Moving

Dawson_hatton

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alright so i’m moving across country and when I say that I literally mean ACROSS THE COUNTRY. I’m moving from Hawaii to North Carolina. I have a 20 gallon reef tank with a blue zebra hermit crab and a false perc. I’ve tried to find people to give the fish to, even my LFS and no one will take it so it appears that my only option is to bring it. I’m not worried about the air travel but we will be in San Diego for 2 weeks before we start the 5 day drive. Clowns are very hardy so I believe he will survive but the question is how should I do this? what supplies do I need? and what procedures can I take to insure his survival? so far my plan is to keep him in a 5 gallon cooler with a heater, battery powered air pump, and plug the filter in for whenever I’m stopped somewhere. but how about ammonia spikes and all that stuff? I remember when I treated him for velvet I kept him in a 5 gallon bucket half way full for a week or two and there was a very minor ammonia spike but he did fine. I just need suggestions and stuff, the move is approaching fast and I’m overwhelmed, thanks :)
 
Sounds like a plan! Be sure to bring along a few jugs of saltwater to do water changes (or stop at local pet stores here and there and buy the premixed stuff)
 
Ideally, I'd set up the 5 gallon cooler when you get to San Diego, hunt up an LFS to buy water from, and do a 100% water change every week.

If you have the filter (and it's cycled), then you shouldn't need to worry about ammonia spikes. Just do a water change every week.

Personally, I'm more worried about how you're going to get past Hawaii's agricultural officers when you fly out...
 
Ideally, I'd set up the 5 gallon cooler when you get to San Diego, hunt up an LFS to buy water from, and do a 100% water change every week.

If you have the filter (and it's cycled), then you shouldn't need to worry about ammonia spikes. Just do a water change every week.

Personally, I'm more worried about how you're going to get past Hawaii's agricultural officers when you fly out...
You can legally carry live fish with you onto a plane from hawaii. Inverts I don't think so...

The problem I ran into before was that even know it was legal to bring live fish my airline had their own rules and wouldn't allow it.
 
Not ideal situation, but it can be done.

Just throwing another option, as soon as you get to San Diego, ask any LFS if they want to take your clown. I would think there would be one that will accept them.

The stress of moving can be hard to the clowns and possibly can introduce illness or even death.
 
Not ideal situation, but it can be done.

Just throwing another option, as soon as you get to San Diego, ask any LFS if they want to take your clown. I would think there would be one that will accept them.

The stress of moving can be hard to the clowns and possibly can introduce illness or even death.
well that’s what I was worried about too, however I did do the same thing with the clown while treating him for velvet experimentally with hydrogen peroxide (not lying look into it it actually works 90% the time) and he lived under a barely traceable ammonia spike for around 2 weeks in about 3 gallons of water being topped off every day while obviously being stressed from treatment so I think he should be alright for a couple more weeks while being healthy, but who knows things change. I’ll keep everyone updated on the journey!
 
You can legally carry live fish with you onto a plane from hawaii. Inverts I don't think so...

The problem I ran into before was that even know it was legal to bring live fish my airline had their own rules and wouldn't allow it.
from my research i’ve come to the conclusion that if you just put it in your backpack and say nothing t the airline you’ll be fine, but I was worried about them seeing it and saying something.
 
from my research i’ve come to the conclusion that if you just put it in your backpack and say nothing t the airline you’ll be fine, but I was worried about them seeing it and saying something.
I would say you are correct (for the fish anyways). You should be able to get past security (don't try to hide it from them!) and the airline itself won't search your bags
 
To clarify, when I've been to Hawaii, Fish and Wildlife/Agriculture has been rather intimidating (I can't think of any other US domestic airport that screens your luggage for live animals).

TSA on the other hand...aside from a very scary TSA officer at San Jose Mineta (loud, intimidating voice "WHAT ARE YOU HOLDING?!?!?!!?"), and some very funny ones at the Little Rock ("uhh....what's protocol for live fish??"), is usually a breeze to get past as long as there's a fish in there and it's alive, and you clarify that, yes, it is indeed a live fish, and not actually your lunch. But I also agree with what kenny says; each time I travel with fish, I've printed out the TSA regulations and stuck them in the (dry) fish carrying container, which has the (wet) plastic bag of fish in it.

Oh, and leaping off of aior0s, you could call the LFS' ahead of time just to see if any are looking to take your clown in after you land.

What island are you flying in from?
 
To clarify, when I've been to Hawaii, Fish and Wildlife/Agriculture has been rather intimidating (I can't think of any other US domestic airport that screens your luggage for live animals).

TSA on the other hand...aside from a very scary TSA officer at San Jose Mineta (loud, intimidating voice "WHAT ARE YOU HOLDING?!?!?!!?"), and some very funny ones at the Little Rock ("uhh....what's protocol for live fish??"), is usually a breeze to get past as long as there's a fish in there and it's alive, and you clarify that, yes, it is indeed a live fish, and not actually your lunch. But I also agree with what kenny says; each time I travel with fish, I've printed out the TSA regulations and stuck them in the (dry) fish carrying container, which has the (wet) plastic bag of fish in it.

Oh, and leaping off of aior0s, you could call the LFS' ahead of time just to see if any are looking to take your clown in after you land.

What island are you flying in from?
sounds good to me, and i’m flying out of kauai, luckily I talked to a betta breeder here who takes fish through TSA all the time so presumably the officers should know the procedure lol, or I sure hope they do at least. I do plan on printing out the website though as that’s just the proof that I can bring them. since you seem pretty experienced with this, I have another stupid question, which TSA officer should I tell about the fish? the first one I come up to?
 
sounds good to me, and i’m flying out of kauai, luckily I talked to a betta breeder here who takes fish through TSA all the time so presumably the officers should know the procedure lol, or I sure hope they do at least. I do plan on printing out the website though as that’s just the proof that I can bring them.
Well...if you want to ship some monkeypod jams and preserves to me once you land in the US and it's cheaper to ship stuff as thanks...I wouldn't be inclined to say no ;) .

Semi-joking aside, good luck with the move!
 
this is kinda a dumb question but does anyone know which TSA officer I should tell that I have fish to?
 

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

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  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

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  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%
  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%

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