Good Idea Or Not?

[MegTheFish]

On Saturday we are going up to Winnipeg to do some shopping during the day then to drop off my relatives at the airport at around 4 pm. I thought this would be a good opertunity, if my mom lets me, to visit a large fishstore that has quite a big collection selection of freshwater fish. Since we don't have much of a selection where I live, I was hoping to bring some fish home (for my 55 gallon peaceful community). The trip is 2 1/2 hours, what do you guys think about this? Too long of a trip? And if it could work, how would I go about transporting them? Thanks.

 

[demonmagus]

they will probably be fine in the bag, but wait for other opinions

 

[OohFeeshy]

They'll be fine, just make sure they're bagged up with plenty of air.

 

[MegTheFish]

Ok, so just bag them up as usual (but maybe ask for their biggest bag so it can hold more water?) and then place them in a cooler (to keep temp. stable). They had some full grown albino cories that were just the coolest looking, along with some other nice fish (lots of neat saltwater fish too). But then again this was in May.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Try and not have too many fish in each bag, as the less fish there are per bag the less stressed they will be (although if you get schooling/shoaling fish its best to have them in the same bag as long as the bag is big enough).

 

[Inchworm]

Hi MegTheFish

Transporting new fish for that length of time should not be a problem. I just received an order of fish from California and I live in New York. They should have arrived in 24 hours, but due to the recent terrorist threat against the airlines, it took them 48 hours to get here. They were packed carefully and were in good condition when they arrived.

When you buy them, ask that they be put into large bags with 1/3 water and 2/3 air space. This will insure that the water does not become polluted and there is plenty of oxygen. Sellers like I bought mine from usually fast their fish for a day before they ship them to prevent them from soiling the water too much, but since you won't be able to do that, the more water they are in, the better it will be for them.

There is another thing to consider too. When you buy fish from a source that is not local, they might be used to water that is a different pH than your tank has in it. It's very important that you slowly get them used to their new water. This part cannot be rushed.

To do this, test the water in the bags as soon as you get home and test the water of the tank you will be putting them into. If you have two test tubes, hold them next to each other to compare them. If there is any difference, you will have to very slowly add your water to theirs until they match. This can be done by dipping it out and pouring it into the bags (or better still, another container you've moved them into) at the rate of 1/4 to 1/2 cup every 15 minutes depending on the amount of water they are in, or by a drip method where a drop at a time goes into their container. Be certain to cover the container during this process because a stressed fish might jump out.

Once they are settled in their tank, don't feed them until the next day to give them a chance to rest and get settled. Keeping the lights turned off helps too. If they have had to adjust to a different pH, a tsp. of aquarium to each 5 gallons of water, just for a week or so, might help them. This is OK for corys too.

I hope you find some really nice fish!