moving from FL to VA, any suggestions...

[hboute]

We are moving back to VA this summer and I would like to hold on to my 9 beautiful discus and try moving them. It is a 15 hour drive, we would probably do this in 2 stretches. From what I have read some people prefer to put the discus in bags and others use 5 gallon buckets. My fish are about 5 to 6 inch in size and I was wondering if buckets would be the easiest solution (with airpump and water changes?). Any suggestions are welcome!

[DiscusDrew]

15 hours is not really that long, I think if you can get on site and get a tank up relatively quickly then you have very little to worry about, especially given that they are larger fish. I wish you all the best, Ive never had to move mine more than 6 or 7 hours in a bucket, so I cant speak to which method you should use. I think for a 15 hour trip it seems like a trip in a bucket with good fresh water and airation would be more than sufficient.

[ericatdallas]

I'm having the same dilemma.

I have 11 Discus I want to move but I have a 23 hour drive from Dayton, OH to ABQ, NM which would require a few stops.

I haven't actually ever moved them such long distances but my biggest concern was that if you did water changes en-route, you are exposing them to different water chemistries which could be stressful. I suppose you could bring your own water. I don't think clean water is an issue though for such a short trip as ours anyway. Just withhold feeding 1-2 days before. The other issue for me was heat.

One of my thoughts was modifying a few coolers and having them setup with battery operated air pumps. I wouldn't do any water changes or feedings and they would be kept in the passenger compartment (with AC).

I'll probably try to sell as many as I can and take a chance with the remainder of them. I tried to sell my Discus, but people were only offering $25-35 for them.

I'm not a big fan of the buckets only because I worry the Discus will thrash around too much against the hard surface. My only experience with it is short trips (less than 2 hours) and they do fine so this isn't anything for sure.

If you have someone to receive them (I don't), you could always setup a tank and ship them.

[DiscusDrew]

23 hours Id lean almost towards packing them as if they were being shipped, in which case they should be just fine as long as a tank for them is set up fairly quickly upon arrival.

[ericatdallas]

How is what I plan to do is any less inferior to bagging them with O2 and sticking them in a styrofoam box anyway. My idea is pretty much the same thing except there is a persistent O2 supply.

Also, the problem is it's MORE than 23 hours. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty certain I can't drive 23-24 straight hours. Even if I -could- it's probably not the safest thing to do. ;)

So add in nominally 8 hours for sleep, optimistically a 20 minute break every 4 hours then I'm looking at a trip of about 34 hours.

That's assuming I don't hit traffic or there aren't any other complications. I suppose Google over-estimates by 10-20% sometimes, but even then...

Anyway, I was hesitant to even try the transfer but I think it might be doable. I was also thinking of putting some clean (but cycled) sponge filters in each cooler just in case.

I do have the problem that I don't know how long before I can setup a tank.

So this could be disastrous no matter what method I use.

[DiscusDrew]

No difference my friend, it wasnt said in opposition to what you were leaning towards. That said, if your filling a cooler with water you have the same issue as you would in a 5 gallon bucket. The fish are apt to slosh around, that's why I brought up the idea of packaging them with STRAIGHT O2 (not the same as an aerator) with bag buddies, just as if they were being shipped to destination. 36 hours is still in an acceptable window though it is less than ideal with this method. Just an idea... nothing more...

[OCD]

wouldn't it be great if we could set up a network of SD memeber to have "discus hostiles"..while we travel?
I mean, like a place to drop them in a spare tank at someone's house while we sleep before we start the next leg of the journey....LOL
i laugh, but not a bad idea...

i think the cooler idea with 02 sounds like a good plan.
just no food a few days before- minimize waste. adding sponge sounds great.

[DonMD]

hboute, where in Virginia are you moving to?

[krislewis3]

I'm also in virginia......what part are you moving to???

[hboute]

Don, I sent you a private message just now. I am moving to the Northern VA area, probably in Vienna, Oakton, or that area. Any help would be appreciated.

[hboute]

BTW, I like the idea of "discus hotels", sound like a plan to me...

[mikev]

How big of an issue is the water chemistry? Do people buy from a particular sponsor based on their individual water conditions?

[ericatdallas]

How big of an issue is the water chemistry? Do people buy from a particular sponsor based on their individual water conditions?

Was that rhetorical?

It's not about a one time change for a new home. My comment was about fluctuations in transit. It's about the added stress of different water changes en-route (which as discussed, isn't really needed for short trips).

The point was just that changing it mid-trip (if there was a perceived need) would increase the stress of changing water conditions (i.e. pH).

How much that will play a factor.... <shrug> but IMO it would be a concern (an unnecessary one) added with the other stresses of a move.

[mikev]

Was that rhetorical?

It's not about a one time change for a new home. My comment was about fluctuations in transit. It's about the added stress of different water changes en-route (which as discussed, isn't really needed for short trips).

The point was just that changing it mid-trip (if there was a perceived need) would increase the stress of changing water conditions (i.e. pH).

How much that will play a factor.... <shrug> but IMO it would be a concern (an unnecessary one) added with the other stresses of a move.

No it is a question I have

[compchick813]

How large is your tank? I would get some of the 50 gallon Rubbermaid Roughnecks and fill those with your tank water. You could even mix your tank water with more tap/aged water before you leave to have a larger water volume. When you get there you can treat those as your "tank" and do a water change while you're setting up the new tank. You could even take it one step further. Let's say you only need one roughneck to transport them. You could fill a second one with water as well before you leave, don't put any fish in it, then transfer them halfway through, which would give them nice fresh water. You could do the same and have a third with your original water to put them in when you get there while you set the tank up. Temp-wise for the ride, I guess you'd need someone else driving a minivan or cargo van rather than the back of the moving van.