Transporting Discus - 3 to 4 hours drive

[TankWatcher]

Hi all

I have recently agreed to purchase a group of 6 adult discus privately & they are a 3-4 hour drive away from my home. I'm not so concerned about the temp, as I guess I can take care of that with the car's air conditioning.

More concerned about oxygen during this travel time. If I bought these from a LFS, they would have oxygen in the bag & so I assume that would sustain them. Buying them privately, I don't think oxygen is available.

I have considered battery powered air pump, but I see difficulties. To prevent transport damage, I thought it would be best to have each discus bagged separately. This was because I once asked about this before, thinking I could maybe put several discus into a container with a lid & put this in the car. People told me this would cause the fish to be tossed around during the trip, banging against the container & each other.

So, if they are individually bagged, I can't see how a batter powered air pump would help me.

Has anyone else transported privately bought discus this far by car? Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

[White Worm]

I transported 12 adult discus in a 60g cooler with an air pump ran off a converter in the truck. It was a 10 hour drive across state and then they lived in the cooler for a total of 4 days because I had to stay in a hotel a few days before my house was ready. I drilled holes in the top for the air lines so I could keep it closed the whole time in order to keep the heat in ( I didnt use a heater, just changed out water once a day with warm water). One discus had some tail damage but has since healed up. The rest were just fine. I would think that you would have no problem at all in a car for 3-4 hours. Piece of cake.

[Rod]

Use large 300mm wide bags, 50 micron thick, 1 fish per bag. You should be able to buy them from the lps. Its a good idea to use 3 bags per fish if they are fairly large discus as they can easily spike the bags with the hard rays of the dorsal fin. 3 bags should prevent this from happening. Just enough water to cover the discus, the rest normal air. 3-4 hours is easily withstood and will be much safer and easier on the fish than eskies or buckets. If you have trouble trapping air in the bag, you could use your airpump to blow them up. Many novices struggle with catching air and an air pump could help a lot if that is the case.

[TankWatcher]

Thanks heaps for suggestions, White Worm & Rod. Rod, do you mean like a bicycle air pump?

Another question, I just thought of. When I bought my other wild greens (from LFS) they didn't want to put oxygen in the bag, 'cause they said the tighter the bag is pumped up, the more likely the discus rays were to puncture the bag. They did at least double bag them, might have been triple bagged, but I can't remember. Is that something I should be careful of too, not pumping the bag too tight?

I should be ok with the temp, just by using the car's air conditioning, do you think?

Sorry for seeming fussy, but these guys cost me quite a bit, so I want to transport them with the least amount of stress.

[Rod]

Thanks heaps for suggestions, White Worm & Rod. Rod, do you mean like a bicycle air pump?

Another question, I just thought of. When I bought my other wild greens (from LFS) they didn't want to put oxygen in the bag, 'cause they said the tighter the bag is pumped up, the more likely the discus rays were to puncture the bag. They did at least double bag them, might have been triple bagged, but I can't remember. Is that something I should be careful of too, not pumping the bag too tight?

I should be ok with the temp, just by using the car's air conditioning, do you think?

Sorry for seeming fussy, but these guys cost me quite a bit, so I want to transport them with the least amount of stress.

No not a bike pump, just a regular aquarium air pump will be fine. As i said only if you have trouble catching air.

Well thats a ridiculous thing your lps said, whether oxygen or air you can control the amount of pressure with your bag tying technique. Oxygen extends safe transport time and thats it, it won't cause the bags to be too tight and make the bags in some way more vulnerable to piercing. When shipping by air freight, the bags will greatly expand as the plane gets higher in the air, so as a precaution it is normal to leave a little softness in the bags to reduce leakage and seal stress an otherwise tight bag could experience. Road freight, i don't think it would make any difference how tight the bag is, but if your are concerned you could leave slight softness without causing any problems.

Yes, temp should be fine. I'd place the bags into an esky, that will keep the temp steady on the way home.

[TankWatcher]

Ah, I think I get it now. You mean an air pump that you connect an air filter to?

[KDodds]

Consider that a fish transported across country through FedEx or such would spend 24 hours or so in a bag. Fish are shipped this way all of the time and are fine. Simply bag them individually in bags large enough for them to turn around in, with enough water to cover them completely and then some. For 4 hours, they'll be fine. If you're really worried, use Kordon's breather bags, but IMO, not necessary.

[Mr Wild]

oooh Robyn, what did yo buy? Kath

[Don Trinko]

You can get battery operated (2 D cells?) from most mail orde fish stores. They are cheap. (under $15) and will run for many hours on one set of batteries. Don T.

[TankWatcher]

Thanks all. This has been a great help

Kath, I found a hobbyist who was selling his 6 wild green discus. He might also be selling his group of heckels, but I'm broke now after this purchase, so I wasn't able to buy them as well.

They're in Canberra. He's holding them for me for 3-4 weeks, as I need to organise a QT. They don't make up for the greens I recently lost, but they are a good consolation & I'm glad my 2 green survivors will have new tank buddies soon. I am really looking forward to picking them up - just wish I had a tank ready right now

[Eyecandy]

Hi Robyn... When I sold my adult discus I had 2 different people come get them... One had to travel about 6 hours each way.. All we did was use a 5 gallon bucket with lid and line it with a trash bag and towel.. the towel outside the trash bag next to the bucket and the small trash bag containing the fish in the bucket.. so trash bag then towel then bucket.. and filled the bag with just enough water to cover the fish and a bit more.. The towel and trashbag (unscented of course) prevented the fish from being injured in case of crazy driving conditions... I also suggested the battery operated aerator in case they wanted to stop overnight somewhere.. They just captured air in the bag and tied it closed and then put a lid on the bucket and off they went. The fish were fine.. I've done the same for myself with discus as well as other adult size fish with no issues.. and about a 3 hour travel time.. Good luck and congrats on the find... Pics please..
Sue

[White Worm]

I've transported adult discus in a bucket lined with a plastic bag in the car for trips over an hour with no problem. For a short trip, you could do either...bags or a container.

[Roxanne]

Hi mate

Darren made air bags for the challenge fish....he set them around the bagged fish for front, side and rear impact protection....

You can take my 300w inverter, connect a heater & air stone into a bucket/small tank of the water they came out of to eliminate transportation stress from temp changes/being bagged up...set in a bigger bucket to catch any spills...

Let me know...


Rox

[thebigone]

I bought some fish home in a 5 gallon bucket and they did great. It was about a 3 hr. drive. Once i got to a place I could stop I would just open the top and check on them. I had 7 fish then. HTH

[Mr Wild]

Hey Rob
Does this person have others they wish to sell? PM me.
Kath