4hr Drive With Fish Help

Hey everyone, so I'm graduating college soon so that means I gotta move my aquarium out and bring everything. Luckily I already did one trip, so all the heavy items won't be with me when I move the fish. However, I've been looking around online and trying to figure out how to best move the fish. Here are the fish being moved:

10g Tank: 7 sparkling gourami + a Nerite Snail
5g Tank (I'm adopting this tank from a friend): 1 betta + 5 Ember Tetra + 2 Amano Shrimp

The drive can be anywhere from 2 and half to 4 hours depending on traffic and weather (lord help me if it rains... the traffic always seems to be terrible then). It will be a fair amount of stop and go for the first half.

My question is how is it best to bag these fish (meaning what fish should go in what bag), how big should the bags be, and will it be necessary to put compressed air into the bags? The last note is the important one. Many of the sources I found online say to do this but unfortunately there are no LFS that are on the way home that won't make the trip take a least another hour+ longer. The fish are all small, so if I get a large enough bag will the naturally trapped air be enough to sustain the fish?

I have about a week until the move, so I haven't started the fasting of the fish and the daily water changes. Thank you in advance to anyone who can help!

 

Get 2 5 gallon buckets.

Fill them with all tank contents. Add filters in(To keep BB alive)

Get 2 battery powered airpumps

Travel

 

Every time i've had to move I put all my fish in a 5 gallon bucket with a battery powered air pump and lid. I moved cross country years ago and they were in there for two days no problem.

 

For a 4 hr drive, you don't need an air pump. 2 5g buckets with lids will be fine. Fill about 2.5g of tank water and put filter media in the bucket.

Don't feed them a day before you move.

 

You could also get a 12 hour oxygen tablet that fishermen use to keep their bait alive.

 

Since everyone seems to be in agreement on 2, 5 gal buckets, is that one bucket for each tank?

I'll also have plants in the buckets, so that should help with diffusing aggression and at least give the fish some hiding places

 

You've got it, I have had my sister transport five fully grown angels in a five gallon bucket from FL to VA, this was her first experience and I advised her to cover the tank (to prevent water from getting out and to keep the fish calmer because darkness will make them react similar to birds and keep them quiet) and keep it in the front floor board. All five made it (three males, two females), they weren't stressed out and immediately were full color and swimming around ready to eat once placed in their new home.

 

Sounds good to me! One final question: I saw in a video on youtube while doing my own research before coming here of a hobbyist who utilized plastic bags as the lids for his 5g buckets. His rationale was that he was squishing the buckets between the seats so they would warp and the lids would come off. The one bucket I have unfortunately does not have a lid so would this be viable or should I try and find lids? And if I do utilize lids should there be holes put into the lids?

Another clean bucket is going to be brought up from home so I'll still eventually have 2 buckets

 

If they are regular five gallon buckets, lowes has lids that will fit them.

 

If you’re really that worried you can aerate the water yourself by getting a cup and just filling it and dumping it back into the bucket a few times

 

If you have or get lids for the buckets, you can drill a hole in the center of the top to allow air. Then you can fully close the lid to the bucket and it shouldn't splash... think of it like a giant iced drink cup... that's how I transported my betta fish during hurricane Irma evacuation last year. I kept a small plant from their tank in each one with them. They did great!