Transporting Fish

[nickfox45]

At the end of April i'm moving out of my apartment in Boston and going home to Maryland. I'm trying to figure out if its worth taking my fish home with me. I'm probably going to be flying, which ends up being about a 6-7 hour trip back to my house. Do my fish have a realistic chance of surviving the trip? If not, i'll probably just give them back to the LFS where i got them.

i have 10 tiger barbs, 6 black skirt tetras, and one RTBS in a 55 gallon tank here, i'm also wondering what size tank i'd need to get at home to put them in. I can't take the 55 with me(its mounted into the wall) so they'd be going into an all new and smaller aquarium, since i can't afford one that big right now.

any suggestions are appreciated. thank you.

 

[nickfox45]

anybody?

buehler? buehler?

 

[Nevergone815]

they should be ok. my advice is to use heatpacks and the other appropriate shipping stuff and ship them to your "new" house. this way they will get there in a couple of days or even the next day depending on how you ship the package and should be for the most part fine, with just stress to deal with.

just let the fish settle in for a day and then do other things. a smaller temp home should be ok as long as it isn't real long

i hope i helped

 

[nickfox45]

they should be ok. my advice is to use heatpacks and the other appropriate shipping stuff and ship them to your "new" house. this way they will get there in a couple of days or even the next day depending on how you ship the package and should be for the most part fine, with just stress to deal with.

just let the fish settle in for a day and then do other things. a smaller temp home should be ok as long as it isn't real long

i hope i helped

thanks for your reply. do you have any experience with this? im tempted to just take them with me, since i think theyll be just as bumped around on a plane and will take less time to get there.

i know i cant take the water with me, but id like to take some of the bacterialogic bed with me in the gravel so i dont have to cyle a new tank. will that transfer easily? if i just keep the gravel wet and put it in the new tank, will that do me any good?

 

[Nevergone815]

they should be ok. my advice is to use heatpacks and the other appropriate shipping stuff and ship them to your "new" house. this way they will get there in a couple of days or even the next day depending on how you ship the package and should be for the most part fine, with just stress to deal with.

just let the fish settle in for a day and then do other things. a smaller temp home should be ok as long as it isn't real long

i hope i helped

thanks for your reply. do you have any experience with this? im tempted to just take them with me, since i think theyll be just as bumped around on a plane and will take less time to get there.

i know i cant take the water with me, but id like to take some of the bacterialogic bed with me in the gravel so i dont have to cyle a new tank. will that transfer easily? if i just keep the gravel wet and put it in the new tank, will that do me any good?

i just shipped out 5 fish today in the mail. it was my first time and i think that they will be good. but they might get less bumped on the plain as long as you don't hit turbulance. it should be pretty much a smooth ride except for the take off and landings. as for the cycling of the tank. you could just take the filter media and keep it in some tank water to keep it wet. then you can just put the filter media in your new tank to clone your old tank. this will give you all your benificial bacteria you had in your old tank. as for the gravel and plants and other decor... you can just wrap those and such so it doesn't get damaged. if you have your filter media in tank water than you won't need to really worry about the bacteria in those. you could keep the gravel wet if you want... its personal preference it might be a good idea to do both as it will give you a bigger bacteria colony to put into your tank.

as for packaging... even if you bring it with you on the plane (then you won't need a heat pack)... you can follow these steps:

for shipping via mail:
see this thread (specifically the post by synirr, but still read them all)...
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...l=shipping+fish

to ship them with you via plane:
follow the same thing... i don't know the rules of flying as i never have had the luxery of needing to do this. but i would guess that you wouldn't need a heat pack as it will be less than a day and i'm sure the holding dock (for baggage or overhead- i don't know how it works) will be heated and the fish will be ok.

you could buy heatpacks on aquabid.com or at ship[ping supply stores. i have even seen some in walmart though that varies based on location. all you need is a 40 hr pack and that will be fine. the styrofoam will insulate and the heat will actually last longer. i got a package of fish with a 40 hr heat pack and after the 2 days that it took to receive the package the heat pack was still warm over 48 hrs later.

as for the packaging of the fish... use newspaper/computer paper and/or styrofoam shipping "peanuts" so that they don't slide around as much. this helps cut down stress as well

when you get them home (either way) you should at least double the time to acclimate them (in every step). they will be stressed and more easily a target for disease. a lot of people will say that this is not necessary, but i always say that it is better to be safe than sorry!

i hope i helped you more

if you need more help or info you can always pm me through this site. i am always on here but sometimes i loose the thread i was actice on or forget about it through all of the many threads i try to be active on.

 

[mike_nofx]

Can you send fish through normal post

Dont the postmen just toss the packages around into trucks, planes etc???

 

[Nevergone815]

you can ship them through regular post... either ask for overnight shippingor priority (2-4 days- which in most cases is only 2 unless you live right near the place you are sending it too, it seems to take longer then, but since it is a 7 hr plane ride you should qualify for the 2 day lol) just put on the package... "perishable", "handle with care" and "live tropical fish". also have a box that has an arrow pointing on the sides the direction (top of box) and says something like "keep this side up" or along those lines. even if you took them on the plane with you they may get tossed around, but if you cram newspapers and such into the box, it will help reduce movement and shaking that the fish might endure.

remember that no matter what you do the fish will be tossed around a little. either way it is your choice. but shipping fish can be done and with a good deal of success.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

of course, unless you're just particularly attached to a fish, it may be for the best to trade them back to the LFS.

i'm going to be in your boat this time next year, so i've given a lot of thought to this. my decision? i'm probably going to sell everything except for my puffer, a breeding colony of badis, and my L200s. i might even thin out the L200s, depending on how many badis i decide to keep. why these? i love my puffer the most. the badis will pay for themselves. and the L200s were &*%^ expensive.

it'll be a lot of stress for both you and the fish to ship them out--not to mention to drop them in a crowded brand-new tank. since a semi-friendly RTBS seems a bit rare, i'd probably just keep him and find the others new homes. besides, part of the fun of fishkeeping is trying new things!

 

[Dragonscales]

There is no reason why you can't take them with you. I recently moved house without a single loss and my fish were out of a tank for pretty much the whole day as well as being jolted about in the car boot.

The key to success is packing them well, keeping the temp stable and saving your substrate and filters by keeping them wet or moist at all times. Wrapping the bags in blankets which are inside a styrofoam box is a good alternative to heatpacks or hotwater bottles and helps keep the bags stable too.

Upon getting them into the tank at the new house don't feed them and keep the tank dark until the next day at least, this will ensure they settle in better IME.