[dielikemoviestars]

Yes, a moving question. I'll be finished with the academic year next week, and plan on taking the tank back to the parental residence for the summer, as I'll be bouncing back and forth between here and there on a weekly basis.

The drive itself is only an hour, but I'm thinking with the time it'll take to tear down the tank and load it up (another hour) then the time to set it up at home (a third hour), it could be between 3-4 hours from when the fish leave the tank to when they reenter it.

The stock list:
5 metriaclima estherae
5 ps. saulosi
5 ps. socolofi
7 lab. "hongi"
1 melano/pseudo hybrid
2 offspring: hybrid/estherae
1 albino greshakei

Any ideas on how to bag 'em up (individually? groups? how much water?) would be great. I plan on fasting them for a few days first and keeping them in the dark for the trip home.

Any other concerns? I'm gonna keep the filter media wet, so I'm not worried about a huge cycle (I'll keep my eye out for a small blip) or anything...

 

[gaqua]

3-4 hours really isn't that big a deal. I've been at auctions where fish have been bagged up for 5-6 hours counting traffic, waiting for the meeting to end, etc.

Not to mention that people ship fish in bags, sometimes this takes days.

If I were you I'd get a few 5G buckets with lids, fill them about 1/2-2/3 up with tank water, and if you're very concerned, you could even hook up a few airstones to them, but that's probably not necessary.

Fasting them for about 2-3 days is probably a good idea, too.

 

[cichlidaholic]

You don't say how large the fish are...

If they are adult size, I would bag them individually. Nothing like bagging a male and a female only to find one live fish when you get where you're going...And, confining two females or two males to close quarters like that can easily be the end of one of them.

I would also fast them a couple of days before the move, to keep down the waste.

It would be great if you had some "Bag Buddies" to go in the water. They are used for shipping and would allow you to take your time getting the tank back up and running - they serve as a sedative and help control waste.

Kim

 

[Muhammed]

Hey,

Check this article out..

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/pta.php

Hope it helps!!

 

[Wetbo319]

I recently just did the same thing except my school is a 4 hour drive from home. I put about 15 fish in a cooler half full of water and they were fine for the whole ride. Came home and set the tank back up and got them acclimated and they all survived no problem. Just another idea instead of bagging them all if you have a large enough cooler.

 

[dielikemoviestars]

That's a good idea (with the cooler)... I may actually have 2 that I could use.

The fish are between 3-5" (smaller species are smaller, larger ones are larger) for the most part. 7 of them are 2."

Thanks for the advice; I'll probably try the coolers if I can find 2.

 

[DJRansome]

I'd put less water in the cooler and add a bubbler. I had a problem transporting fish to an LFS one hour away in a tall bucket that was 2/3 full. They almost all were unconscious (most revived) from lack of oxygen. The LFS owner said the trick is to fill 1/3 full, barely double the height of the fish. This way their trashing keeps the water oxygenated in spite of the fish density. Since then I fill 1/3 full and use an air stone. I run the tubing through a hole in the top of the bucket and rest a $8 battery operated air pump on top.

 

[Gibbs]

Frsh water mate, don't use the tank water when transporting and don't use any tank water when setting it back up

 

[QHgal]

Why wouldn't you use cycled stable water for transport? Using "fresh" water is going to shock the fish, and could potentially kill them. I ship my fish in tank water, with a bag buddy in each bag and have never had any problems. Just make sure you fast them for at least 24 hours, preferably 48.