Best way to move long distance with fish???

[Munger22391]

In a couple months I will be moving from Nevada to Texas and want to take my fish with me so I don't have to restart everything. I'm not sure what the best way to do this would be I have a couple ideas but not sure what would be the safest and best for the fish.

first option would be me putting the fish in 5g buckets and places them in my back seat and plugging in heaters and air pumps into the buckets and drive there as fast as I can

Or option two I'm trying to get my lfs to hold all my fish for a couple weeks so I can drive there set up the tank an then have them ship me the fish (I was told to buy some breather bags to have them shipped in not sure what else they would need)

any ideas you guys have let me know I really would like to keep all my fish and hopefully still have them all when they get to their new home

 

[ezy33]

I like ice chests, hand warmers (if weather turns cold) and battery operated air pump (for bait tank) or air pump on a inverter. Don't over crowd your fish. Keep your gravel and filter material wet to save your bacteria.

If you have a good LFS maybe they'll bag your fish with oxygen for shipping and let you have some Styrofoam shipping containers.

Please observe all speed limits. So you'll know how much you exceeded them by!

Good luck!

 

[Munger22391]

yea my plan is to have 3-4 five gallon buckets in my back seat with air pumps into each and about 3 fish in each and then just bring them inside with me at night when I stop and do little water changes with distilled water. and I will have another bucket with all the gravel and media in it to keep them wet

and I always go about 5 mph faster then the speed limit and hit cruise control so I dont get pulled over or just go with the flow of traffic if its faster haha

 

[Khazmachi]

I have moved my 75 gallon tank (fish and all) from Boise, ID to Las Vegas, NV and back with (almost) no problems. First step is to fast your fish for a couple days before the move. That way they won't dirty the water you are transporting them in. I bagged my fish and put them in a cooler. Make sure you tie the bags tight with plenty of air inside, then kept it covered so sunlight wouldn't heat it too much. On a couple stops I opened the bags to get fresh air inside.
Empty the tank completely. Take as much water from your tank with you as possible, Rubbermaid tubs work wonderfully, because most likely the water chemistry where you are going will be different and it'll be best to acclimate your fish as slowly as possible. Keep your gravel and filter media in water, if they dry out you will lose the beneficial bacteria. Also if you have plants don't keep them in with your fish, give them there own container. Plants will absorb oxygen in the dark.
I think that is pretty much it. The only other thing I can think to suggest is to double check you have packed all the equipment with you. I accidentally left my lights behind and lost all my plants :/
Good luck to you!

 

[Munger22391]

I have moved my 75 gallon tank (fish and all) from Boise, ID to Las Vegas, NV and back with (almost) no problems. First step is to fast your fish for a couple days before the move. That way they won't dirty the water you are transporting them in. I bagged my fish and put them in a cooler. Make sure you tie the bags tight with plenty of air inside, then kept it covered so sunlight wouldn't heat it too much. On a couple stops I opened the bags to get fresh air inside.
Empty the tank completely. Take as much water from your tank with you as possible, Rubbermaid tubs work wonderfully, because most likely the water chemistry where you are going will be different and it'll be best to acclimate your fish as slowly as possible. Keep your gravel and filter media in water, if they dry out you will lose the beneficial bacteria. Also if you have plants don't keep them in with your fish, give them there own container. Plants will absorb oxygen in the dark.
I think that is pretty much it. The only other thing I can think to suggest is to double check you have packed all the equipment with you. I accidentally left my lights behind and lost all my plants :/
Good luck to you!

yea I plan on taking at least half the water from the tank with me and I only have fake plants so dont have to worry about them. but I didnt think about fasting the fish before so thank you for that so they wont be swimming in dirty water the whole way