We are moving house soon, not too far but i was wondering what the best way to transport goldfish is?

I had to do this same exact thing several years ago. I don't know what size of tank you are currently housing your goldfish in. I have 3 goldfish in a 29 gallon tank. I specifically put time aside just to get the goldfish moved. I siphoned out half of their water into a brand new 30 gallon rubbermaid garbage can(i rinsed out the can very well before siphoning). Then I put the fish with more water from the tank into a 2 gallon plastic bucket with a lid. I siphoned out the rest of the water but about 2 inches of it. I didn't want to remove the gravel(I keep about 1/2 inch on the bottom). Then I had to have help picking up everything(the tank and the stand) and we transported it all in the back of a pickup truck, except for the fish that rode up front with me. It was only about a 20 minute trip. We immediately got everything in the new place. I had another 2 gallon bucket which I used to fill the tank back up with the 15 gallons of aquarium water I saved. Then I put my fish back in. Then it was just a matter of plugging filters back in and filling the rest of the tank back up. The fish were slightly stressed, but that's going to happen. By the end of the day it was like nothing had ever happened as far as they were concerned. The only out of pocket expense was the garbage can which was 10 dollars. I already had the 2 gallon buckets. I just needed two strong men to help. Good luck!

Hi, I believe I can assist you here. I just moved my 75 gallon tank stand and population a few towns over. What I did was took out all the decorations first, shut down all the powered units, and then I used the bags from the local pet store I got from them, put in about 1/3rd full of the tank water, and netted out my fish in groups of two or three. I then drained out the tank, bagged up as much of the gravel as I could, and put the rest of the parts back in the tank. We moved it downstairs and into the truck. It took about 4 hours total time.

I think looking back on this, and some advice I saw input on another moving question I really would use next time; don't feed the fish the day before you are going to move them, if the time in transit is going to be for a few hours. This will cut down the amount of waste they produce in that bag. Keep in mind, there is no filtration going on in that bag, so ammonia exposure though short term, is going to be very high. One thing you can also do to help keep the stress of that down is to put some stress zyme in the bag. That is one of the few times I'd advocate using them store chemicals.

If you need more input or ideas, shoot me an email.

JV

If it's a short trip (say with in an hour) then use zip lock baggies. make sure you use some of their tank water, and gt plenty of air in the bag too. Separate them as necessary. put maybe two fish per large bag. If they are large fish one bag a fish, use your judgment. :)

A cooler works too, but be cautious of extreme temps. In the car the cooler could become too hot, and boil the fish. Leave the lid off, and maybe use the cooler just as containment for the baggies filled with fish. ... then once you get to your new house you can then unload all the baggies into the cooler till the tank is set up.

Good Luck!

Set your aquarium up at the new place a few days before. transport your fish in a cooler with a little of the water from his tank/bowl. This is how fish are shipped, large ice chests!

it relies upon what number hours are you going to trip. if it takes hours, you may desire to placed your goldfish to a trip aquarium this is safer. If crossing the island, then, touch a shifting agencies that would supply you the right transportable storage bins on your goldfish.

If its only an hour or 2 simply put them in a five gallon bucket containing the water originally in the aquarium-theyll be fine.

Put them in fish bags (ask for some at the pet/fish shopp or offer to pay for them). Then put them in a box or sit them in side the tank, and when you get to your new location set the tank up and put them in.

put it in a bucket and put a top over it then move it