Hi, everyone, I am picking up my first fish order on Oct 15. I have ordered 125 6-8 inch Channel Catfish. I may order some more before the pickup date. Can you post some links from this forum or youtube etc that will give me some info to show me the best way to transport my fish. I have about a 20 minute drive from pickup to pond. Do i need to try and aerate or add oxygen on the way? What kind of vessel should I transport the fish in? How many Gallons of water are required for that amount of fish. Any info would be appreciated, Thanks

Ask the guy that's selling you the CC. I buy from a fish farm one hour away. He places fish in large plastic bags, inflates with oxygen and slips the bags into paper sacks normally used for livestock feed. I've never had any arrive dead. What does your guy normally do?

I am about an hour from my fish farm as well. My guys do the same as dg84s with O2 in bags. I drop the bags into big coolers for the trip. To me there are two keys to success. Not too many fish per bag and proper acclimation once you get to the pond. Don't be impatient, acclimate both temperature and water. Takes some time but I have never lost any fish using that approach. I have never used aeration, salt, etc. for such a short trip.

I agree, ask the guy who you are getting the fish from. One thing, CC have sharp fins, and can poke holes in bags easily.

My fish came from Nemo Fisheries. Since this was my first time ordering fish, I was not sure what I was getting myself into. The brochure said to bring trash cans, buckets, coolers or stock tanks so I bought a 55 gallon industrial tote with lid from Home Depot. I bought four of those Frabil aerators that are battery powered. I drilled four holes in the lid of the tote for the hoses and made a bracket to hold the four aerators in place. On pickup day I added about 30 gallons of well water and off I went. It worked great. I'll have to post some pics sometime.

Duke, at only 20 minutes, most fish sellers provide bags and add oxygen. I've hauled fish 50 miles with no ill effects. Of course, I generally exceed the speed limit and sweat a lot.

Done correctly and keeping the packaged fish out of the sun during cool temperatures, I've hauled fish 4 hours in bags and boxes with no losses. One of the most important features for this is to not over crowd the fish. Respiring fish produce ammonia with is very stressful and at high enough concentration quickly kills fish. The place I always got my fish from used two bags per box for fish that had sharp spines.

I am looking to get some fish for my pond. But the water in my ponds are still muddy from the storms we have had. Should I wait to get the fish until the water has cleared up. I plan on getting some cc and res.

When I stocked my newly dug pond it was muddy for lack of ANY vegetation on the banks. Stocked approx. 2500 fish and only ever saw 3 dead fish floating. Muddy water did not seem to bother them at all, I started them on food pellets from day one so they could"find" something to eat. Just what I did.

Are there fish there now ? FH can do well in muddy water. If no fish now then what will the new fish eat ? Start with the base of the food chain and work up.