Moving.. Should I Drive With Or Ship My Fish?

[Doomchibi]

I'm going to be moving and I want to avoid rehoming my fish if at all possible. I am moving in with someone that is a 12, possible 13 hour drive away by car and I can't decide if it would be safer to ship my fish or drive with them. If I drove with them, I could use portable airstones (the type used for live bait) and keep them in closed styrofoam coolers to keep the temperature from changing too much, and I could put holes in the lid for ventilation. My other idea with that would be possibly using breather bags but I don't really understand how those work and i'm afraid I would do something wrong and suffocate my fish. 
 
For shipping them I would probably use breather bags just because I don't have access to pure oxygen to use with the regular type and I don't know how else I could use them. 
 
If I put them in breather bags in a cooler and on my rest stops I opened it to let fresh air in would that work? I was thinking that way I could keep the temperature consistent in their water that way.
 
What do you all think would be the best way to do this?

 

[Ninjouzata]

I think it'd be better if you take them with you, as they'd likely be in shipping for longer than they would in your car.
Unfortunately I'm not sure as to your other questions. Hope someone more experienced comes along soon. Good luck

 and hope you enjoy your new place.

 

[DreamertK]

Just don't do what I did and put my 25% filled tank in my back seat and drive over some speed bumps. That was a terrible idea and my entire back seat got wet. The styrofoam container sounds like a good idea. I would put the filter media in the water so it doesn't dry out in the trip. Dont poke holes in it or else you'll cool the water more quickly (and possibly lose water). Though unless you had some super sensitive fish, they should survive in cooler (70F) water for short periods of time... Though I'd imagine the trunk would remain warmer than the rest of the car...
 
Just remember, oxygenation in the water occurs when the surface of the water is disturbed. A car ride is like having the surface of the water going on a roller coaster.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

When I moved my fish I used big food safe containers and juice jugs and then placed them all in a box padded with towels in the car.

 

[Mamashack]

When I moved my fish I used big food safe containers and juice jugs and then placed them all in a box padded with towels in the car.

That's what I did when I collected my betta from about 75 miles away. Think it was a polypropylene (PP) cereal container, put the fish and water and stress-coat in a bag in the container, placed it in a polystyrene box and wedged the container into place with towels. Then travelled with it safely wedged on the back seat. I know it wasn't as far as you'll be travelling, but it worked for us.

 

[Doomchibi]

I wasn't going to put them in the trunk, probably the back seat of the car. I was thinking maybe I would line the styrofoam with a plastic bag and make a hole in the lid to thread the airline tubing for the airstone through and then just keep it closed so it's dark, stays warm and they get air. It's pretty warm where i'm driving and I won't have the a/c going so the temperature in the water shouldn't be any lower than 72-78 at all throughout the trip. So does this seem like the better idea then?

 

[Mamashack]

I think that whatever you do - there shouldn't be much sloshing going on as this would probably stress the fish too much. Could you use a breather bag wedged safely in the styrofoam container? Have never used one but if they use them for shipping fish then I guess your trip would be fine with one since it would take less time than shipping.

 

[Mamashack]

Just found this article about breather bags - might be worth a look Doomchibi
http/tedsfishroom.com/2013/11/24/packing-fish-for-shipping-part-4-kordon-breathing-bags/