Large box for moving a big fish

[Alan]

I'm finally moving my big giraffe catfish to a new home, and am in need of a suitable sized container for the trip. My fish is now 32" long (TL), 11" deep and 10" wide (including fins). I'm sure I'm not the first who has needed such an item, so was wondering what other people had used.

I do have a tub that is 28" long, but I think that's too small for a 2.5hr car journey. I have also looked into getting a water header tank, but at £95 for a single trip seems a bit much! My present plan is to build a frame and put a pond liner in it! So any suggestions would be great. Thanks.

[RickE]

I can't help with the container Alan, but your giraffe sounds beaut. Can you take some pics when you do the move?

[MatsP]

Frame of wood + suitable board (I'd probably use the "big chip" board - the stuff that is halfway between plywood and chipboard) and then a pond liner sounds fine to me.

You may want to check the local tip to see if they have a bath-tub... Can always fill the plug-hole with a piece of perspex & silicon.

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Mats

[wrasse]

Flippin 'eck! - My first thought.....
Second thought - a battery powered air pump.
Third thought - yep, a bath - with a lid!!!

But keep thinking...

[andywoolloo]

Good idea the wood frame pool liner thing.

Also, they make really gigantic coolers with handles. We have a huge white one that is, it's like 4 feet long and at least two feet tall. got it at walmart or something, it's an igloo I think or rubbermaid cooler.

Picking it up with him and his water in it tho could be tough. Maybe get it all set up in the car/truck then carry him to it? hmmm. Unknown how squiggly he might be. In that video that was on here, the german one where he moved all his huge fish from one house to another, they netted them and carried them in the net to the moving truck that had the moving water unit in it.

And defintely some battery operated air pumps, I agree.

[Richard B]

Got any friends or contacts who show Koi? I've seen circular plactic vats with a 4 foot diameter & about 2 foot deep - no lid though...

[PeterUK]

How about a large plastic storage box from B&Q or suchlike ?

I have a large storage box with lid which I bought from B&Q which is approx 48in X 24in X 24in and cost £15.00
I have used it for hatching frogspawn, temp housing of goldfish (2 months) and as an emergency quarantine tank.
Just dont fill it all the way with water as they start to bow outwards when over 1/2 full.

[wrasse]

Yes, I used these to move the fish when we moved house. Fish stayed in them for a couple of days with internal filters and heater/stat running in them as well. Didn't know they sell a 4' one.....

[Bas Pels]

@ battery pumps, I once got a converter for my car: it converts the 12 V DC battery power into 220 V AC which can be used with an ordinary pump. I'm quite certain types for 110 V excist as well

For use only once, I'm afraid they are a bit expensive, but once bought you might have other use for them - such as cooling food for a picnick

[MatsP]

If this was America, I would definitely recommend a big cooler. Unfortunately, the big ones are very expensive here in the UK - in the US I think a 50 gal one could be had for between $50-100 in the nearest large supermarket. But in this country, they aren't that popular/common, so you end up going to specialist shops to get them, and as expected, prices are then ridiculous.

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Mats