Buying fish 3-4 hours away

[cst0215]

I have a really limited selection of marine fish where I live, but a major city is 3-4 hours away. Any tips for buying fish/corals/inverts and keeping them in good health on the trip home?

My thoughts were to have the retailer put in large bags and put the fish in a cooler. Keep the cars interior around 75 degrees. Any other tips such as additives for the water (methylene blue, etc)?

Thank you

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Just let them know you have a long drive, they will provide a larger bag and fill it with oxygen. IMO nothing special is really needed, I keep the temp where its comfortable for me and I play loud music. I have a favorite LFS 3 hours drive away so I've done it a few times. Good luck

 

[Rocco's Reef]

I do the same, I also bring a cooler to put the fish in so I don’t have to have car temp be warmer than what I like.

 

[Baldyreef]

I have a really limited selection of marine fish where I live, but a major city is 3-4 hours away. Any tips for buying fish/corals/inverts and keeping them in good health on the trip home?

My thoughts were to have the retailer put in large bags and put the fish in a cooler. Keep the cars interior around 75 degrees. Any other tips such as additives for the water (methylene blue, etc)?

Thank you

I think you got it all good methylene blue can be added as a disenfectant and can calm the fish to some extent but is not mandatory for only a 3-4 hour ride, what kind of fish are you thinking of picking up?

 

[Baldyreef]

Just let them know you have a long drive, they will provide a larger bag and fill it with oxygen. IMO nothing special is really needed, I keep the temp where its comfortable for me and I play loud music. I have a favorite LFS 3 hours drive away so I've done it a few times. Good luck

the loud music is extremely essential to the health of the fish, they cant be without good music

 

[Finn450]

I'd rather have them in a larger bag with oxygen as stated above, than rely on Fedex and being in a bag for 24 hours. You have total control.

 

[MC Blowfish]

It's better for them than having them shipped to you. Get a cooler to keep them in, and you should be fine. I would go straight home. If you have to stop for gas or a bathroom break, they'll be fine. I wouldn't stop on the way to see a movie or anything.

 

[Privateye]

Definitely a cooler as others have mentioned.

For corals, you should be fine with the standard bagging methods. They don't consume much oxygen. I wouldn't even worry about an overnight trip.

Snails should be fine with just air. They don't consume much either.

For fish I would recommend having them bag with oxygen. I used to work for a decent-sized LFS in Florida. We had customers drive from as far as South Carolina to buy our fish. They usually made sizeable purchases to make the trip worthwhile, so the least we could do is arrange the rest. We sent them out with styrofoam coolers and bagged the fish with oxygen. No issues reported.

I'd recommend oxygen for shrimp and crabs too. Crabs seem to consume little oxygen relative to fish, but I know how sensitive shrimp can be to low dissolved oxygen. I'd just treat both shrimp and crabs like fish to be safe.