Transporting Discus - 3 to 4 hours drive

[silent_thunder]

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.

I have to transport mine 250 miles...They put them in a styrfoam cooler and in the box that came with the cooler...

THE only problem is like some have stated...NEXT time I will have them in 3 bags as their fins tore a hole in the 2 bags bfore I left and on my way home...they did it again...nothing like wet seats...

They will be fine...good luck!

Daniel

[Big Tuck]

Just got home after picking up 19 adult Discus and 9 Pleco.Transported all in 2 coolers.I use a small inverter and 2 small air pumps with 2 air stones in each cooler.They were in the coolers for 23 hrs and all did fine.Much easier than fooling with bags. Tuck

[Yassmeena]

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.

You might want to quadruple bag each fish if you go the bag-route, incase one bag has a leak the other bag will cover it. Bags leak so frequently I have found!!!

[White Worm]

Just got home after picking up 19 adult Discus and 9 Pleco.Transported all in 2 coolers.I use a small inverter and 2 small air pumps with 2 air stones in each cooler.They were in the coolers for 23 hrs and all did fine.Much easier than fooling with bags. Tuck

Exactly

[TankWatcher]

Thanks all, you've been a big help.

Kath, I'll PM you later.

[Roxanne]

I use a small inverter and 2 small air pumps with 2 air stones in each cooler.They were in the coolers for 23 hrs and all did fine.Much easier than fooling with bags. Tuck

Robyn, I totally agree with Tuck...bags are a PITA and I reckon that it stresses them out a whole lot more than sitting in a bucket...like Yas said, they do peirce the bag...our biggest challenge fish was in 5 thick bags with a layer of newspaper in between and she still stabbed the bags....those fish are big Robyn, I would not bag them... it took me half an hour to unwrap Santa Darren's bags...layer upon layer upon layer...

Rox

[Mr Wild]

Yes same thing happened to me! Daren packed them really well but everything was still wet. They are alive!!!!!! To anyone at all that has read my threads that is AMAZING we are in day 2! hahahaha Kath

[TankWatcher]

Rox, I sent you an email last night (from my home email address). Not sure if you saw it.

So happy for you Kath. Now, where are those pics?

[ivo]

hi robyn, i knew it was you who purchased the lots when i saw the seller's last post. good luck of bringing them home and i wish them to have a safe trip!

[Mr Wild]

Hi Robyn

Follow this link for the pics! http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=70538

[Roxanne]

Hi Kath...I heard yours were delayed in a big way ...how are they doing??

Rox

[Mr Wild]

Well they were blue/black when I got them. Just added fresh tank water to them slowly with airline hose and filled their styrofoam box with them in it. Then after about an hour swimming in their I just plopped them into the 3ft tank that was ready for them. They are staying together and just slowly moving up and down the length of the tank. They are still dark but then I have them in the dark ATM with 1 light on at one end for them. They seem happy enough, got ammonia burns and the bags leaked, the bigger one copped it the most, have a look at the link I posted above you can see the difference in the size of the bag! Cheers Kath

[nah]

Looking back at things, would you still transport them yourself or go with a pet transportation service?

Pop, I transported 12 discus from San Francisco to Seattle via car. The travel time was 24 hours because I stopped for the night along the way, The seller, Fairy Lake, put them in a bag, air, and into a foam box. Anything else you can add to this will help.

[CliffsDiscus]

Transporting Discus in a car I would usually take an small oxygen tank, some extra bags line with newspaper and buckets or Styrofoam boxes and sometimes a few heat pads. Any water leak I would bag and oxygen again.

Cliff