How do I safely transport fish?

[koiguy1969]

hooray for court.......i get to spend next thursday (at least ?) in court...JURY DUTY!!

 

[CometKeith]

Actually that can be interesting if you have the time for it. Things are way different then what you see on TV. I was on a jury for a murder trial. We spent half the time in the jury room while the lawyers argued about what we could see. I learned a lot about recipes and cooking because as you know you can't talk about the trial until you deliberate!

 

[koiguy1969]

i'm familiar with it, this is my 2nd time in 3 years.

 

[fishin4cars]

After dealing with lawyers, depositions, Dr.s, Therapist, etc etc, for the last four years, I think if someone ask me to serve on a Jury Duty my answer would be SURE, which lawyer do you want to hang today? LOL

 

[ProfEd]

I've shipped a lot of fish over the years, and I recommend bagging them over the cooler idea. The only time I ever transported fish in a cooler (with an air pump) we had some losses. Fishin4cars has already posted some great info. I would go to a pond store and get some large bags (already done, just make sure they are big enough), bag them up, then put the bags in a cooler. This way you can float the bags in the new pond to equalize the temperature, and then let some of the new water into the bags to equalize the water parameters. Either way, I wish you luck and no losses!

-Ed

p.s. I'll second the oxygen tabs gimmick thing...if you are shipping long distance, find a way to put straight o2 into the bags.

 

[Fish_man]

I am giving a relative some of my fish and she lives 40 minutes from me..what is the best way to transport fish? I will be giving her koi and goldfish. Can I use a cooler or something similar? Also I will be selling some fish what should I tell them to bring or what can I purchase? I have a few bags that my local pond store gave me but how long can they stay in the bag? I know when I buy fish they add those oxygen tablets because I live 30 minutes away. Any and all suggestions would be appreciated. Amber

There are two ways to safely transport fish. If you are transporting fish for a short distance (reaching the destination in under two hours) you can put them in a water filled bag. Simply put a medium sized clear freezer bag in a container and wrap the edges of the bag over the sides of the container so that the mouth of the bag stays open but both your hands are free.

Fill the bag 3/4 full of water. The water in the bag should be the same as the water in the aquarium where the fish are and should be close to the aquarium. Using a small fish net, gently scoop up one fish at a time. Flip the net upside down over the open bag and turn the net inside out, being careful not to squish the fish. Try to keep the different breeds of fish seperate when moving them in a bag as the small space can make fish more aggressive. DO NOT OVERCROWD THE FISH. This also makes them more aggressive and you could end up with no fish at all.

When you have put the desired amount of fish in the bag, carefully pull the bag edges off the container. Twist the bag about an inch from the top. Make sure there is a large pocket of air between the water and the twist. This helps give the fish oxygen. After an inch of the bag is twisted, fold it in half and tie with a rubber band. When transporting make sure that the bag(s) of fish is/are placed securely so it does not roll around and crash into things. This could be quite disasterous to the fish.

If you are transporting fish for a long distance (reaching destination will take over two hours) you can keep the fish in the aquarium. This is probably the safest way to transport fish but is also more awkward. Carefully drain most of the water out of the aquarium, keeping in mind not to crowd the fish. There should be enough water in the aquarium for the largest fish to swim freely around. Approximately 2 inches abouve the fish when it is resting on the bottom.

Take out all ornaments and plants and put them in seperate containers. All filters and lights should also be removed and put in boxes. If the plants are living put them in a water filled bag following the directions for transporting fish in a bag. Removing all large objects from the aquarium will help keep the fish safe and uncrushed. If there is a lid on the aquarium it may stay on unless it is loose and has a chance of falling into the aqaurium.

Put the aquarium into the vehicle where it will be secure. A good place to put it is on the floor. Do not put anything on it or in it and make sure nothing will fall into it during the transport. When you reach the destination, simply fill with water, replace the ornaments, plants, and filters.

 

[DrDave]

I do Koi Rescue and many times the koi are large. Since it is not easy to transport many large koi without them being overcrowded and short on oxygen, I have an inverter and air pump that provides air for them. I also use a large plastic tub with a liner in it secured at the top. That way the water does not slosh out and the koi cannot jump out.

 

[j.w]

If your koi and goldies are small I don't think you will have a problem but if the koi are large then you should not crowd them all together. I have transported one large Plecostomus and some goldfish in 5 gals buckets ( I did put a large bag in the bucket first for sanitary protection from the bucket and put the water in the bag but didn't close it up, just folded it over the top edge) for about 45 min trips and no problems. I had a lid on top but not tight. I just put a bungee cord over the lid and left a little space for oxygen cuz I didn't want any of that jumping out of the bucket stuff that fish sometimes enjoy doing :regular_waving_emot

 

[vertigo72]

Thinking out loud here. My Koi dealer gets his fish from Israel and Japan. Thats gotta be 24hr transport at least. They are shipped in plastic bags (and not even that big) filled with pure oxygen. Now you dont have the equipment for that most likely, but air has about 20% oxygen. 5x less oxygen, 5x less time? Half an hour shouldnt be a problem at all I think. In fact, its known most fish can survive for several hours (up to 24 hours) without.. water. Not something you want to test obviously, but I think for such relatively short trips the bigger danger is stress, rather than oxygen deprivation. Then again adding air to the water might also help reducing stress too, so its certainly not a bad idea. Just dont think its necessary.

 

[talal101]

i have to agree that you might be overthinking this, but i you can't be blames because we all get attatched to our goldfish and koi