7 day long moving trip with my fish! *UPDATE*

[Hypnotic]

So we are going to be moving this Wednesday from Wisconsin to Florida and it is going to take us 7 days to get their. My hubby wants to stop in Louisiana to visit with his family that he hasn't seen in over a year. My problem is that I am taking 3 fish that I couldn't bare to part with. I convinced my LFS to take my barbs and danios but I want to stay with my bristlenose pleco, dwarf blue gourami, and an otto. So, this is my set up: Styrofoam cooler, battery operated air pump, 3 containers all connected with airline tubing, a couple of gallons of water, and 20 packs of "Hothands"(4"by 3" packs that keep hands warm when out in cold)

My questions are:

Do I fill the gallons with treated tap water or tank water?
I wanted to put a small cut out piece of my filters in each of the containers covered with a couple of inches of my gravel to have seeded bacteria when I get their...

Do you think these heat packs will keep the inside of the cooler warm enough? If not what else can I put in their?

Do I feed them on the trip? Their all pretty fat fish, so I don't think they'll be starving and they will probablly be to stressed to eat.

I plan on doing daily water changes. Maybe like 50% a day.
Anyways, thanks in advance. I'm hoping you guys can help me out today, since my internet service will be shut off tomorrow. I'll let you all know how it goes!

 

[malkore]

I'd go with 50/50 tank and tap water...that way it feels familiar, but is still clean.
put some tank gravel in there, and the filter media. this way it'll stay cycled.

I'd toss them a pinch of food a couple times on the trip, giving them the option to eat, but in case they don't , it shouldn't be enough food to cause ammonia spikes.

 

[BrianNY]

malkores advice is sound. I would buy a cheap box filter, connect that to your battery driven air pump, and add some of your existing filter media to it. The key is in doing the water changes but it sounds like you're good to go.

You might want to lay in an extra supply of batteries and heat packs just in case. Watch the temp fluctuation between evening and morning. If the water stays above 72 after the night, you should be OK. Good Luck with the move.

 

[mvigor]

Have you done a test run to see how long a set of batteries will perform?

Edit: P.S. Personally I wouldn't feed the fish every day...probably just once during the whole trip.

 

[Hypnotic]

Thanks for the quick reply guys! As far as the batteries go, no I haven't tested them to see how long they last, but I got enough for 4 replacements. I can always run in a gas station and get more I guess. I was also thinking of filling the gallons with half tank water and half fresh. I guess my main concern will be temperature fluctuations. But they'll be riding in the back seat, so I can keep a close eye on them.

We're hitting the road Wednesday morning. Do you guys think I should break the tank down now or wait till tomorrow afternoon? We pretty much have everything else packed up. Only the tank is left. Thanks again!

 

[fishygurl]

I admire your will power for not taking along ALL your fish! If I was moving, theres no way i could part with ANy of mine! Good Luck!

 

[Andos99]

If you have time tomorrow I would break the tank down then. All the less stress, the better. I don't think temperature will be a huge issue as long as they are always in a climate controlled envirnment. (car with heater on, hotel room, etc.) Good luck on your trip and let us know how everything turns out.

 

[quitters]

why dont you get an inverter? that way you can run a filter, heater, air pump, for the whole time the car is running!

also watch your ammonia and nitrites if they get to high, do a water change at the petrol shop

also dont forget to bring a camera youll want pics one day sounds like fun

good luck!

if you dont want an inverter buy a car battery and see how long you can run the heater off of it, you might get a few nights.

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_techspecs_full.php/masterid=457824

theres a link, plugs straight into your ciggarrete lighter, research how much wattage you need though if u decide to buy one

 

[Hypnotic]

I admire your will power for not taking along ALL your fish! If I was moving, theres no way i could part with ANy of mine! Good Luck!

Believe me it was tough taking my fish back. My 3 Rosy Barbs were the first fish I had. They were sweet hearts and constantly breeding in the tank. My giant danios i've also had for over a year and a half and actually also started breeding in my tank. As a matter of fact, I believe I might find some fry when I empty out the tank. The problem with trying to take these fish was that they were way too skiddish. I don't beleive they would have survived the trip. The stress alone would probably have killed them. I figured that the 3 fish I'm taking were layed back enough to handle the trip.


As far as getting an inverter and running, filter, heater & air pump, I'm afraid it's a little too late to try and figure out how to run something like this. It's Tuesday now and we're getting ready to load up the Uhaul in a bit. I won't have time to drive to Green Bay to do any shopping today.

Anyways, thank you so much for all the help! I'll take pictures and let everyone know how the move went! I will say this, I bet my hubby's family will think I'm a little nutty carrying a cooler with fish!

p.s that just gave me an idea...I'm going to take the air pump that I have in my tank already and use it when we're not in the car!

BTW, here's a pic of my tank.

 

[quitters]

ok man good luck but let me just say, you would honestly just have to take it out of the box and plug it into your ciggi lighter. Its a ciggi lighter charger thing at one and and a power point at the other so u would just need to get a powerboard and an extention cord to the back seat probably wont even need that i thing the cord they come with is quite long, and thats it plug everything in and off u go and you can get them at any car equiptment place or electrical place.

hope it all goes well, safe travels

 

[Hypnotic]

update on the move

Well, just wanted to let everyone know my fish (and us) made it to Florida safe and sound. They spent a total of 8 full days in their temporary homes. The battery operated air pump worked wonderfully. I never had to change the batteries. I remember having it on for 48 straight hours with no problems. Temperature was never a problem. Actually my only problem was having to haul the cooler in and out of the motels. The tank has been up and running for 14 days with no signs that it went through a new cycle. I did have a few days of cloudiness, but I tested the water and all was normal. It does get about 1 hour of sunlight in the evening now, which back home it never got natural light (I kinda like it). The water is cristal clear now. Anyways, just wanted to say thanks to all for the advice! Here's a pic of the newly setup tank.

 

[rich311k]

Glad everyone made the trip safely. Enjoy your new home.