major house move

[cecilbdemented]

Im moving house mid next month, its an 8 hour (give or take) journey.
I have no way of moving them to a relative half way up for a few months or anything, its one big slog.
Im getting real nervus as its such a long journey.

So do you have any good advice? How do fish transporters do it? Or mail order live fish ppl?

Ive arranged to get some fish carriers off my LFS if i want them (the polystyrene things), and i though about getting some big water carriers to save as much as possible to reduce the shock at the other end.

Look forward to hearing from you...
thanks.phil

 

[jams.alaskan]

Hi, find out what the ph of your water will be at the other end of your journey... if it's close then half your battle is won already. Keep in mind that you want to keep as much of the bennificial bacteria alive as well as the fish so plan to leave a little water for your substrate and you filter medium should also have access to air and water. There were a few really great discussions a few weeks back on how to move fish... try a search and see what you come up with.

ALASKA

 

[impur]

Here is a good link i posted awhile back

Moving your fish

I have moved 3 times in the past year. One 70 mile trip and 2 500 miles 8+ hour trips. Haven't lost a single fish or had any disease. It can be done. The key thing is to take as much water as you can with you, float your biowheels or other ornaments (this is where most of your bacteria is) in the water. I got 2 rubbermade tubs from walmart for about 3 bucks each, and filled black lawn garbage bags with water. One was just water with my biowheels and a few ornaments, the other had all my fish. The tank was the last thing on the truck and the first thing off. They will be fine.

 

[Tropjunky]

I'd get a battery powered air pump and one of those filters that run off ur air line and some styrofoam boxes and well make a tempory tank if you can get an electric blanket and convert the plug so it can work on a cars ciggerets lighter thingy. How are you with electronics? cos i could tell you how to get ur filter and everthing to fun on a 12v car battery

 

[impur]

He won't need all that. My fish were in the bags for about 10 hours total and didn't suffer a bit. You can go long if need be. Why bother trying to filter water if you've taken the steps to make sure that its clean when it went into the tub? And all that is required to aireate the water is surface movement. I guarantee there will be some of that if its sitting in the back of a truck.

 

[cecilbdemented]

Thanks for your advice ppl. Ill get on the water asap, common sense i guess but something i overlooked...

Tropjunkey - good idea, i can cope with the electrics thanks. The blacket sounds good, id thought about keeping them in a cool box for insulation/temp stability but not actively heating them. food for thought.

Impur - how big a bags do you use? ill only be moving 8 x 1 inchers. 1 big bag or 2/3 littler ones?

ooh, just started reading the article. very helpful. my questions arnt relevent now, ill just go with a cooler sized cooler i think.
On with the preparations.
Thanks again. phil

 

[impur]

A cooler is perfect. I used the large black lawn & garden variety to keep the water and fish in. Its a good idea to double bag it also, CYA as the saying goes (cover your ***)

Good luck with the move and keep us updated when all is settled.