How to transport fish for a long period?

[snowyangel]

The plane leaves at the end of May and the trip to catch the plane is 4hrs, the the plane ride itself is 3.5 hrs, and I'm expecting a 1hr delay in toronto before I finally reach my destination, Quebec. I've already collected 2 large styrofoam boxes(one without a lid)and some tall thick bags from my lfs. I also plan on bringing the filter media and gravel, so any further info would be great(don't worry i know to keep the media wet ). All I need to know now is:
What percentage of air should be left in the bag compared to the water?
Should I do a water change before I bag them or just use 100% original tank water?
Should I need a heat pack for them?
How many fish per bag? I'm bringing 8 adult guppies, 10-12 four month old gups(alittle over an inch in size), and 5 adult cories in total.

We will be able to stop after the 4hr trip before we fly, so if i should need to change anything i could do it then. Also a 35 gallon is going to already awaiting them when we arrive.
Thanks for the help

 

[Tropjunky]

well id get a battery powerd air pump and a air powerd filter and mature that about a week before the trip. then id get a large foam box like the stuff that ur TV is packed with and another one that sits inside it with about 1-3 inchs between and use how mater bottles to fill the gap just keep the water twich as hot as the water temp and then make sure u have fresh water and something to absorb the ammonia in there. also make shure that the batteres in the air pump will last that long.

now that's heat and air and filters coverd so what else to u wanna know?

 

[Tropjunky]

and u should have a third air in the bag but id use the box and some good quality tape as the bags won't allow u to filter the water and that means dead fishes.

the air in the bags can't last more than 2hrs bfore the CO2 condentration becomes toxic.

i'd put 3 fishes in a bag if u must use a bag, they'll have a better chance of survival.

And one more thing don't expect all of them to survive as the trip will shake and stress out the fishes and some will die.

 

[CFC]

First thing to remember is dont panic, your fish have probably already survived a much longer and worse journey on their way into the country.


You already have the right idea though the box without the lid will be useless im afraid, bag the fish no more than 4 to a bag, 2 for the corys and make sure that at least 2/3 of the bag is air, do not blow into the bag to inflate it!
Do a large water change the day before you move to ensure the water is as clean as possible. Once you have the fish and media bagged place them upright into th box using spare bags of water and newspaper to support them if the box is not full, then tape it all up tightly so that the box is air tight and stick a few large signs onto the box saying that it contains live tropical fish and should be kept upright.
If the weather is warm then you will not need a heat pack.
Do not open the boxes until you reach your final destination, the darkness will be calming them and exposure to light will cause un needed stress.

 

[snowyangel]

Thanks for the great info cfc. Yeah i kinda figured the no lid thing was gonna be a problem. But since the boxes i got came from the fish shipped to my lfs, the boxes are already labelled with "LIVE CONTENTS", " Keep this way up", " store at this temp..." and lots more detail so some losers shouldn't screw it up.
So 9 hrs is fine for the fish ? Thats the only thing that makes me paranoid, is them suffocating. I've kept good water conditions, and healthy fish so I'm very cautious about this move Don't wanna lose any best friends

 

[CFC]

The nine hours will be fine, i regularly recieve fish that have traveled for over 12 hours over night via mail order and all have arrived alive and healthy.

 

[bulldog188]

what you could do if at all possible is bag the fish up at home then run to your LFS if it is within a reasonable distance and get them to fill the bags with O2 from their oxygen canisters.. this is much better for the obvious reason that the bag will now contain a lot more oxygen content.. remember the most important thing in packaging is to include enough oxygen in the bag. if this is not possible another option is to use your air pump and air line blow out the bags as much as possible as you tie 'em up. Other than that everything sounds great and if it's all done properly which it sounds like you are doing then the fish will have no problems at all with a 9 hour journey.. as mentioned before they will have endured a much longer journey from the fish farm/importer to the LFS where you got them from. Good luck with the move

Iain

 

[cat.fish]

i would say trust all of the information that theother people have given you.


GOOD LUCK

cat.fish

 

[Opcn]

CFC knows his stuff

 

[Doggfather]

Sorry Snowy, i don't knoe much about moving fish...

but good luck with the trip! hope it all goes well for you and your fish