Preparing to ship & house an established pair

[ACBlinky]

I've been looking for a pair of gold stripe maroons for about a year and a half, and recently came across a pair for sale on a local forum. They're still small (not tiny) and not 'perfect', with some broken stripes, but I'm not looking to breed them; I just adore maroons in general. We'll be going to pick them up this weekend, and I'm wondering if there's anything special I should do to make sure they remain a happy couple in transport and after we get them home. Should they travel together, or in separate bags?

Their current owner has already caught them (he wasn't sure how long it might take and didn't want to stress them or himself by attempting it when we got to his place) and put them into the sump. He was going to separate them, but I requested that they be housed in the same section - I want the opportunity to watch them as a couple before I buy them, and also want to make sure they don't forget they're a unit.

The clowns will be going into their own tank, a 30g softy reef with 130W of PC lighting, after we move house on September 1st. In the meantime, they'll be in my 21g QT where I can observe them and be sure they're settled and healthy before going to their permanent home.

Is there anything I can or should do to ensure they're as happy and healthy as possible? The last thing I want to do is make a mistake that will cause them to split up - as I understand it, maroons can be very hard to pair up, which is why I have been waiting so long to buy an already established pair.

 

[vaporize]

If I think you are buying from the same person, those are still juv and not yet a true pair yet. But they should be ultra healthy and hardy to begin with.

 

[BristlewormKing]

Make certain there is plenty of air circulation during the move (not really required given that fish can last in plastic bags in regular shipping - but it is less stressful) - a battery operated air pump should work. Have some brine shrimp on hand to entice them to eat after they are acclimated to the QT tank.

 

[ACBlinky]

Vaporize - I'm buying them from Shadowknife on the AP forum. They're together in their nem in the picture, so at least they get along well... if they're not truly paired yet, I sure hope they continue to like one another as they grow!

BristlewormKing - It's a short drive from their current home to ours, so I'm not too worried about it, but I like the bucket idea given they'll be together during the trip.

I'm picking them up tomorrow, I'll post pictures when they get here -- I'm so excited!!

 

[vaporize]

Good luck, I was thinking of another member, so no worries.

Chris' a good guy.

have fun, GSM are kinda slow growers I find.

 

[ACBlinky]

Well, they're home! These two seem to be very much a pair - they haven't left each other's sides. They were in separate bags on the way home, and spent the entire trip trying to get to one another through the plastic. They're in the (established) QT with some LR and corals pinched from our 90g and seem to be settling in nicely. They're eating well, and just within the last few minutes they've started venturing out to explore their little world.

There's something so, so special about watching a pair together. I can't wait until these two settle in and start acting like clowns; I'm so thrilled to finally have a GSM pair I can barely contain myself!

Here are Punch and Judy :

 

[BristlewormKing]

Very nice pair....don't you just love how you spend money on new fish, painstakingly follow all the acclimation procedures to give them the best chance possible to survive in their new environment...... and the first thing they do is go hide under a rock or in the back of the tank and you end up sitting around waiting for them to finally grace you with their presence!