This article is take from http
/www.aquariumfish.net and provides some great suggestions for moving your fish. I thought i'd share it with everyone.
Moving Your Fish
When You Move from Here to There.
#1. Here's what you'll need: a container, some trash bags, and some rubber bands. Here are more details.
(1) The container. It should be the right size. Not too small, or it will cramp the fish and not contain enough air. Not too big, or you may not have enough water to cover the fish. It's best, if the container is insulated. You might be able to get a box with a "styro" liner from your local fish store. Actually an insulated plastic picnic cooler, like the ones used by people to keep food cool, is ideal.
(2) Some plastic trash bags. Get several bags. Make sure they are big enough to fill the container, when you inflate them. Thirty-five gallon black trash bags will usually work. The translucent trash bags are better because they allow you to see a little bit about what is going on inside the bag. Of course, these trash bags should be new and not used trash bags with a lot of old coffee grounds inside that will pollute the shipping water.
(3) Some 1/4" thick rubber bands. You'll need these rubber bands to seal the bags.
#2. Change 20% of the water in your aquarium each day for several days before you move. You can clean your fish's home too. But don't do too much at one time. Be patient and do a little bit each day for several days before you move your fish.
#3. Don't feed your fish anything for the last 48 hours, before you put them in the shipping container. Make sure there is no left over food of any kind in their home. We want their stomachs empty, when they go into the bag.
Do not feed your fish, while they are traveling. We want the water to stay as clean as possible.
#4. Put one of the plastic bags inside the container. Then put another bag inside the first, so you have a double bag. that way if the first bag leaks, the second will hold the water. You might want to add a third bag inside the other two.
Get a ruler or tape measure and measure the distance inside the container from the bottom of the container to the top. Lets say it's 12 inches. You want to fill the container with 1/4 to 1/3 water leaving 3/4 to 2/3 for air. So if you measured 12" then you'd fill it with 3 or 4 inches of water and leave 8 or 9 inches for air.
Get a clean pan, cup, or ladle and scoop water off the surface of your fish's home and pour it into the plastic bags inside the container. Be careful not to scoop water off the bottom that may be contaminated with waste from the gravel. Do not use tap water from the faucet. Use good clear water from the surface.
Move the fish from their home into the container. Large or aggressive fish should be packed one fish to a container. Don't crowd the fish. Less crowding will mean more surviving.
Set the container with the plastic bags, water, and fish on a table. Bunch the top edges of the bags. Try to get all of the air out from between the bags. It's good if there is air inside the inner-most bag, but try not to trap air between the layers of bags. Squeeze the top edges of the bags together in your hands. Now lessen the pressure and maybe gently poke a finger in the opening so it's about 1" in diameter.
Keep your mouth about 12 inches from this opening and blow air into the bag. Don't put your mouth right on the opening, because the air from your lungs contains excess carbon dioxide. You should be blowing the air between your mouth and the opening into the inner most bag.
Fill the bag with air and then twist the top and fold it over. Put at least two rubber bands tightly around the top, making several loops to tightly seal the bags. Make sure the sealed bag will fit into the container, so you can close the container. Also make sure the bags fill most of the space inside the container.
Close the container. It is best if there is no light inside the container during the trip. The fish will be less active in the dark.
It is very difficult to say how long the fish can survive in this container. Using similar methods we have had fish survive for 48 hours. You should try to minimize the time the fish are in the container. Under no circumstances should you feed the fish in the container. Wait until they are released into their new home after the move before feeding them.
Be sure to keep the container warm but not hot during the trip. About 72 to 75 degrees F. would be ideal for most tropical fish during the trip. Cool water fish like goldfish might do better between 65 and 70 degrees F.
Cooler water will slow the fish's metabolism, so the fish will produce less waste and keep the water cleaner. But of course the water cannot be too cool or that will harm the fish.
#5. If possible you should take 80% of the water from your fish's home with you when you move. Discard the last few inches of water in the bottom.
Of course this would not be practical with a 1500 gallon pond! But you could do it with a 40 gallon aquarium. You'd need to take 32 gallons of the water with you, which would require several containers. Some of the containers will have water with fish, and some containers might have water without fish.
After your move, set the aquarium back up. don't open the containers with the fish. But open the containers that have the extra water without any fish. Pour that water back into the aquarium, and let the aquarium's filter run for a couple of hours. Open the containers with fish. Pour the water and the fish into the aquarium, and top the aquarium up with at most 20% fresh tap water.
The airlines are not enthusiastic about accepting boxes of fish packed by novices. The information on this page is not intended for packing fish that will go on airplanes, because there are many other considerations, such as the pressurization in the planes, that make it more difficult to pack fish going on planes. If you must ship your fish on a plane, get a professional fish person to help you pack your fish.
You can also look into buying a AD/DC converter to plug into your cigarette lighter and plug in your air pump. Additionally you can get those heatpacks at various stores that you shake and they create heat. They can last for 4-6 hours. This would help keep the temp stable.
This is what i plan to do as i may be moving about 9 hours away and there is no way i'm leaving my fish.
/www.aquariumfish.net and provides some great suggestions for moving your fish. I thought i'd share it with everyone.Moving Your Fish
When You Move from Here to There.
#1. Here's what you'll need: a container, some trash bags, and some rubber bands. Here are more details.
(1) The container. It should be the right size. Not too small, or it will cramp the fish and not contain enough air. Not too big, or you may not have enough water to cover the fish. It's best, if the container is insulated. You might be able to get a box with a "styro" liner from your local fish store. Actually an insulated plastic picnic cooler, like the ones used by people to keep food cool, is ideal.
(2) Some plastic trash bags. Get several bags. Make sure they are big enough to fill the container, when you inflate them. Thirty-five gallon black trash bags will usually work. The translucent trash bags are better because they allow you to see a little bit about what is going on inside the bag. Of course, these trash bags should be new and not used trash bags with a lot of old coffee grounds inside that will pollute the shipping water.
(3) Some 1/4" thick rubber bands. You'll need these rubber bands to seal the bags.
#2. Change 20% of the water in your aquarium each day for several days before you move. You can clean your fish's home too. But don't do too much at one time. Be patient and do a little bit each day for several days before you move your fish.
#3. Don't feed your fish anything for the last 48 hours, before you put them in the shipping container. Make sure there is no left over food of any kind in their home. We want their stomachs empty, when they go into the bag.
Do not feed your fish, while they are traveling. We want the water to stay as clean as possible.
#4. Put one of the plastic bags inside the container. Then put another bag inside the first, so you have a double bag. that way if the first bag leaks, the second will hold the water. You might want to add a third bag inside the other two.
Get a ruler or tape measure and measure the distance inside the container from the bottom of the container to the top. Lets say it's 12 inches. You want to fill the container with 1/4 to 1/3 water leaving 3/4 to 2/3 for air. So if you measured 12" then you'd fill it with 3 or 4 inches of water and leave 8 or 9 inches for air.
Get a clean pan, cup, or ladle and scoop water off the surface of your fish's home and pour it into the plastic bags inside the container. Be careful not to scoop water off the bottom that may be contaminated with waste from the gravel. Do not use tap water from the faucet. Use good clear water from the surface.
Move the fish from their home into the container. Large or aggressive fish should be packed one fish to a container. Don't crowd the fish. Less crowding will mean more surviving.
Set the container with the plastic bags, water, and fish on a table. Bunch the top edges of the bags. Try to get all of the air out from between the bags. It's good if there is air inside the inner-most bag, but try not to trap air between the layers of bags. Squeeze the top edges of the bags together in your hands. Now lessen the pressure and maybe gently poke a finger in the opening so it's about 1" in diameter.
Keep your mouth about 12 inches from this opening and blow air into the bag. Don't put your mouth right on the opening, because the air from your lungs contains excess carbon dioxide. You should be blowing the air between your mouth and the opening into the inner most bag.
Fill the bag with air and then twist the top and fold it over. Put at least two rubber bands tightly around the top, making several loops to tightly seal the bags. Make sure the sealed bag will fit into the container, so you can close the container. Also make sure the bags fill most of the space inside the container.
Close the container. It is best if there is no light inside the container during the trip. The fish will be less active in the dark.
It is very difficult to say how long the fish can survive in this container. Using similar methods we have had fish survive for 48 hours. You should try to minimize the time the fish are in the container. Under no circumstances should you feed the fish in the container. Wait until they are released into their new home after the move before feeding them.
Be sure to keep the container warm but not hot during the trip. About 72 to 75 degrees F. would be ideal for most tropical fish during the trip. Cool water fish like goldfish might do better between 65 and 70 degrees F.
Cooler water will slow the fish's metabolism, so the fish will produce less waste and keep the water cleaner. But of course the water cannot be too cool or that will harm the fish.
#5. If possible you should take 80% of the water from your fish's home with you when you move. Discard the last few inches of water in the bottom.
Of course this would not be practical with a 1500 gallon pond! But you could do it with a 40 gallon aquarium. You'd need to take 32 gallons of the water with you, which would require several containers. Some of the containers will have water with fish, and some containers might have water without fish.
After your move, set the aquarium back up. don't open the containers with the fish. But open the containers that have the extra water without any fish. Pour that water back into the aquarium, and let the aquarium's filter run for a couple of hours. Open the containers with fish. Pour the water and the fish into the aquarium, and top the aquarium up with at most 20% fresh tap water.
The airlines are not enthusiastic about accepting boxes of fish packed by novices. The information on this page is not intended for packing fish that will go on airplanes, because there are many other considerations, such as the pressurization in the planes, that make it more difficult to pack fish going on planes. If you must ship your fish on a plane, get a professional fish person to help you pack your fish.
You can also look into buying a AD/DC converter to plug into your cigarette lighter and plug in your air pump. Additionally you can get those heatpacks at various stores that you shake and they create heat. They can last for 4-6 hours. This would help keep the temp stable.
This is what i plan to do as i may be moving about 9 hours away and there is no way i'm leaving my fish.
...well it is in a way 
......the lad from the lfs filled a bag with water....caught the hefty catfish 
....placed it into the bag....sealed it up n gave it to the guy 
....who then paid n walked out of the shop
........was a bit funny at the time knowing that the fish wanted out n made a very good attempt n nearly did it 
