Fish Transportation

So, life is about to change and it is time for you to relocate. You can easily load up a U-Haul or one of your relative's trucks, and head off. Most people never think about it, but what about those fish? The dog can simply ride in the back...things get a little more complicated if you have a cat. When it comes time to consider the aquarium many people find themselves in a dilemma. Recently I got an e-mail asking what was the best way to transport fish. I quickly realized two things: 1-there really is no source for information about this (face it...the pet shop puts the fish in a plastic bag with water for the ride home) and 2-most of what I know is from my own experience. Here are some of the considerations. While I do not promise to have the best answers to this, I will try and make things a little more simple for you. I will start with a few basic concerns, and then list suggestions for distances from across town to across the US.

Basic Concerns
No matter how far you are going, there are some basic concerns. The first concern is oxygen. Left in a volume of water, fish will eventually use up all the oxygen (this is why we use filtration in aquariums to oxygenate the water). Given the distance you are planning on traveling, you may need to oxygenate the water during the trip. The best way I have found to do this is by using a small air pump and stone. I found that at most bait stores you can purchase a battery-powered air pump. Usually they are the size of your hand, and use a few D-batteries. I once transported a pair of 3" oscars six hours away using such a pump, so it works. The next basic concern is temperature. It would be unrealistic to transport fish if you could not ensure that the water temperature could remain within reasonable limits. Luckily, my experience with fish transportation has been limited to Florida where it is fairly warm, but for those of you who live in the north things might be a little more difficult. I wish I could suggest a solution to maintaining reasonable temperature, but I am afraid this is where my experience is lacking. I would say that the colder your climate is at the time of transportation, the shorter the distance you can go. Luckily vehicles are equipped with amazingly good climate controls now, so you may be able to beat the weather if you can stand to travel with a car temperature in the mid to upper '70s. One final note is that you should ensure that the water you use to transport the fish in is at a reasonable temperature. The water should come from the aquarium since it is already biologically sound and should be at the proper temperature.

The last basic concern is stress. This is actually the largest concern that you should have since transportation causes a great deal of stress on the fish. Stress decreases the natural slime coating on fish, and makes them more susceptible to bacterial infections. The main idea here is trying to reduce the magnitude of stress that your fish are subjected to. First, make sure that the container that you transport your fish in is large enough. You want to give your fish about 1/3 of the water volume that they are used to in the aquarium (there are exceptions here). In addition, the water should come from the aquarium that you had them in, as mentioned above. It is also helpful to include structure in the container if you can. A good way to do this is to just put a few of the aquarium rocks, plants, etc... in the transportation container. I imagine that it is obvious that you also want to avoid excessive motion.

Now a quick summary of my suggestions depending on distance you are relocating to:

Across town Use a small trashcan for transportation (Wash the trashcan, etc... in water, but DO NOT wash with soap...this can be deadly for the fish. If the container is dirty, either buy a new trashcan and wash in water only, or make sure to rinse the container really well). If you are only on a 15 minute trip or so, you can avoid getting a portable air source for the water. Just make sure that when you arrive at your new place you immediately put the fish (and water) into the aquarium. If possible, you may even transport the fish in the aquarium as long as you take some of the water out (the aquarium can be pretty heavy). It is important to start filtration again as soon as you arrive. Even if you do not have the aquarium in the correct place, make sure to oxygenate the water.

Up to 24 hours
Use something like a trashcan or the aquarium itself (read note in last paragraph about washing the container). The idea here is the same as for "across town" except that you will have to oxygenate the water. This means purchasing something like the air pump I mentioned above. The fish will be more stressed, and may not eat for a while, but they should come around after a few days.

Even further...
Well, 24 hours is really pushing it. Although you may not like it, if you are traveling more than a day, you are better off cashing in on the fish and aquarium, and using the money to set up another system at your new home. I moved to California from Florida, and I personally had to come to terms with the fact that it is not reasonable to transport fish, etc... this far. If any of you out there know of a good way to do so please share it... I know you would make a lot of people very happy.

Hopefully you have gained a little knowledge about fish transportation. I am sure that you will find other opinions elsewhere (I am not an expert at this), but here I have summarized my limited understanding. If any of you out there have recently gone through such a move, please share your thoughts, experiences with others by using the discussion group for this topic. I would really like to know more myself.