Moving fish cross country?

just mho but I would worry about packing/moving the equipment, which is going to be enough of a bitc...er I mean bear. Sell/give away/rehome your buddies where they can stay in water they're used to. Get new stock in your new place. New home, new life, new surroundings, new people, new fish. Enjoy and good luck.

So totally doable!

a lot of variables. I moved a 55 gal and a 10 gal close to 4 hours in a car. drained down to a liftable weight, bought a $25 power inverter. Pugged it into a cigarette lighter, and plugged an air stone into each tank. I did this during summer when temp wasn't a big deal. If you had to hole up in a roadside inn, bring a bottle of dechlor, and a bucket to mix water. Heaters draw a lot of amps, so wont be a good idea to run off a car battery, but you can still plug them in at the inn. Keep in mind the cannonball run was done in 1 day plus 4 hours, and its 2800 miles. the fish are worth the effort

It's doable. It'll be hard to bring every fish... I'd just get some sponge filters seeded, little battery powered air pumps, and some plastic totes.

It would just be easier to mail them, though.

you have a year to read up on how to do it..


fast the fish for a couple of days before, bag them or bucket them, add some polyfilter, test water and change if necessary.


and don't forget a long slow acclimation at the other end.

I recently moved my fish from San Diego to Las Vegas, which is about a 6 hour drive. Modified the lid of a 5g bucket so I could run a battery operated air pump, and everyone made the trip unscathed. I had already set up a new tank, tho.

My biggest worry was the temperature, because it can get hot along the route I had to drive, and there's always road work slowing down (or stopping) traffic along the way. Truth be told, moving the fish was much easier than moving the cats.

It would be safer to mail them. A three day trip is a long time to be packaged.

I would pick some of your favorites/hard to replace fish and bring them. Rehome the rest.


The people comparing a 4-6 hour trip to a 3 day trip... come on guys. You don't even need an air pump and such for 6 hour trips. You can use a freaking bucket or bag for a 6 hour trip.

A 3 day trip has to take into accoutn so many more things. AND that isn't even counting setting up the tank at your new place and dumping the fish into a non established tank.

No way I would do this for 40 fish. I don't even know if that is possible without a lot of money spent. Pick your favorites IMO

I'd consider only moving fish you would be hard pressed to replace. Some things are just to common to be worth the trouble, and it would be good to have a reduced stocking in the tanks after such a upheaval. If you have a fish that is a wet pet even if it is common that would be reason to bring it along.

Once things settle back down after the move you can replace the common fish.