Transporting fish, long journey?

[styggy]

Hi,

I have a 48inch, well established, tropical tank with a mix of fish...

I need to transport the whole lot from Reading UK, to Germany! Is this possible?

I don't mind spending a bit of money to get it done, but I would like to know what the practicality of it is... I'm kinda thinking about some sort of cutdown, battery powered, plastic tank setup in the boot of my estate car and driving slowly!!

Any suggestions, even if it's 'don't do it, it'll never work!!'

Cheers...

Alex

 

[fozzy_wozzy_woo]

I take it you will be going to Padder born or some thing like that. so the travel time is going to be around 10 -12 hrs via calais.

what you can do is to get loads of bags and place the fish in the baggs with the water from the tank.
then get one of the large beer coolers (Picknic things that can be sealed)
place the bags in their then add the rest of the water around the bags from the tank.

if you are going to spend some money get a 12v 220v converter from a car shop.. i think halfords or Radio shack / tandy wil have one.

plug in the car converter and the tank heater then place the heater inbetween the bags in the water. that will be ok.

But yo can also risk just place all the fish in bags and place them in a styrofome box and as soon as you get to germany place the water in the tank and the bags then turn the heating on.

if possible place the filter also in a plastic bag filled wih tank water as this will keep the Bio ssytem intact.

If you can clean out some old 4liter milk cartons with caps and place the tank water in these then this will be ok to place back in your tank when the fish arrive. then in the next few days until you get enough water cycled through the tank just keep an eye on them.

also you can place white spot medicen and anti fungle medicen in the tank. this will help with stress and other stuff.

oh ya keep the stones / gravel in plastic bag with some tank water. Bio protection as well

 

[thecichlidaddict]

Hi

The whole bagging the fish think is what I do as well, I move quite a bit.

If you really want to get fancy you can bring your fish to the fish store and have them bag the fish using their oxygen tanks. In a proffessionally packed bag the fish can last up to 48 hours, giving you plenty of time to properly set up the tank.

There is no benefit at all to saving old tank water, and it would be a waste of time and effort. The bacteria is in the filter, not free swimming in the water.

I don't do anything else, I hate overcomplication. Bag the fish and filter media, put them in styrofoam coolers, move them. I would never add medication to a tank unless the fish are sick, I don't believe they should be used so lightly.

If taking the fish to the lfs won't work, tablets are sold that you can add to the bags the will help a lot with the transportation. The one I'm thining of is called 'bag buddies'.

 

[bulldog188]

for bagging fish up I use a battery powered air pump which I bought from argos [UK] for a few quid it's designed to pump up air beds etc but doubles great as a bag filler ... I know it's not like oxygen from a tank but it'll save you taking 'em to the LFS and works well for me