There are quite a few methods out there, and it all depends on how many fish you have, and how long the trip is gonna be. First tip will be a short version, in case its only one fish, or a very short trip. The second tip is for a larger number of fish (oops, do I see myself in the mirror here? ), and a longer trip.

Short trip, only a few fish
For a short trip, all you really need is finding a trusted pet store, borrow some bigger fish bags from them( 1-2 smaller fish, or one large fish per bag) , put your fish in there. cover the fish just barely with water, just above their dorsal fin. Then let the pet store fill up the bag with oxygen, and close it securely. Put the bags inside a cooler, and off you go. Some pet stores do not have oxygen, like Petsupermarket, so you really need to find one with an oxygen tank. Let them double bag your fish, which is basically another bag over the fish bag, in case one is leaking water. Voila, all set.

Long trip, an enormous number of fish

There is a relatively simple, yet safe, way to go about doing this. You'll need a few things, and they'll be especially helpful if the trip is a longer one.

"Ingredients list":
- 1 20 gl new garbage container with lid (or anything bigger than 15 gl, and I usually use 30 gl)
- batterie operated airpumps (sold at most petstores), one for each container, and one for the filter
- regular airpump (for the times that you are in the hotel/with family)
- 1 bottle of Prime (or any other ammonia remover)
- python for water changes (or a few extra smaller buckets, never been used for cleaning before!)
- one plastic container to fit the filter in
- test kits to test for ammonia during trip
- aquarium salt to ease the stress
- a few extra sets of batteries for the airpump (1 pair of DD batteries for each pump)


The idea is to travel with the goldfish in the bigger plastic container. Cut holes into the lid of the container for oxygen exchange. The airpumps will supply the fish with air while traveling, and they come with a piece or tubing and an airstone. Its inside the batterie compartment. You'll need a pair of DD batteries to run the pump.

The container will only gonna be filled 1/4 with water at the most, the rest is sort of a splashing guard. You know, stepping on the brakes or driving around a corner, and the water moves. Don't wonna have that all over the car. The airpumps can be hung pretty easily on the rim or the handle of the container before you put the lid on, and fiddle the airline tubing/stone through the holes you cut into the lid earlier.

Now, for the travel itself, do not feed your fish for at least 4 days before the trip. That will cut down immensly on any ammonia buildup. Remember, there isn't gonna be a filter on those container for the duration of the trip.
A day before the trip, put the water in the container, so the temperature adjusts to the tank temperature. If you wonna take apart the tank/filter a day before as well, you can put the fish in the container a day ahead as well. Give a double dose of Prime. Just make sure you'll do a water change on the day of the trip then before you leave. Add 1 teaspoon per gl of water into the container.

Once its trip time, tape the lid to the container with duct tape. Then the container goes into the car (back seat, or back compartment in a minivan or SUV). Of course, try to avoid road bumps and such while you are at it - the sloshing sound will give it away if you should be more careful next time.
It'll be best if the container is in air condition, that reduces the stress, plus there is more oxygen in a cooler room than a warm one. Don't wonna pump warm air into the container via the airpump. Check on the fish every few hours when you get out for a drink or a stretch anyhow, test their water and add some Prime.

Once you arrive at your destination for that day (family or hotel), get the container inside, check for ammonia and do a nice big water change. That can either be done with some extra buckets that you brought along, or the python system that lets you do water changes from almost any faucet. Make sure the temperature is the same and the pH. If you use buckets, let the buckets sit for a while before you put the water in with the fish. That gives the water a chance to degas and stabalize the pH.

For those times that you are sleeping and are in hotels/family or friends, you can use the ordinary airpump for airsupply, so it isn't such a strain on the batteries.

Check ammonia in the morning again before you leave, if neccessary do another water change, always add double Prime, seal the lids, and off you go. You can repeat that process every night/day until you reach your destination.

If it is more than a week from when you first stopped feeding your fish until you reach your destination, you might wonna give them a very small meal at night, and then change their water nicely in the morning. Not feeding your fish for more than a week can put a strain on them, so a very slight meal once is a good idea.

How to travel with the filter? Well, whatever you do, do not let the media get dry, or without oxygen. I usually have a separate small container where I just put the media in, fill that container with dechlorinated water to just barely cover it all, and stick an airstone on a batterie operated airpump in it, plus a few crumbs of fish food. If you let the media get dry or without oxygen, the beneficial bacteria will die off, and you have to cycle the whole tank again once you get to WA. Too much stress on the fish. The fish food will give off the neccessary ammonia to "feed" the bacteria during your trip.

The latter version is one that I have practised at least, well, 2 times, and it worked pretty well. Not feeding, testing the ammonia levels frequently an doing water changes accordingly, is the most important aspect of it all.

Now, get those moving boxes going!

Great advise!

What would you reccomend for a long daytrip - say 5-7 hours driving? That's what I'll be doing next year or the year after, and 7 hours is pretty long to be in a bag.

Just to contribute. I also found the following instructions on a site.

http://www.aquariumfish.net/information/moving_your_fish.htm

They are pretty close to yours with a few small differences. The biggest being that they advise brining 80% of the water from the tank with you.

Any comments on that?

Thanx

Rayston

The reason that author recommends 80% of the tank's water is because he uses some of it to refill the tanks once the fish are in their new home. That is one way to do it, but it involves a lot of extra work hauling around gallons of water.
I prefer less hauling, and instead fill the tanks in the new home with new water, let it run with the filter and media I brought with me, and "feed" the tank ammonia to get the bacteria going. While I do that, I keep adding new and dechlorinated water to the fish's containers little by little, so they get used to the new water. When I do water changes in those containers, I keep adding new water, so over time the fish are less in their old water and more in new water. After a day or two, their containers will be filled with new water only, and just a trace of their old water. Then it is time to get them into their new tanks.

The article in general is okay about the moving, but what bugs me a little bit is the blowing of air into the bags. First, it takes a lot of blowing to get the trash bags full, plus it isn't 100% oxygen. There will always be some air escaping, plus the fact that used air from the lungs also will end up in the bag, no matter how hard you try to avoid it.

What I would rather do if I want to move with the fish in containers AND bags is go to a party supply store and rent one of their oxygen canisters, and then fill up the bags with 100% oxygen. That is the good stuff, and only then would I travel with fish in bags. If that isn't available, I rather forget the bag idea and do containers only.

Oh this is really helpful and very useful. Excellent advise and Im glad its going to be pinned (or was it already? ).

I have one question too Andrea, why is the water only just over the dorsal fin (short trip) before the oxygen goes in. Ive seen my lfs do that for customers and Ive always felt it wasnt much water for the fish if the bag gets knocked sideways.

i move frequently cross country east to west and back again...i have an electrical outlet that plugs into the cigarette lighter in the back seat of our suv...i run my filters off of it when we are driving it filters and oxygenates real well.... i think we got it at radio shack...

When we moved last July I actually drove with half a tank full of water on my lap -- ouch! We only moved 8 miles away. Every fish survived and it went smoothly... Except for my sore lap

That is a good idea about the electrical outlet, Moormomie - haven't even thought of that! I guess a trip to BestBuy or something is in order.

Imogen, the fish need the oxygen more than they need the water, hence less water in the bag. They don't need the swimming room, and when traveling for longer distances, they'll settle down eventually and don't get tossed around all that much. What they need most is the oxygen that will get into the water on the water surface, and that why it is so important to have the maximum of oxygen that you can squeeze in there.

You just saved my sons gold fish good thing I aint poor lmao (battery pump) pickin up all supplys an gettin ready for my move awsome advice! 10 hour drive with 5 year old an 2 fish this should be interesting!

Andrea, how many fish would you place in a 30 gallon tub? I am moving from NY to MN in August and have many goldies that I will be taking with me.

Hi Erin! Moving, hm? Minnesota is kind of nice, and there is a goldfish breeder living there somewhere!

How big are your fish, Erin, and how many hours/days are we talking about? If the fish are anything bigger than 5-6 inches (without fins), then I'd think not more than 3 fish. Remember, it is a 30 gl tub, but you want it really only filled up halfway at the most. And that might even be too heavy to work with. That means there will be only 12-15 gl of water available to the fish, and 3 fish would be the maximum I'd have per container.

Well I just tarveled from NY to Kentucky. It was a 16 hour day trip. I had a med Telescope and a small pearlscale. I bought a 11 gallon rubbermaid bathroom container, put a thivk garbage bag into it and filled about half full. I bought a cheap sponge type filter and plugged it into the car with a AC adapter so that their was plenty of aeration. Oh I forgot I had this running for 24 hours before leaving. Then I loosely tied the the top of the bag so that no water would spill but the air would be able to escape. We had no problems and the fish are fine. I wouldn't have changed anything even if we made it a 2 day trip.

Wow. Ill probably have at least 20 fish!! Its only going to be a 2 day trip. Biggest one is 9" then they go all the way down to 1 1/2".

Well, you might be able to cramp them together somewhat, but you really have to watch the ammonia like a hawk. And no food for at least 4 days before the trip. For the particular load of fish its probably the best when you have sponge filters connected to the airpumps instead of an airstone. That way the fish are at least with a cycled filtration, and if its only biological - no waste will actually be taken out, just processed.

I would still be planning on using at least 3-4 containers. If most of your fish fall under the 5 inch size, then more fish can go into one container.

Thanks Andrea! I can definitely get sponge filters instead of airstones. Would work out without being plugged in and everything so thats no problem.

I have a concern with doing water changes on the road. How about if the water in the hotels is radically different than the water at home? How will this affect the fish?

That depends mostly on how much of a difference - some things the fish don't bother them too much. Most important is the temperature, and of course the pH. Just remember that its easier on the fish if the fish is higher pH, than it would be with lower pH. If its drastically lower, then its probably best to have the hotel water sit out in an extra empty container for a couple of hours with an airstone, and then adjust the pH with baking soda.

This is great! I was looking for something like this. I'm moving soon and needed info on how to move my goldfish.

Thanks!

P.S. I'm new here.