Transporting Fish

[SMcCreath]

Morning,

I wasn't sure whether I should put this question here or in the beginners section, so my apologies if its not the correct place.

Firstly, Merry Christmas!


Secondly (and most importantly) I am due to collect Brian the 3" mbu from the lfs today and I wondered if anyone had any tips for transporting puffers in a way that minimises stress. Would it be sensible to cover whatever he is to be transported in, in a dark cloth so as he cant see out? that may sound a bit daft, but it is common practice to shield animals eyes to calm them down.

The travelling time between lfs and my home is approx 20 mins and I plan to carry him on my lap (in his vessel) Should I consider putting any food in with him?

Has anyone got any suggestions as to how I should introduce him into his new home (there are no other fish in there) Anything that I ought to watch for in the first few days?

I'm very sorry about the basic level of my questioning - however puffers are very different to the other tropical fish I've owned and I am keen to get it right without causing any unecessary stress to Brian.

Many thanks,

 

[cane76]

20 minutes is no time at all i wouldnt worry.he will be fine in the bags the lfs provide.
dont put any food in with him it will pollute such a small amount of water.

 

[CAC]

If you feel its quite cold, you can put him in a cooler box, in his bag (if you have one?), as it will be dark and slightly warmer than outside. If not, then just pop him on your lap, and just make sure he doesnt roll arround. 20 mins is nothing, so he should be fine. People mail Mbus over night so it will be fine with a 20 min drive.
Do NOT put any food into his bag on the way home. It will simply polute the water, and opening the bag is abit dodgey when in the car anyway, it would probably scare him aswell.
When you get home, get his bag, and put it into the water, not so that its getting thrown arround, so you might to secure it to the side with sticky tape or an elastic band or something. When its secure, cut a small slit into the top, and (if you have one) use a pipette or syringe to take tankwater and put it into the tank, but if you dont have a pipette etc then you could just use a cup to gently pour it in. Do this every couple of minutes for 20 mins. This will allow the water to mix, and for any changes in pH or hardness etc to be adjusted for the puffer. Also, then he will slowly be brought up to the temperature of the tank.
For the first 24hrs, it might be an idea to leave the lights off on the tank, so he can get adjusted to the environment.

Hope this helps, Mikey

 

[SMcCreath]

Thank you so much for your very useful advice, he is currently in the bag in the tank aclimatising.

Hope you have a great Christmas and I'll post some pictures of him soon!

Thank you again.

 

[T1KARMANN]

Thank you so much for your very useful advice, he is currently in the bag in the tank aclimatising.

Hope you have a great Christmas and I'll post some pictures of him soon!

Thank you again.

let that bad boy in the tank now and get some pics up

 

[cane76]

hows it doing?
it must be in the tank by now so wheres those pics

 

[mr williams]

I was adivsed not to feed my mbu for a day and to leave the lights out in the tank for 48 hours to help him aclimatize. keeping the lights out with a new mbu in the tank is not easy

 

[SMcCreath]

Happy New year to you all!

Sorry for the delay in my reply. Brian is doing well, settled in nicely, he is such a character! He is very sociable and will swim to the nearest part of the tank to you. I spend a lot of my time sitting with him and watching him fan his tail and I love his smile. He's certainly more friendly than I thought too.

He developed a small amount of white spot after the move, however I understand that can be a reaction to the move. I am pleased to report that his white spot has cleared. The LFS had fed him the morning I took him home and suggested that I didn't feed him for 24 hours, which I did. However I noticed that after I had fed him for the second time he had, what I can only describe as a small sulk in the corner of the tank facing the wall and wouldn't come out for a few hours. I was very worried about him and although the water levels were all spot on I did a careful 20% water change, just to make sure and within an hour he was back to his usual perky self.

Interestingly enough, he wont eat crab sticks and isn't that keen on muscles, however he loves chasing live shrimps and eating them, so I suppose that it is his favourite.

I have a video clip of him at the LFS before I took him home its on Youtube.com entitled Brain the mbu puffer fish- not sure if I am allowed to post a link in this forum? sorry if i am not, but here is the link http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=fefQdqbgHDs Sorry for the poor quality and the sound, you'll hear my boyfriends voice too.

I was very lucky to get a 6ft tank for him at Christmas, so I am now cycling that for him to move into - he will be lost in it however as he is currently only 3 inches long, but at least he will be able to swim happily, without restricting his growth for a little while.

Thank you for all your assistance in making the transport and easy and relatively stress free experience for the little guy and I shall post some more pics of him tomorrow.

Sarah.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah i think it's pretty standard for puffers to get a bit of white spot after transport. glad its cleared up easily

 

[cane76]

glad he is ok he is a great looking puffer he will love his 6x2x2