Pond Boss
Posted By: Ervin Transporting fish - 07/10/22 11:43 PM
In 2 weeks I am going to purchase fish at a hatchery about 2 hours away, has anyone ever transport fish that far and if so how did you do it, will be getting 200 hybrid bluegill and a 100 regular bluegill and 5 grass carp
Posted By: anthropic Re: Transporting fish - 07/11/22 01:08 AM
Ervin, I'm not the great authority on fish stocking, but I do know that hatcheries around here are loath to do it when temps are blazing hot. Too much stress on the fish.
Posted By: Sunil Re: Transporting fish - 07/11/22 01:34 AM
In PA, I've picked up fish from a hatchery.

The fish are put in bags half filled with water and the other half, pure oxygen. Then the bags are put into boxes with styrofoam insulation, and then sealed up.

Like anth mentions, summer time is not the best time for stocking, so take more time to acclimate the fish to the pond water and temperature.
Posted By: anthropic Re: Transporting fish - 07/11/22 06:14 AM
If possible, choose a cool, cloudy day and go early.
Posted By: tim k Re: Transporting fish - 07/11/22 12:14 PM
I would think you need to aerate the water you are transporting them in
Posted By: Sunil Re: Transporting fish - 07/11/22 01:08 PM
Ask the hatchery how they prepare the fish for pick-up.

If they don't do it the way I described, then you'll need to prepare differently, and like tim k suggests, you may need to address some mobile aeration as well as some temperature control.

Further, if you go with something like a larger cooler, it may help to put some kind of soft barrier against the walls as I've seen many fish with injuries from bumping up against fish tank walls during transport; this was more for mature fish though.
Posted By: esshup Re: Transporting fish - 07/11/22 01:29 PM
If you can keep the bags inside the vehicle in the A/C you should be fine. LIke Sunil said, you have to acclimate the fish to the water they are going in, like you float the bags in an aquarium to acclimate the fish. Water temps have to be pretty close to being the same before you release them.
Posted By: FireIsHot Re: Transporting fish - 07/12/22 07:33 PM
At the minimum, split the 200 HBG into 2 bags. That should help survivability since there will be less crowding, and more available O2 per fish.
Posted By: Dave Davidson1 Re: Transporting fish - 07/13/22 12:51 AM
These guys are giving good advice about transporting. That’s part of the trick. The next is acclimating them to the new water temps. Float them until the water temps are within 5 degrees of each other at the maximum. Watch for stressed fish if they start running out of O2.
Posted By: Incept Re: Transporting fish - 07/18/22 05:49 AM
We just stocked 110 trout ranging from 4" - 12". Our travel distance and time was about 5 1/2 hours. I have a 300 gallon water tank I put in my truck box and under advise of the hatchery I took my oxygen bottle off my torch, secured it in the box and set the regulator to the correct pressure for a small diffuser the hatchery sold me. Worked great.
Posted By: Pat Williamson Re: Transporting fish - 07/18/22 04:11 PM
Good way to oxygenate the water, how much water did you put in the 300 gal tote?
Posted By: Incept Re: Transporting fish - 07/19/22 04:00 AM
We put as much in it as we could. Pretty much full. I use it in my one ton. Don't think the half ton would like it much..
Posted By: Pat Williamson Re: Transporting fish - 07/19/22 08:45 PM
That’s over 2400 lbs …. Lot on any vehicle
Posted By: FishinRod Re: Transporting fish - 07/19/22 10:32 PM
Originally Posted by Pat Williamson
That’s over 2400 lbs …. Lot on any vehicle

Agreed!

I haul that much with my little half-ton pickup - by putting all of that weight on the trailer. cool

It works fine when I haul water to irrigate my trees. However, I am not attempting to give fish a smooth ride.

Which actually gives a smoother ride for precious cargo, the bed of a pickup loaded to near the weight capacity, or a trailer?
Posted By: Pat Williamson Re: Transporting fish - 07/20/22 12:28 AM
You can pull lots of weight better on a trailer than putting it in the bed. Ride probably better it truck than bouncing on trailer
Posted By: FishinRod Re: Transporting fish - 07/20/22 02:27 AM
Originally Posted by Pat Williamson
You can pull lots of weight better on a trailer than putting it in the bed. Ride probably better it truck than bouncing on trailer

Thanks Pat.

I feel the sloshing when hauling in either the bed or on the trailer.

I ended up getting some truck-bed tanks that I can fill to the brim to reduce sloshing and still have 300# of excess load capacity for my butt plus some gear.

I will definitely load fish in the bed to avoid beating the heck out of them!
Posted By: esshup Re: Transporting fish - 07/20/22 03:41 AM
The key to driving with water in the tanks is 100% full or 100% empty. Keep a lid on the tanks so water can't slosh out.
Posted By: FireIsHot Re: Transporting fish - 07/20/22 02:00 PM
What esshup said. My boss and I took a load of CNBG to Bowie one year. We used a 3/4 full 240 gallon tote on a trailer, and we were sea sick from the sloshing by the time we got there.
Posted By: FishinRod Re: Transporting fish - 07/20/22 02:19 PM
Originally Posted by FireIsHot
What esshup said. My boss and I took a load of CNBG to Bowie one year. We used a 3/4 full 240 gallon tote on a trailer, and we were sea sick from the sloshing by the time we got there.

How did the CNBG do when you released them in the pond? Did the rough ride cause a high mortality rate?

I agree with esshup that full tanks are best, but the trade off is that you don't have any air in the top of the tank for the extra oxygen needed to get the fish to their destination.

I am just trying to figure out "best practices" for when people on PB don't have a professional hauling the fish.
Posted By: esshup Re: Transporting fish - 07/20/22 02:52 PM
Originally Posted by FishinRod
Originally Posted by FireIsHot
What esshup said. My boss and I took a load of CNBG to Bowie one year. We used a 3/4 full 240 gallon tote on a trailer, and we were sea sick from the sloshing by the time we got there.

How did the CNBG do when you released them in the pond? Did the rough ride cause a high mortality rate?

I agree with esshup that full tanks are best, but the trade off is that you don't have any air in the top of the tank for the extra oxygen needed to get the fish to their destination.

I am just trying to figure out "best practices" for when people on PB don't have a professional hauling the fish.

The air on top of the water won't do much, you really need to run pure O2, a pressure control valve and a flow meter along with an aeration stone to properly transport fish. You can get away with not using O2 if the fish load is very light and the trip isn't long, but with today's fuel costs it's probably cheaper to buy the fish and have them delivered.

At the very least use a pump and a spray bar in a cooler.
Posted By: FireIsHot Re: Transporting fish - 07/20/22 03:21 PM
Originally Posted by FishinRod
Originally Posted by FireIsHot
What esshup said. My boss and I took a load of CNBG to Bowie one year. We used a 3/4 full 240 gallon tote on a trailer, and we were sea sick from the sloshing by the time we got there.

How did the CNBG do when you released them in the pond? Did the rough ride cause a high mortality rate?

I agree with esshup that full tanks are best, but the trade off is that you don't have any air in the top of the tank for the extra oxygen needed to get the fish to their destination.

I am just trying to figure out "best practices" for when people on PB don't have a professional hauling the fish.

The fish did fine. Zero Morts. O2, a little salt, and a little clove oil, makes everything better. I'll post a pick of my portable O2 rig later today, That'll clear things up.
Posted By: Pat Williamson Re: Transporting fish - 07/20/22 07:58 PM
They sell o2 kits at bait camps all along the coast for hauling croaker for bait for trout and redfish. Any regulator for O2 bottle should work hooked up to an air stone
Posted By: FireIsHot Re: Transporting fish - 07/20/22 09:07 PM
Appears there's pic issues. I'll see what I can find out.

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Posted By: esshup Re: Transporting fish - 07/21/22 12:55 AM
There are air stones specifically for O2, and there are air stones for air. The air stones for O2 aren't supposed to be used at over 40 psi., and you need to turn down the volume of O2 or you could harm the fish.
Posted By: FishinRod Re: Transporting fish - 07/21/22 03:11 AM
Thanks for all of the great information everyone!
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