I fill the coolers 2/3's and let them slosh around, which doesn't end up with
much water on the floor. They're fine with it, it's extra aeration, and it's
probably even better to have the loose space so they can just ride the wave if
you have to slam on the breaks. I also leave sand and gravel substrate in the
coolers at all times with water so there is also a biological filter. I drill
a hold in the top and run an airline into them, which I drive a goodly sized
air pump off of an a/c converter. By goodly sized, I mean it's creating
current in the cooler when it's, um, not sloshing around. I try to change
water as often as possible and drop in a bag of carbon for good measure.
They're okay with that flying around too.
I've done 3 trips now that were over a week and I've NEVER had transporation
problems (well besides teeny gaps that Phoxinus STILL managed to get out, but
that's a different beast). I took fish out of a heated slough once on Spring
Fling 2 this year, and that was a mistake to co-mingle them with fish out of
the mainstem... But the stuff that was quarantined from them on that trip were
just fine and they were in the coolers even _longer_ than all those fish.
Heat is a whole other issue, and probably what's got fish in the past, and
what I'm sure was the problem when I took the fish from the slough... Really
it's best to do this below 70 degrees, but sometimes you have to do what you
have to do. In my case, in the future when I do the Panhandle and south
'Bammy again, I'm going in February or early March, not Mid-April.
Hope this helps.
Todd
The Muddy Maumee Madness, Toledo, OH
It's never too late to have a happy childhood.
http://www.farmertodd.com
________________________________
From: owner-nanfa-l-in-nanfa.org on behalf of Peter Unmack
Sent: Sat 8/12/2006 7:30 PM
To: nanfa-l
Subject: NANFA-L-- fish transportation
G'day folks
I am going to need to move a bunch of fish (minnows, mostly Cyprinella)
over a two day road trip in the near future. I have always done short
term movements in coolers, but it gets a bit messy with water splashing
around. I have a few questions. Do folks have suggestions on different
transportation methods? I have thought about using fish boxes (and/or
coolers) and bagging the fish in large bags. This would be a lot less
water (and weight), but would mean the fish would have to endure more
sloshing around. Alternatively, if I do use coolers, do folks have any
suggestions on brands/types that are less prone to leaking water out the
top with the lids closed? Also, when I move fish in coolers I tend to
keep them pretty full to reduce sloshing around. I presume other folks
usually do this as well? I'm not really sure how important sloshing
really is in terms of avoiding it.
If anyone has any thoughts on that they'd be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Peter Unmack
Provo River, Utah
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/ reflect the beliefs or goals of NANFA. For more information about NANFA,
/ visit http://www.nanfa.org Please make sure all posts to nanfa-l are
/ consistent with the guidelines as per
/ http://www.nanfa.org/guidelines.shtml To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get
/ help, visit the NANFA email list home page and archive at
/ http://www.nanfa.org/email.shtml