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Traveling down sout, collecting?
#1
Guest_Elijah_*
Posted 21 September 2010 - 11:01 PM
I once brought a bunch of African cichlids beck from Arizona in a 20 gallon cooler and am thinking of trying to do the same thing with natives, probably darters (oxygen being an issue) and topminnows. It would probably be during the last 4-5 days of our tour that I would do this, so what would be the best way to keep them alive and healthy?
#3
Guest_Newt_*
Posted 22 September 2010 - 01:19 AM
If you have an accomplice back home, you could pack up the fish in Kordon bags and express mail them home so they spend less time in transit. Likewise, if you have a helpful friend in the collecting area, he could hang onto your fish until you get back home and then mail them to you. The less time the fish spend between the collection site and your aquarium, the better.
#5
Guest_Elijah_*
Posted 22 September 2010 - 10:18 AM
Thanks!March is a good time to collect. I have had success transporting fish in a cooler with an airstone passed through a hole in the top. Run an air pump off an invertor (battery-powered pumps have been unreliable for me). A little salt or baitsaver helps a lot. A second option is to bag the fish in Kordon breather bags and pack them in a box with cardboard or other breatheable material separating them. These bags allow gas exchange with the atmosphere.
If you have an accomplice back home, you could pack up the fish in Kordon bags and express mail them home so they spend less time in transit. Likewise, if you have a helpful friend in the collecting area, he could hang onto your fish until you get back home and then mail them to you. The less time the fish spend between the collection site and your aquarium, the better.
I did not use an airstone with my cichlids, but would probably need on with darters.
#6
Guest_gerald_*
Posted 22 September 2010 - 01:31 PM
Also you can toss in some well-used killifish-spawning yarn mops. They get colonized with nitrifying bacteria and can just slosh around in the cooler with the fish, providing both nitrification and shelter.
Any gigs around Raleigh-Durham area?
#7
Guest_CATfishTONY_*
Posted 22 September 2010 - 03:20 PM
http://www.cabelas.c...r:referralID=NA
http://www.basspro.c...r:referralID=NA
here is a link for a diy setup and a brick and mortar place to get one from.
i agree get some shad keeper to help your new fish in route home.
i would do a 20% water change every day as well.
http://www.tinboats.....php?f=3&t=6725
this is one of the setup designs we use it work well and keeps shad alive in summer months for days on end.
Edited by CATfishTONY, 22 September 2010 - 03:40 PM.
#8
Guest_Elijah_*
Posted 22 September 2010 - 08:35 PM
I believe we will be in Raleigh. Tour is just coming together, so not all firmed up yet.Bring a pre-cycled air-powered sponge filter or box filter. Run it in a fairly crowded tank for a month before your trip so it's charged up with plenty of ammonia-hungry bacteria. If you can run it continuously in the cooler (in vehicle) that's great, but if you can only run it at hotels then drain out the water and put it in a fishbag when not running. You don't want it to sit submerged in still water for several hours with no flow through it; nitrifying bacteria may suffocate.
Also you can toss in some well-used killifish-spawning yarn mops. They get colonized with nitrifying bacteria and can just slosh around in the cooler with the fish, providing both nitrification and shelter.
Any gigs around Raleigh-Durham area?
#11
Posted 24 September 2010 - 11:59 AM
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