Moving mature fish

[cheesebagel]

Hi. I hope this is the right spot for this question. I have arranged to purchase 3 55 gallon tanks, and all equipment, from someone who wants out of fishkeeping. I have a couple of aquariums right now (a 10, and a 29). The price is great, but part of the deal is taking the remaining fish. There are only a few, but they are all mature fish. We're talking Jack Dempsey, a couple of enormous gold fish, and a foot long tropical shark (which I have been unable to identify), and a couple of more. Now, I have some ideas on how to move them. I was going to use 5 gallon pails lined with bags and filled with water from their current aquariums (I'm using bags so I can tie them up at the top and keep the fish from jumping out). They will only be in the truck a little over an hour for the move, so I don't expect any temperature problems. My problem is the bags. I tried looking at lfs for fish-safe bags, but they don't have anything large enough to move these guys. Would new trash bags be safe to use? And is there anything you would suggest to make this move successful (and preserve these fish)?

Thank you.
J.

 

[H2O]

I'd use large buckets/containers with sealable lids.

 

[steve-0]

trash bags....can be a little weak make sure they are strong enough to hold water

 

[semper fi]

have used rubbermaid totes for moving large fish. they work great. as long as the buckets are not going to tip over and they have a lid they should be okay. can get the totes for about 4 bucks each. also are great for holding aquarium stuff.

semper fi

 

[impur]

Check out this thread. I posted this a week or 2 ago about moving. Should help you out.

Moving fish linkage

 

[cheesebagel]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I now have some excellent information to follow to move these fish. I really appreciate it.

Peace,
J.