6 hour drive, 13 discus, help!

[ReeferKimberly]

In about two weeks i will be purchasing 8 juvie discus and possibly 5 more adults from a member named scott (a.k.a. turbobuickgn). he is getting out of the hobby and is selling all his fish and a 46gal bow w/stand accesories ect. I'm driving to pick everything up march 9th and i live in Roseville cal. he lives in bakersfield which is approx. 6 hours from here.
how should i transport the fish? bags? w/half the water in the tank in the back of my rav4?
what do i do about heat?
how will the bumpyish ride affect them?

many qs...has anyone made long car trips with discus, how did you do it?

thanks you so much...
kim :-*

[Ralph]

It is basically like they were being shipped. You want to bag them and pack them in a cooler (though in this case it is to keep the heat in). You can stop at a LFS in Bakersfield and have them put O2 into the bags.

Congratulations

[ReeferKimberly]

thank you for the reply..so fast :)

so i should probably go to a fish place around here and get a bunch of big bags, like the largest ones they sell them in...
b/c i do not think freezer bags are gonna cut it. My car is basically a mini suv and i will have one passenger. i'm not sure if i can fit coolers in with the stand and tank, can i put the bagged fish in the tank with some kind of insulating (like blankets)? also w/out the cooler will i need some kind of heat pack, like maybe one or two i could microwave before-hand? thanks again
kim :-*

[paulmat]

Kim
I bought some of Scott's fish a couple of weeks ago and as long as you bring bags and a styro box or cooler you'll be fine,also bring a net!
You shouldn't need 02 but it couldn't hurt if you have it.
My sister lives up in Citrus Heights, just down the road from you. I have brought fish down from Bay area and they have done fine.

Good Luck with the transport

Paul :guitarist:

[Carol_Roberts]

Good idea to transport the discus in bags inside the tank. Wrap the tank in sleeping bags for insulation and to protect tank. You can buy hand warmers at Walmart in the sporting goods section for heat packs.

No need to bring the old water with you. Have 50 gallons of aged heated water ready to fill tank when you get home. Ask what pH the discus are in now and have your water close to the same. Keep filter media wet so bacteria stays alive (put in oxygen filled bag just like discus)

When you get home quickly set up tank add warm, aged water, heater, filter and thermometer. Test everything and add discus.

[ReeferKimberly]

hey guys, thanks for all the advice. i especially like the sleeping bag idea! paul, when were you there did you get to see all the fish, how did they look? i'm actually buying them w/out seeing a pic (dumb me, i just realized that) originally i was just looking for the tank set up but then i fell in love with the idea of getting a bunch more fish too! i swear i'm gonna have 100 discus (not including fry) in my tiny room with my 7 tanks already and this new 46 gal! with the new fish, i'll have 9 adults and 25 juviniles so 34 total...so far ;). i have so much extra tank space at home i will already have one or two fifty gallon tanks empty, cycled, and ready with seeded filters for the newbies. i have some of those heat packs that you can microwave that stay warm for a really long time. my mom got them from the hopital she works at. wish me luck... thanks again everyone!
:-*kim

[RAWesolowski]

Kim,

Stop at your LFS and buy some bags from them. Be sure to double or triple bag each fish. Discus have spines that can easily puncture the bags. I recommend placing a sheet of newspaper between the first and second bag to p[revent the fish from puncturing both bags. The newspaper will protect the outer bag.

[DIZ]

Kim
I have returned from fla. with fish many times I put them in a ice chest with water from the tank there were in Traveled for 24 hours with no problems. When I stoped over night I put a heater in the chest and air stone
DIZ

[Discus_Hans]

Kim, why don't you use buckets, all the Discus I sell go in buckets. I allways have a stock of +/- 200 3 gallon new buckets. If you got a clean bucket look at the inside at the bottom, in the middle can be a sharp point, that can hurt your Discus, take that away with sandpaper. In every bucket you can put 3 x 3", 2 x 4" bigger 1 in each bucket.
I'm doing this for years now, never been a problem.
Okay still afraid, okay this will do it, after the last show I joined in Belgium, I had to bring home +/- 3-400 Discus.
We start catching and putting them in buckets at 09:00 am.
12 hours later we arrived home and start adjusting them to the water in the tanks they had to go in. Trow as much as possible water out of the bucket and let the water run trough a 4 mm tube from the tank in the bucket, if the bucket is full empty it again as much as possible and fill it again, than put the Discus in their tank. Lowest temp. after transport we had was 60 F. Lost 1 3" from the whole bunch. Succes, Hans.
No need to say I'm talking about quality Discus off course :P :P :P :P

[April]

just dont overload the buckets...stick to hans guidelines.
i suffocated some discus...by overloading my bucket while moving.
but.sure...buckets. you could even get a battery operated pump and run an airstone and trade it back and forth for a bit.
let us know how it goes. and let us know what fish you get.

[grrrr8guy]

I helped my friend (fish manager) receive his fish order from the airport the other day.

Everything in styrofoam boxes with hot shots taped to the top of the box (like Carol said).

Its important to make sure you have good pressure on the plastic bags when you seal them!!! with big strong elastic bands.

Some fish make very long trips in styro packed properly

grrr8guy

[ReeferKimberly]

I really don't know how i could seal their buckets (unless they come with tops). the only major problem is room. i have to be able to fit a 46 gallon tank, stand, equipment, and the fish all in the back of my car and i don't think the buckets would fit. i don't have a battery operated pump and honestly don't think i can afford one. i'm barely gonna be able to afford the load. the bag idea sounded like my best chance of transport. i just have to see what happens i guess. i think everything will fit and i'll get the sytand and tank dimensions from scott. i will probly and up speeding home anywayz so maybe the trip will only be five hours ;) j/k...well maybe...
kim :-*

[April]

Kim....are you old enough to drive? lol. not sure....id let you drive there....my daughters 18 and hasnt so much as held car keys in her hand yet.

[ReeferKimberly]

yeah i have had my license for a month. no worries, my mom is coming..she just doesn't want to drive, just instigate. if she wasn't coming id get lost in 20 minutes ;)
kim :-*

[larry lob]

Hi,

Battery air pumps in a game shop are only gona be like $6 - 7 USD.

Good luck

Larry

[ReeferKimberly]

hmm what's a game shop?
kim :-*

[Jason]

good luck Kim you'll be fine!

what happened to Scott is everything ok on his end?

[goldengatediscus]

Game shop = fishing/bait/sporting goods store.
You can also find the battery operated pumps in the sporting goods/fishing section of Walmart or Kmart.
Brigitte

[ReeferKimberly]

oh ok, i was thinking maybe some kind of hunting shop, guess a fishing shop would fit the description just the same.
scott didn't say exactly why he was getting out of the hobby, just that he is. i know he has been trying to sell everything for a while and has already sold a 100 gallon, and some other fish. i'm just taking the rest. some filter and heater stuff, 5 adults, possibly 8 juvies, and a 46 bow tank and stand.
kim :-*