Moving W/ My Betta

HI all!
I’m leaving for school in a few days and I’m planning on taking my betta fish and aquarium with me (I’m allowed to have them in my dorm, and there’s no way my parents would take care of the tank if I left it home).
I’m driving with all my stuff and, honestly, the drive is longer than I’d like, but it shouldn’t be more than 36 hours with one stopover. My plan was to put him in a sealed container with air holes and possibly a heat pack (I’d also be putting them inside a box with a towel or something to keep them from moving around), and to bring as much extra tank water as possible for him.
Does this sound like a decent plan (given the situation)? Any suggestions? I’ll take any and all advice you’ve got, because I’ve never had the little guy in the car for more than an hour.

 

I’d fast him a couple days before and during the trip. I’d also forego the heat pack. Completely unnecessary this time of year, even with air conditioning in the car. Good luck, but I think he should be fine.

 

I'd also add in some Stressguard to keep him chill while in transportation and prevent him from getting an infection from any opportunistic bacteria attacking while his immune system is compromised from being stressed.

 

I would recommend a 2 gallon or 5 gallon bucket from Lowes with a lid. Fill it half way (1g in the 2 gallon or 2 gallon in the 5g) and secure the lid. You can open the lid for fresh air during gas stops. Air holes aren't needed. Bring some dechlorinator if you want to do a water change at night but that shouldn't be necessary. Stress Coat would be better than Prime for the trip. Old tank water has no benefits so it would just be a hassle. If you have a filter, you can get a 2nd bucket for the filter media, gravel and decoration. Put old tank water or treated water in to keep it all wet so the BB doesn't die off.

Safe travels!

 

I would recommend a 2 gallon or 5 gallon bucket from Lowes with a lid. Fill it half way (1g in the 2 gallon or 2 gallon in the 5g) and secure the lid. You can open the lid for fresh air during gas stops. Air holes aren't needed. Bring some dechlorinator if you want to do a water change at night but that shouldn't be necessary. Stress Coat would be better than Prime for the trip. Old tank water has no benefits so it would just be a hassle. If you have a filter, you can get a 2nd bucket for the filter media, gravel and decoration. Put old tank water or treated water in to keep it all wet so the BB doesn't die off.

Safe travels!

I’d heard that it’s hard to maintain a cycle without heat and the motor running - I figured I’d just have to start the cycle over when I got there. Do you think it’ll stay mostly intact if I keep the cartridge and substrate in water?

 

I'd also add in some Stressguard to keep him chill while in transportation and prevent him from getting an infection from any opportunistic bacteria attacking while his immune system is compromised from being stressed.

Any thoughts on water from different areas? I thought it could add stress on top of stress to put him in water that may be quite different from the water at home (I’m in the northeast, stopping in the Carolinas and ending way down south). If salvaging tank water helps keep stress down then I’ll do that, but if it’s unnecessary then obviously I’d like to save space!

 

I’d heard that it’s hard to maintain a cycle without heat and the motor running - I figured I’d just have to start the cycle over when I got there. Do you think it’ll stay mostly intact if I keep the cartridge and substrate in water?

If it's freshly cycled, it can be fragile but if it's a few months old or more, it should survive the trip.

Any thoughts on water from different areas? I thought it could add stress on top of stress to put him in water that may be quite different from the water at home (I’m in the northeast, stopping in the Carolinas and ending way down south). If salvaging tank water helps keep stress down then I’ll do that, but if it’s unnecessary then obviously I’d like to save space!

Do a slow drip acclimation for an hour and you should be fine. Bettas are pretty hardy.

 

I'm also a college student and have traveled with my last betta many times. Here's my best recommendations/what I found worked best:

*Save your filter cartridges/sponges - this is where most BB lives and can really help start up your Nitrogen Cycle in your tank once you've made it to the dorms. Keep them submerged in tank water. I would often put mine in a tupperware that was no more than 2-3" tall full of tank water so little tank water is needed.

*Fast your betta for two full days prior to travel - when really stressed, they can either deficate/regurgitate all their stomach contents which will make their travels both more stressful and just plain gross. Don't worry about your betta starving. A betta in healthy condition can go up to two weeks without food.

*Keep betta in tank water - I traveled with my betta on a plane so I kept him in a Gatorade bottle full of tank water. I would remove lid for air exchange/new air during the entire layover and that seemed sufficient.

*Acclimate betta to new water slowly - when you arrive to the college, it's likely that the water in the area will be drastically different from the water back home. It can have different amounts of ammonia, hardness and pH. More on this below.

I recommend setting up your tank ASAP when you get to the dorm. If you have a heater/thermometer, get your tank to a stable temperature prior to acclimating your betta to his new tank.

To acclimate, add small amounts of water from newly set up tank to container with betta. This will adjust him to the new chemistry of the water in the local area. Since I had my betta in a gatorade bottle, I would pour out maybe 1/5 of water from the bottle each morning and replace it with the tank water in the newly set up tank. I did this for I think 3 or 4 days before placing my betta in the tank itself. He was so happy once he was back in the tank, he wouldn't sit still Be sure to add conditioner to all tap water to remove ammonia/chloramines.

Hope this helps!

I also have a question for you: how big of a tank/bowl will your betta be in once you get to the dorm? Another thing to keep in mind is the survival of the BB. When you set up the tank in the dorms, you'll need to provide food for the BB to break down since your betta will not be in the tank for 3-4 days to provide materials that they usually survive off of. My tank is 4 gallons and 2 pellets every other day seems to be sufficient.

 

I'm also a college student and have traveled with my last betta many times. Here's my best recommendations/what I found worked best:

*Save your filter cartridges/sponges - this is where most BB lives and can really help start up your Nitrogen Cycle in your tank once you've made it to the dorms. Keep them submerged in tank water. I would often put mine in a tupperware that was no more than 2-3" tall full of tank water so little tank water is needed.

*Fast your betta for two full days prior to travel - when really stressed, they can either deficate/regurgitate all their stomach contents which will make their travels both more stressful and just plain gross. Don't worry about your betta starving. A betta in healthy condition can go up to two weeks without food.

*Keep betta in tank water - I traveled with my betta on a plane so I kept him in a Gatorade bottle full of tank water. I would remove lid for air exchange/new air during the entire layover and that seemed sufficient.

*Acclimate betta to new water slowly - when you arrive to the college, it's likely that the water in the area will be drastically different from the water back home. It can have different amounts of ammonia, hardness and pH. More on this below.

I recommend setting up your tank ASAP when you get to the dorm. If you have a heater/thermometer, get your tank to a stable temperature prior to acclimating your betta to his new tank.

To acclimate, add small amounts of water from newly set up tank to container with betta. This will adjust him to the new chemistry of the water in the local area. Since I had my betta in a gatorade bottle, I would pour out maybe 1/5 of water from the bottle each morning and replace it with the tank water in the newly set up tank. I did this for I think 3 or 4 days before placing my betta in the tank itself. He was so happy once he was back in the tank, he wouldn't sit still Be sure to add conditioner to all tap water to remove ammonia/chloramines.

Hope this helps!

I also have a question for you: how big of a tank/bowl will your betta be in once you get to the dorm? Another thing to keep in mind is the survival of the BB. When you set up the tank in the dorms, you'll need to provide food for the BB to break down since your betta will not be in the tank for 3-4 days to provide materials that they usually survive off of. My tank is 4 gallons and 2 pellets every other day seems to be sufficient.

It’s 2.5 gallons. I have the filter cartridge and some of the plants in one container, my betta, marimos and some rocks in another, and the rest of my substrate in a third. The only thing I wasn’t sure about was that my substrate (rocks) is wet, but not submerged in water. Is that an okay way for it to travel?

 

That should be fine. From what I've read/experienced, not much BB lives in the gravel so it's okay if that dries out a bit. I'm new to live plants myself and have never traveled with a betta in the same tub as live plants so I couldn't speak much on that. I feel as long as the plants don't bump into him too much or pin him, it should be fine. Hope all goes well! Bettas are, thankfully, fairly hardy fish.