Will my fish die on my move without oxygen pump?

Question

I'm moving 6 hours south, we have to drive a big Uhaul and i need some way to get my fish to the new house alive. They are 3 huge gold fish. The biggest is abot 6 in.

Answer 1

battery operated air pump, and they should be good. and bubble rap container for cushion

Answer 2

yes.

i suggest you borrow a tank from your local hospital.

Answer 3

They should be alright. I would be more worried about them being exposed to high levels of ammonia during the trip.

If it would make you more comfortable, battery operated air pumps are available. They take, if I am correct, a few AA batteries and will last up to 12 hours. It is common to use these in shipping fish.

Answer 4

You can for a few hours, you may be fine with 6 hours. Otherwise I suggest adding plants to help airrate the tank. It'll keep them fine until you get there. Once you do get there, put in the airator immidiately.

Answer 5

Despite their large size, suprisingly, goldfish can live in the blairing heat of the summer sun in a pond, or live for months under inches of ice. To tell you the whole hearted truth, the fish would be able to survive that trip in a plastic bag with time to spare. Although that is possible, the best way to keep them alive on a long trip, especially for large fish such as those, would be to keep them in a tub of water or give them EACH their own 5 gallon bucket of water. Make sure that whatever you put them in is clean and clear of chemicals.

When preparing them for the long trip, make sure the water starts out room temperature. After you put the fish in  the room teperature water, slowly add ice to barely cover the top of the water. Cold water allows dissolved oxygen to stay in the water, and it calms the fish by slowing their breathing rate.

On the way there, check the fish every hour or two, making sure they have a thin layer of ice cubes in the water. I would suggest bringing a small cooler of ice.

I hope this helps!

P.S. to add on to John M's answer, on the way there, ammonia from decaying organic materials from the fish (like p**p) can be harmful. Although, goldfish are highly resilient and are noted for their resilience to ammonia. An air pump is not a bad idea either, but it is not necessary.

Answer 6

Get a large plastic cooler bin.

1/2 fill it with tank water.

Put the fish in.

Tape the lid down.

Move.

The fish will survive that. A battery powered air pump will help, but shouldn't be needed.

Remember fish get shipped all over the world by air freight and often spend 24-48 hours in a plastic bag and generally survive.

Also look after your filter and media. Take the filter apart and put all the media in a bag of tank water too. That way when you refill your tank at the new house you will still have some live cycle bacteria and wont have to re-cycle the tank again from scratch.

Good Luck

Ian

Answer 7

batery opperated air pump not to expensive