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Okay. I'm a fish owner and a soon to be college student. Right now, I only have a few cories in a 29 gallon (all were saved from various tanks, I nursed them all back to health). However, my mother and sister will not take care of them next year, and I'll never be home. Now, my dorms allow me to have a "small tank for tropical fish" (I'm assuming a 5 or 10 gallon tank, at most; I just e-mailed the housing staff about this). But the college is a 3-4 hour drive away...

I don't want to give up my cories unless there's no feasible way to transport them with me.

So, if it's possible, how would one go about transporting the fish and tank twice a year (up in August, back in April)?
Would they be able to handle the stress?
And any other such questions that may arise.

yes it can be done, bag the corys (double and tape conners) put in a styro box with heat packs or cold packs (depending on the conditions) for the tank i would drain, clean put in the car, and drive it up there. but if possible i would get a smaller tank if you only have corys.

Hi Calypso, I'm so happy to see that you aren't willing to easily just give up your corries because you are going to college

Really you corries will handle the trip quite well...I usually transport my fishies in a good ziplock bag, and depending on the number and size of them depends on how many bags I would use, ie how many fishies to the bag

Make them the last thing packed, and the first thing unpacked...be sure to acclimate them not only temperature wise, but water wise...keep the lights off the day of the move, and don't feed them the day before and of the trip, you don't want to stress them anymore than the trip will already.

And an ice chest is essential...it will help keep the fish bags temps stable, while also keeping the light down to a minimum, thus reducing the stress...

Good luck this fall and keep us up to date on how things go...hml

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a 3 to 4 hour drive may be pushing normal transportation methods a bit. i would fill a small ice chest about half way full with the cories' tank water. purchase a cheap power invertor (mine was under $20 at target)- it turns your cig. lighter into several 110 volt outlets. you can then plug in several air pumps and drop several airstones in the ice chest. set the car's air conditioner or heater at the cories normal temp. preferance, and you are good to go.

I also think a cooler, if you have room get a big one and put alot of the tank water in it. The air pump is a good idea but with the sloshing wouldn't really be needed.

If you go the bag route, remember to put enough air in the bags and lay them on their sides. It's the surface area of water exposed to the air that determines how much oxygen is transfered from the air to the water.

Mike

Calypso

Transporting tank, and fish is the easy part. My concern would be the good bacteria in your tank. By the time you pull the tank down and get it up ang going again is certainly going to be more than 4 hrs. You will be very tired after the trip especially if you are driving.

I am not exactly sure the life span of the good bacteria is but I am sure it is far less that 4 hrs. You will have to use some form of Bio Starter to get it up and running again. During that time the tank could be going through a mini Cycle.

I think I am correct about this but if not someone please correct me.

Keith

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3-4 hours will be nothing for the fish. I've drove fish from another members place that ended up not getting into a new tank for 12 hours. We did use the sleeping tablets that are used for shipping fish. I gave them a good long acclimation and they pulled thru just fine.
The bacteria is quite likely to go on you, if anything I'd use the airstone for the tank . The time frame I've seen on loss of bacteria is around an hour.

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I transported a whole 10 gallon full tank of fish in a 7 gallon to an aquarium and back after 12 days. Then I filled the 10 gallon back up with the water from the 7 gallon, and added the rest of the water fromt the tap. (This was all because the 10 leaked, and we were going on holiday in 2 days.)

There was no mini cycle at all, and all the fish were fine including a baby fish./:'

Bagging cories for 4 or 5 hours is no problem...just don't feed them for two days before the move. Get a big bag (so you have lots of room for air and water). For a ten gallon I would just drain the water and leave the substrate and move the whole tank. Just make sure you keep the tank level during the move.

___________________________________________

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Get back to us on how big of a tank you're allowed to keep. My school let's us have a 20 gallon. My mom doesn't like the idea of me bring a fish tank "that big" (despite the fact we have a 125...?) to school. Whatever, we'll see what I do, won't we?:%)

In any case, transporting fish is in no way a problem. If you really want to prevent a minicycle you could probably aerate some filter floss that would have bacteria on it already. People have already told you how you can effectively transport the fish. I wouldn't be too worried if you can at least keep temperature pretty constant.

Last edited by Shinigami at 28-May-2005 18:58

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

(After a muchos busy prom weekend!) The housing staff at my college got back to me and said that the largest tank I can have is a 10 gallon (though I may push that by a gallon or two if necessary). The Eclipse 12 system is looking appealing, just cause it'll house everything in the hood and out of the way of the dorm room, which will guaranteedly get messy and hectic.

You all suggested a bunch of great ideas. I'll definitely have a cooler to help insulate and keep them in the dark, and the bagging I'll look into, maybe.

I'm debating about keeping live plants or having fake ones, cause transporting plants actually seems a little harder than the fish. Has anyone transported plants before?

Plants are fine being transported. Just do them up with a bit of water and lots of air. They can also be done just wrapped up in wet news paper then ziplocked (that's how I got my plants from a member here).
As you're looking @tanks see if you can get the one with the largest surface area, both for space for the corys and for gas exchange @the surface.
Question is....would they know the difference on sight between a 20 long and a 10 .

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