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Post by murdock6701 on Sept 6, 2008 10:51:25 GMT -5
has anyone ever tranported fish in styrofoam coolers? I have over 100 fish to move and don't have the $$$ for bags - am figuring like 10 fish to a cooler x 10 coolers - any thoughts?
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Post by Carl on Sept 6, 2008 10:59:30 GMT -5
has anyone ever tranported fish in styrofoam coolers? I have over 100 fish to move and don't have the $$$ for bags - am figuring like 10 fish to a cooler x 10 coolers - any thoughts? Yes, I have used both Rubbermade containers and Styrofoam coolers and both work well (the Stryos control temp better while the Rubbermade do not break as easily which has happened few times with Styros). Here is a paste from my Aquarium Answers post dealing with this subject: *Purchase some sterile Rubbermaid containers or Coleman or similar style ice chests (not cheep "styro" ice chests) as well as buckets for ornaments, gravel, etc. If Rubbermaid containers are used, I prefer as large as possible such as 32 gallons for tanks over 40 gallons. *Drain water from the display tank into one of these containers. Do not fill more than you can move or will spill. Then add your fish to this water. *Add Methylene Blue , this will aid in the oxygen capacity of the blood, ease stress, ease ammonia/nitrite poisoning and help prevent disease. I also added Wonder Shells as these would increase the bio load capacity of the water and add very important electrolytes. Keep this container as dark as possible. For the rest of the article please see this link John Aquarium Answers; Tank and fish movingCarl
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Post by jonv on Sept 6, 2008 11:09:49 GMT -5
I haven't personally used anything that large before John, but I'm glad you brought this topic up however. Just as we first got this new page up and running, I mentioned to Carl, due to his superior knowledge compared to mine, if he could possibly work up a video demo on proper shipping methods.
In light of Carl's heavy load, clearly it's not an immediate need nor expected asap. Whenever Carl has the time is more then fine, or anyone else really for that matter. I think this would be an extremely useful tool for us, as this topic in itself might be too difficult to cover in words, where a video could nail it down more effectively. I've only used boxes and had some initial bad results.
I did when I sold my last group of South American Arowana, physically pack them up in 10 gallon plastic containers and took them with me in the car. That's about the extent of using anything other then boxes.
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Post by murdock6701 on Sept 6, 2008 11:41:42 GMT -5
thank you both - what a team! this is great news! will make my transformation much easier!
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Post by jonv on Sept 6, 2008 11:53:32 GMT -5
Very glad you like that John. You know what made me think of video as well? I'd seen some clips on cichlid care topics, in particular, stripping a holding female. There are several video self help clips posted in CF on cichlid care, and I figure, you know, seeing people do something in action, and talking through what they are doing is in many cases, VERY helpful. I also think it adds an extra dimension for us at YA and helps to promote methods in a more professional manner.
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Post by goldenpuon on Sept 6, 2008 15:18:30 GMT -5
Very nice article! I plan on shipping fish sometime but it would be by mail. ....By any chance would anyone like about 5+ guppies shipped to them? I'll have to wait a month for them to grow a bit. Also, I need to figure out how to ship fish by mail and minimaze stress as much as possible and have the greatest survival rate as I can. No need for anyone to help me now with this. I'll start a topic about it once my guppy fry are a month or more older. Just curious if anyone is interested.
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Post by babygeige on Sept 6, 2008 20:46:39 GMT -5
I remember someone on a forum once mentioning that he always used a styrofoam cooler to bring his fish home from his lfs instead of the bags. It was probably 2 years ago, so I don't remember all the specifics, but I thought that was a very interesting idea.
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Post by eve on Sept 6, 2008 20:52:33 GMT -5
I remember someone on a forum once mentioning that he always used a styrofoam cooler to bring his fish home from his lfs instead of the bags. It was probably 2 years ago, so I don't remember all the specifics, but I thought that was a very interesting idea. as far as i know, they still use the bags they just put the bags into the styrofoam box, for the purpose of them not getting to hot, especially in the summer, when temperatures in the car can be a nightmare this will help the fish to cope with the stress of temperature change, which is prevented with this method
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Post by jonv on Sept 6, 2008 20:57:02 GMT -5
Right on Eve, and just to suppliment that, the styrofoam also helps to stablize your bags and reduce the shock impact when boxes get moved around in shipping too. It is a great insulator, but also helps absorb the shock too. Combine that with newspaper or bubble wrap around the bags, and your fish shouldn't get too juggled around in shipping compared to not using anything.
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