Transporting a live Oxydoras Niger

[skwerally]

Hi,

I have a Oxydoras Niger aprx 2ft long. His name is "Slyvester" and I've had him since he was about 2" long (aprx 10yrs). I am moving about 10 miles away. He is currently kept in a 55 gal with 2 placo's. Would anyone know the best way to go about transporting them to my new location. Should I empty the tank to where there is just enough water for them to survive? Or I thought about maybe putting them in a large coleman cooler... I don't know.... I can't very well put them in a bag, (Sylvester is very VERY sharp!) I want the move to be as stress free as possible. Anyone have any suggestions. Any help would be much appreciated. Also, it is in the 30's here and I have to be out in 2 weeks. It takes aprx 20 minutes to get to the destination so, total time out of the tank (if thats the best way, would prob. be about 1hr).

Thanks for any help!

[Bas Pels]

I would put him into a container not that much larger than the fish itself, as the low-water tank will probably stress the fish much more (due to problems handling it)

As its container will be - relatively -small, beware of the sun, it has more energy then we think, heating the water soon

[Richard B]

I have been involved in the transport of large Niger (& other fish) many times before & it doesn't have to be too difficult. The fish was "netted"/cornered using a pole with a 'plastic tray' on the end (don't use a net or you could be there for ages trying to free it causing uneccessary stress) &then grabbed to move it to the transport box (a large white plastic box used as a quarentine vat (about 4x2x2 feet). When grabbing the fish it was wrapped in a wet dark towel that had had a plain water wash with no chemicals & kevlar gloves were worn (as used in the automotive manufacturing trade - these can be slashed with a surgical blade & no damage occurs to your hands, therefore the niger posed no problems to the mover). The moving box was half filled with water & when the fish was in, loads of floating plants were added before the lid went on - this serves 2 functions: it shades the fish making it dark & keeps the fish subdued & it also reduces the fluid movements of the water upper layers to stop the water sloshing around so much. 1 hour should be no problems whatsoever for this fish.

Never try to move a glass tank with water in - particularly witha large fish in minimal water - i can't stress enough how bad this idea is.

Was there anything particular not covered that you were concerned with?

(ps - is he kept in a 55g & is 2 feet long? What size is the tank? It seems very small, or have i misunderstood - a 2 foot fish like that should ideally be kept in a tank with a footprint of 8x4 feet - ie width twice the length of the fish & tank length 4 times the length of the fish)

[Bas Pels]

The moving box was half filled with water & when the fish was in, loads of floating plants were added before the lid went on - this serves 2 functions: it shades the fish making it dark & keeps the fish subdued & it also reduces the fluid movements of the water upper layers to stop the water sloshing around so much.

I think this is a very good idea. however, would floating plastic (such as ping-pong balls) not be better: plants might use oxygen. They will certainly not do anything good to the water

[SOBERKITTY]

I'll be moving in about 3 wks here is the forum thread I started. Lots of good ideas. I'll be using a very large insulated food cooler to move my fish.

http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... =4&t=22208

[Richard B]

Bas Pels - pingpong balls might work, i don't really know. They sometime smell a bit plasticy when new so maybe leak something into the water? has anyone got that many ping pong balls - my brother hasn't & he plays for the county or something like that? A well fitting sheet of polystyrene might do it?

We had loads of water hyacinth at the time, so it was what was available & the shape & quantity made the water less likely to slosh around. The journey was only a couple of hours & everything was fine.

[Suckermouth]

Bas Pels - pingpong balls might work, i don't really know. They sometime smell a bit plasticy when new so maybe leak something into the water? has anyone got that many ping pong balls - my brother hasn't & he plays for the county or something like that? A well fitting sheet of polystyrene might do it?

When I worked at a lab for a semester a sheet of polystyrene was used when we were bringing fish from the field to the lab. A bubbler was also used for aeration.