Help. Peacock died during transport

[fishjoseph]

Need a little help,
I had a question about moving fish from one tank to the next. I bought a beautiful male and female Aulonocara Sp. "Rubescens" S just about ready to breed, from somebody about an hour from my house. This was a wild caught pair and I am feeling somewhat heart broken. What a beautiful male and now no female. Oh well.
I moved them in a 5 gallon bucket about half full. Male, no problem. The female started gasping right away, flipped to the back about half way and never turned upright again. Death on arrival. How could I have avoided the scenario? It happened to me before when I moved from one house to another. The venustus would go ape and die in the bucket.
Thanks for your input.
Joseph

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[MalawiTango]

-Temp
-Was it really cold?
-Did the fish go from a warm tank to a cold car with the top of the bucket wide open?
-was the bucket a "fish safe" bucket?

Sorry, it really sucks you lost the female. I have transported fish and have had them with me in a bag for over 6 hours+ without problem. I make sure to acclimate them by floating the bag in my tank for 20-30mins before I net them out.