Transporting Discus - 3 to 4 hour drive

[TW]

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.

[Hollowman]

Robyn,

The best way is to put one fish in a bag. I always double bag fish just in case there is a leak. Only fill the bag with enough water to cover the fish. The bigger the fish bag the better, so once the fish is covered, trap as much air in there as possible, and tie with rubber bands to keep the air in. You can use clove oil to calm them down a bit, but I am not sure of the dose, maybe someone else can help on that one.
:)

[Repz]

Robyn,
What i tend to do when i buy fish privately, is stick the airline tubing in the bag and tightly twist the bag, the bag then inflates with the air.
Then quickly remove the tube (ensure no airstone is attached) then use an elastic band to tie it.

You may double bag it to prevent and leakages.. I know the recent fish i bought is lucky to be alive, there was a hole in the bag!

Good luck!!

[ILLUSN]

I use buckets with lids and a battery airpump you can safly move 2 adult discus/bucket

[Matt15]

I too have used a bucket with lid which worked very well for a 2 hr trip. I had 4 fish in the bucket and they all fared very well after the trip.

[Old Dave]

TW,
when I last bought discus in Sydney the LFS double bagged the fish indivudually in good large bags and gave me a foam transport box just big enough to pack them all in standing up and separated with newspaper.
No oxygen added. You might consider some stress coat or similar.
Ask for them not to be fed to reduce waste in the water.

No problems at all. Fish can handle being flown around the world!
We only took six hours to get them home as we did a bit of a LFS crawl. :lol: :lol:

Careful with the acclimatisation. That is the biggest danger.
Quarantine tank?

HTH,

Old Dave

[TW]

Thank you everyone. You've been a great help :)

[lillyd]

Hi I transport ,my fish in one of those home brew kit kegs. My husband was in to home brewing for a while and we have 2. They transport fish really well as they are bigger then buckets and the lids seal really well. Maybe you can pick one up out of the classifieds :P