Moving cross country - how do you move fish?

[Keeper of the Ropes]

I was thinking about shipping them... it will be June when we move, (1100 miles North to Ohio) and hot as crap in Texas, so I'm not sure driving them would work... but I'd like it to be as cost effective as possible. I have about a dozen bichirs, ranging from 5'' to 15''. But if I ship them, I can't exactly ship them to myself if I'm still in Texas. There won't be a tank set up yet for them to go into.

Any ideas or advice? I can't cut back on my collection any more than I already have - we had over 35 bichirs before, then our beautiful daughter was born this February and we cut back as much as we could.

Jessie*
KOTR

 

[IKeepPacu]

if you only have to worry about bichirs, its easier than you may think.

a few large rubbermaid containers with a battery powered airpump would work, and move them in the back of your car/truck/uhaul. as long as the temp dont rise too much, your ok. if it starts to, get a bag of ice at the next rest stop and you can float ice cubes in another container or bag to lower the temp.

im facing the same dillemma as you, but my fish are much larger. i have to build a giant wood box, put in a pond liner, and move my fish in the back of their own uahul running filters on an inverter. you got it easy

 

[yogurt_21]

http://www.geocities.com/koifla/transporting_koi.htm

same principle.

but may Koi shows I've seen 55gal water drums with battery powered air pumps or some even have a 12v converter so they can plug in pumps etc and plumb them intot he 55g drums so that water is circulatin as well as the air pump.

12v converters are not to hard to come by check best buy, radio shack, frys electronics, etc. then it would simply be choosing a low powered pump and air pump and plumbing them into your transport carrier.

but as said above I highly recomend choosing a method and transporting them yourself. for a drive that long I recomend the 12v with pump and air pump method (you could even hook a canister filter to the pump when plubing it) as well as a container with a water tight but removable lid. (or semi water tight as if you're pumping air in it will need a small hole to seep out) this way you can take the lid off to check on your fish as you travel.

for 1100 miles you may not be able to drive staight through so plumbing in a canister filter with pump and air pump would be reocmended if you have to stop. take an extention cord so thatw hen you stop at the inn/motel you can plug it in.

alot of work but once you get it setup you'll have aperfect tranportation system for the future.

 

[MonsterMinis]

I brought extra buckets of fresh tank water as well for water changes. I only had a 4 hour trip thankfully. but didn't have any pumps or hoses. my best deffense was my car AC/heater. I kept a floating glass thermometer in one of the rubber maids and made checks along the way to make sure my water temp was acceptable on the trip.

 

[Oddball]

If you're driving a 4-door, it'll make things easier. I did a 4 state move with the fish in a large styro-lined bin I installed in the rear seat area. I removed the back seat (carried it in the bed of my truck) and built a crate out of 3/4"x4"pine and 1/2" plywood. I bought a sheet of styro and cut it to fit. Then, installed a piece of home depot pond liner in the crate and braced it with the top boards. I added a pvc snorkel to the lid to route the wires and allow air in for the powerhead.
I filled the crate with just enough water to allow for normal swimming and circulation. I added a shelf extender (from walmart) to hold a powerhead with a venturi and also added a small heater sitting in a flowerpot drip tray. Plugged the powerhead and heater into a DC to AC converter that was plugged into my truck's powerport and started the drive after adding a couple of bag buddies to the water.
The polys, af aro, trop gars, AUL, etc. made the trip just fine.

Note: be sure to stop feeding the fish a few days before transporting so they don't foul they're limited transport water.

 

[new2natives]

OUCH ...
where are you moving in ohio?? and how many tanks are you moving? (sizes?)

you may want to consider shipping them to a member who can hold them until your tank is up and running ??

 

[Delhezi222]

Ah, another member in Ohio!
I would try and help, but it seems like you have all the information you need. Good luck!

 

[BPags52]

if you only have to worry about bichirs, its easier than you may think.

a few large rubbermaid containers with a battery powered airpump would work, and move them in the back of your car/truck/uhaul. as long as the temp dont rise too much, your ok. if it starts to, get a bag of ice at the next rest stop and you can float ice cubes in another container or bag to lower the temp.

im facing the same dillemma as you, but my fish are much larger. i have to build a giant wood box, put in a pond liner, and move my fish in the back of their own uahul running filters on an inverter. you got it easy

A tip for lowering the temp: instead of using ice cubes in a ziploc bag, pre-freeze several bottles of water. The solid blocks of ice in the bottle will last alot longer than ice cubes in a ziploc bag.