as the room is usually warm enough.

I do travel with a thermometer and prime in case of some emergency whereas I need to add some water.

The motion of the car will keep the oxygen replenished.

Tips on traveling:
use common sense in packaging, fish will get bumped around so if they bump into each other will they get harmed? Think of sudden stops, guy in front of you slams his brakes. etc.

think pot holes and bumps

I hope this helps.

 

[snaily]

Awesome guys! Thanks! I think I will have everything I need.. Who knew how much keeping horses and working in a restaurant would help your supply for your fish! Haha!