We need a sticky on fish transport

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by my2rotties

With all due respect to this comment, if you buy nine fish and kill five of them, you are doing something terribly wrong. EPIC FAIL!!!

Hopefully members pull together and help me out with this article...

Diana, my point is that they obviously didn't know better, or they would not have had the fish die on them.

[my2rotties]

And this is why we need a good long article on how fish should be correctly transported. This was a senseless slaughter, and hopefully my sad story will eventually benefit others. I don't want anyone to ever feel like I do now...

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Diana, my point is that they obviously didn't know better, or they would not have had the fish die on them.

[jorjef]

Originally Posted by my2rotties

And this is why we need a good long article on how fish should be correctly transported. This was a senseless slaughter, and hopefully my sad story will eventually benefit others. I don't want anyone to ever feel like I do now...

You know I do feel bad for you, but what would you have done differently?, what advise do you have?...Slaughter by definition seems a little strong...no actually if I was the guy that bought the fish I would be insulted..

[my2rotties]

I am not disclosing details on who had the bought the fish. I told Brad I would back off now... If someone killed 5 of 9 of your personal pets, you would say the same thing. They did not even check on them throughout the trip and I was told they were dead when the pails were opened. It was a long trip they went on as well. I was shocked there were no battery operated bgubblers provided for the trip and I was disturbed over that. A friend that bought one of my show fish has him packed in a large cooler (keep in the heat) with a bubbler... that is how it should have been done. I should have never allowed them to leave here.

The guy that bought the fish was told what I thought...

Originally Posted by jorjef

You know I do feel bad for you, but what would you have done differently?, what advise do you have?...Slaughter by definition seems a little strong...no actually if I was the guy that bought the fish I would be insulted..

[my2rotties]

Perhaps slaughter is a little harsh,. I cannot edit it now...

As for being offended? Well, offended is far better then being dead, don't you think?

[tim the toolman]

I'm so sorry to hear this. I was sick to my stomach reading your article. My 2 cents. Everyone should be buying an inverter for the lighter in the car which will easily power one or multiple air stones as well a cooler or styrofoam box is a must to hold a large volume of water and keep the heat in the water. (hot packs don't hurt either if it's gonna be a long haul.) again I'm very sad to hear about the losses.

[christyf5]

I dunno, I'd be a bit taken aback if people showed up at my house ill prepared for the trip. Granted, sloshing water does a lot to aerate itself during transport but if you have an airtight lid well then you're pretty much creating a closed system, IMO.

I don't really think a long article needs to be made up. I've always thought transporting fish was fairly straightforward but then thats just me. I'm a biologist and I tend to think about these things. If I'm buying a fish that is expensive (and someones pet) then I'm damned sure I'm going to make sure I protect my investment and take good care of that animal best I can. I usually buy my fish from stores though and take oxygen if its available even for shorter trips. I try to maintain temperature by keeping it close to me (I even take them upstairs on the ferry to sit in my lap). I think of it like this: think of the things you offer your tank, warmth, water movement and space. Can't you do this while transporting a fish too?


For larger fish, you need more of all of the above (well except the warmth part). You need more water and more air which means something larger than a "big bag" (the weight of the water becomes problematic) and something that aerates the water. Larger fish use more oxygen when stressed so you'd need to provide external oxygen by way of an airstone. For the most part a heater would likely be unneccessary for a shorter trip of less than a few hours as fish can deal with the drop in temperature (to a point of course).

The idea of an inverter as tim the toolman suggested above is also a smart idea. I bought one a couple years ago on sale at crappy tire for like $10 and it will power a small heater and air pump no problem.

[my2rotties]

Thanks for the contribution. I assume they can be bought at any fish store,m right?

Originally Posted by tim the toolman

I'm so sorry to hear this. I was sick to my stomach reading your article. My 2 cents. Everyone should be buying an inverter for the lighter in the car which will easily power one or multiple air stones as well a cooler or styrofoam box is a must to hold a large volume of water and keep the heat in the water. (hot packs don't hurt either if it's gonna be a long haul.) again I'm very sad to hear about the losses.

[my2rotties]

It is my bad too... however, because these people were whom they were, I thought they knew were doing and I was being an overprotective of the fish... Nothing will bring them back now, but hopefully other fish avoid suffocating in pails.

Originally Posted by christyf5

I dunno, I'd be a bit taken aback if people showed up at my house ill prepared for the trip. Granted, sloshing water does a lot to aerate itself during transport but if you have an airtight lid well then you're pretty much creating a closed system, IMO.

I don't really think a long article needs to be made up. I've always thought transporting fish was fairly straightforward but then thats just me. I'm a biologist and I tend to think about these things. If I'm buying a fish that is expensive (and someones pet) then I'm damned sure I'm going to make sure I protect my investment and take good care of that animal best I can. I usually buy my fish from stores though and take oxygen if its available even for shorter trips. I try to maintain temperature by keeping it close to me (I even take them upstairs on the ferry to sit in my lap). I think of it like this: think of the things you offer your tank, warmth, water movement and space. Can't you do this while transporting a fish too?


For larger fish, you need more of all of the above (well except the warmth part). You need more water and more air which means something larger than a "big bag" (the weight of the water becomes problematic) and something that aerates the water. Larger fish use more oxygen when stressed so you'd need to provide external oxygen by way of an airstone. For the most part a heater would likely be unneccessary for a shorter trip of less than a few hours as fish can deal with the drop in temperature (to a point of course).

The idea of an inverter as tim the toolman suggested above is also a smart idea. I bought one a couple years ago on sale at crappy tire for like $10 and it will power a small heater and air pump no problem.

[tim the toolman]

Like christy said canadian tire for about 15$ and they will run 175w of power. That's enough for a decent little heater and an airstone. This would GREATLY improve the likelihood of survival even on a multi hour journey.