Tips for transporting newly purchased fish in the car for 2+ hours?

[bo0sted2g]

So my main challenge for my current tank build is that the closest LFS is 2+ hours away from my house.

I am currently thinking the best way to transport newly aquired fish and live stock is to buy a power inverter for my car that would allow me to plug a small heater into.

So my idea is to Bring a 5 gal bucket filled with regular tap water and submerge the heater in the bucket and float the sealed bags with the new livestock in the heated bucket to maintain the desired temperature until I get home to start the acclimation process.


If anyone knows of a better or easier way to transport fish and corals for a long car ride please let me know.

 

[mcgyvr]

Sounds like a plan if you want...
Of course just an insulated foam container with a cheap heat pack is probably more than sufficient..
Unless you are driving with the windows open in the winter..

Think about how fish,etc.. are shipped.. A temp change isn't much of an issue..

 

[Ou8me2]

That's really not that long of a ride and you wouldn't even need a heater to be honest. 2 Hour ride home is a lot better than 20+ hours in a bag being shipped to your doorstep with no heat. I mean if it's cold out obviously you'll be running the vehicle heat and that should be warm enough.

I've driven 4+ hours and never did anything that fancy and sometimes they were just in the seat. I did drape a towel over them to keep them in the dark to help reduce stress. You could also just take the bucket or maybe a cooler or styrofoam box and buy some heat packs to sit on top of the bags. Probably much cheaper.

 

[Ales B]

Maybe will be enough well isolated wooden or plastic box.... instead of all that heated water....Maybe will be enough well isolated wooden or plastic box.... instead of all that heated water....

 

[crawlerman]

I used to get corals and fish in charlotte, about 2 hours away. I would tell them how far I was going and they would use bigger bags and give me a Styrofoam cooler from their shipments. Kept them on the front seat and kept the truck temp warm. Never had a problem.

 

[pfan151]

If it's a fish get them to use O2 in the bag. Aside from that I wouldn't worry.

 

[cincyjim]

I drive an hour and half to home from the LFS. I usually bring a Styrofoam cooler to put them in and an old bath towel that I wrap them up in to keep them from being bounced around inside the cooler.

 

[BigDave]

Did this numerous times when in College. We just used an ice chest to put them in.

As mentioned... let the store know you're driving a ways for 2 reasons

1) they'll put the fish into a larger bag
2) when a small LFS finds out you drove 2 hours to shop at their shop, they'll sometimes give you a small discount. We had two shops, one gave us 10%, the other gave us 20%. We never asked for it, they offered it on their own.

 

[RedStangGA]

Not a big deal. I used to pick a fish up at lunch and then take it into the office with me before driving home in the afternoon. 4-6 hours easily. I never used anything other than the bag they put them in and never lost a single fish. If it's particularly cold or warm a well sealed cooler can keep the temp stable while you get them to and from the car.

Heck, when we moved to FL I picked my fish up from a friends house, put them in plastic containers, and drove 9 hours with them just in a cooler. No pressurized air or straight O2. The wrasse wasn't happy when we got here but he survived. Clowns didn't seem to care.

 

[Betaktical]

They will be fine. Even if you have corals they will be fine. I moved my tank 4 hours away and just put em in bags in the back seat. Everything survived except one snail that got crushed when I was taking out the rock


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[anthonys51]

i once drove from florida to new york with 3 fish in a 10 gallon tank. everyone made it just fine, i wouldnt worry about a 2 hour ride

 

[Sk8r]

Just ask them what salinity he's in now and set your qt to that salinity: his biggest danger isn't the ride, it's the release of c02 from the bag when he gets home: he won't have excreted too much, but depends on water temp and a lot of variables whether the release leads to ammonia. If you can put him straight from that bag over into a tank of the same salinity, he'll be fine. Read the sticky on acclimation.

 

[Mike Ashton]

HI polystyrene box in the car with you and your climate control set at a comfortable level for the fish and you will be fine oxygen level within the containers the fish are travelling in will be what you need to look out for perhaps carry a small 12v air pump and air -stone with you if you are worried the journey may take longer Regards Mike

 

[Squampton]

Takes me about 2 hours from the fish store to home, they pack the fish like they do when shipping fish by air or UPS across country for me, and then I place the bag in a Styrofoam cooler and go home.

Have never had any issues.

 

[homer1475]

My LFS is a 2 1/2 hour drive. I've never had them do anything different other then a larger bag with more water. I put them in a Styrofoam box and drive home. I have never had any issues.

 

[Sounds Fishy]

I think your fine with your fish bagged(some LFS bag with oxygen) without a heater.If your worried about temp fluctuations put the bag with your fish in a styrofoam cooler.
A couple weeks ago I purchased a healthy blue spotted stingray.I live 85 minutes from the store and in my case the easiest thing was just to put it in a 5 gallon pail and I utilized a battery operated pump with an air stone in the car for the ride home.