I'm moving from Chicago to New York

Are these all in the same tank right now?

welcome to NY

You certainly could move them--with a rubbermaid container and an airstone. If you do a search on the forums there are a number of people who have moved fish successfully. That being said, your fish are pretty common community fish. I would consider taking them back to the pet store/finding someone who can take them and starting over in New York. I moved from Boston to MN this summer. After careful consideration I decided to take the newts, the toad, the betta, the gecko, the dog, and the cats. I sold a great breeding set up for RCS, some pure strain endler's, and my community tank that I had had for 3 years. I was a bit sad at first but after I got settled in MN I started over and I got exactly what I wanted--and I am very happy. One thing to consider is that after you arrive in NY the first thing you are going to need to do is take care of your fish. Do you have an apartment you are going straight to or to a hotel?

When I moved it was 26 hours, 13 hours a day. WHen I arrived in MN (I had everyone but the dog) I was exhausted from driving and a little cranky. For the next 2 hours I set the cat boxes and fed the cats, set up a temporary 10G for the gecko, got the 20L out of my Civic and set it up for the toad and newts, and set up the 5.5 gallon betta tank. If I were to do it again I would still probably take the betta, the gecko, and the cats, but I would have taken the newts and the toad back to the store and started again. I spent 2 weeks in my mom's basement before my husband arrived and we closed on our house so I had to move everything again. It was a lot of work and I personally wouldn't do it again.

jackie

return it to a GOOD STORE. from previous esperience, i can say that the road to new york from chicago is very bumpy and WILL stress your fish up to the point where they die.

if you are TRULY ATTACHED to your fish, then put em in a rubbermaid container, with the heater, filter, and bubbler. line the container (from the outside) with padding.

Mgamer20o0 said:

best bet would be to find someone who can take them. i would use a rubbermaid that way it has a lid so water doesnt splash. dont forget about the heater for the fish. make sure you keep the gravel wet. since you said you were going to keep the filter on you wont have to worry about keeping that wet also.

maybe this will help you.

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90577&highlight=phoenix

Click to expand...

Good luck on your move. we made it with hotel stays and all. The trip from Maryland to Arizona was long and tiring with kids and fish but it was worth it because my 3 year old didn't have to give up her favorite fish.

I don't know if they are still very readily available, but the oldschool styrofoam coolers would be ideal for your move. Just seal the lid with packing tape, and make two small holes in the top, one for the air line in, and another for a 3 or 4 in piece of air hose to allow air to escape while preventing water from having a direct escape route through the exit hole(make sure the hose fits tightly in this hole.) Alternatively, you could get a large poly garbage bag, and take it to a fish or even bait store and have them blow it up with oxygen inside a rubbermaid or cooler and circumvent the air pump completely.

fish are transported all over the world everyday.

if done correctly they will not suffer much...
you should be fine..I would recommend you stop feeding the fish 2-3 days before the move..they will have flushed most of the waste they produce(solid) this will help reduce the pollutants they add to the travel container.
it isn't really necessary to have aeration but it wouldn't hurt.
you can transport in a large container or bag the fish in individual bags(the more wAter the better for each fish and ship them in a styrofoam container. also do the same to your filter material you can preserve much of your bacteria that way.