My friend has a tropical fish tank & is moving to Manchester in a couple of weeks.

Any one got any ideas of how we can get it over without losing all the fish? Otherwise it'll be the ceramic express or back to the shop (if they'll take them) for the little fishies.

When i used to keep tropical fish, i had to use public transport. I asked how long a fish would survive and they told me that if you keep it in the bag with lots of newspaper wrapped around it as insulation, it will be ok for about an hour!.
What i would do is put all the fish in good quality plastic bags, tie the bags at the top and wrap some sort of insulation around them. The temperature in the car/van should be enough to keep them alive.
As for the tank, drain it and wrap all the blankets and duves you can muster around it.

alternitivly, buy a Power inverter from Maplin, plug the heater into the 12V suppy in the car and just take the tank half full!

Happy Warm Fishes!

There's an interesting issue when you get to the other end....re-filling the tank.

I'd decant the water off in to some decent sized containers for re-use in Manchester because otherwise you're going to have to go through the problems of preparing the tank again - potentialy at least a couple of days if you're starting from tap water!

I'd go with the bagging of the fish and then see if you can find one of those polystyrene 'cold box' things - looks like a box made out of ceiling tiles. Stick the bags in there and that should keep them at the same temperature.

Make sure you get a reasonable air pocket in with the water in the bag.

The idea about taking the tank half full is probably worth considering, providing the tank is physically robust and not to big. With a larger tank made of, for example, cemented glass sheets they're just not made to be moved when loaded. The physical stress on the seams culd cause a leak. Also, watch the current drain on the battery while you're not moving, as it's posisble to drain the battery pdq otherwise - and ensure that the thermometer and heater are covered in water or things might go pear shaped.

If you can get a couple of the polystyrene boxes, put some tank water in there and let the fish be in there without bags? I think the usual problem with the bags is not so much the cooling (though that will kill 'em eventually) but the decrease in oxygen as the journey is made. A larger, open surface area of water would help there. Perhaps a couple of containers on the back seat with a 'guardian'?

Hope this helps!

Joe

Thanks I'll pass on the ideas :)

recently i bought a 75 gallon tank fully set up. we transported ALL the water and fish. ok we only went about 2 mile but heres how. the bigger the bucket "to put the fish in " the better and the longer the water stays warm "bear brewing buckets are good cos you can get lids". insulate it for even longer warmth. then i went to titan plastics in rotherham on barbot hall industrial estate. i explained what i wanted to do and they kindly GAVE me "2nds mind" 3X garden water buts. we divided the water between the 3 and each one was easily manageable. at the other end reasemble the tank with water from the buts and leave over night to settle again. but first when you arive plug the heater in and put in the bucket along with an airstone. it wont hurt just for the one night while the tank settles

Blimey. This was an old thread to bump up mechanictig :o