This is really important!

[myster619]

Guys this is the deal .Im moving to dubai with my family(will miss canada).I hav 1 pacu, 1 firemouth cichlid, a bloodparrot,a red snakehead, an oscar, a clown knifefish, 2 algae eaters and a red lobster.Im thinking of taking them along with me as i luv them so much.I had them for a year .So i hav decided to take them in those plastic bags(provided by lfs) in my breifcase.The thing is ,..............(1)will they survive??? I mean the whole journey is about 6-9 hrs.Im worried.Help me guys!!! Or should i put them in somwer else?

Oh and another thing (2)I cannot feed my snakehead anything else than fishes(It never eats flakes or pellets) .If i do that i will hav to spend all my money.(2)Do you guys know how to feed it in a cheaper way??

[ashm5]

they should survive although I wouldn't garentee it, but are you thinking of taking them on a plane?? I think the best thing to do would be to do it properly, have them sent in a parcel for live animals, like they do when you have fish delivered, may cost a bit (about £15 I think, donn't know your currency over there sorry) ummm as for your snakehead, never kept one or even heard of one but have you tried newly hatched brine shrimp? you can buy them frozen in a sachet or you could hatch them yourself I think they breed quite easily, they arent big but atleast it's something for him to chase, or you could try some cherry shrimp (bit bigger) and they are prolific breeders or maybe some terrepin food, or some frozen prawns lots of suggestions but I don't lnow if these will be substantial enough to feed a snakehead hmm.... wel what I would like to know is how big is yours? and f you know how big they get? and why the hell you like it? lol no offence but it looks pretty ugly to me and... how big are your tanks?!?!

[Lady Hobbs]

When fish are shipped, they fill the bag with oxygen and that's how they're able to survive for 24 hours until they reach your home. I do not think your fish will survive in bags without it. At least in those bags. The ammonia builds up rather quickly.

I would call the airlines and ask what they recommend for transporting your fish. When folks move, they put their fish in double trash bags then put them in a box or cooler with an ice pack. They could probably go in cargo in this manner and will have a better chance than your briefcase.......(which will get checked and not allowed to go with you like this.)

[ashm5]

not meaning to sound negative lol but wouldn't they blow up in cargo because of the pressure? I suppose you'll find that out when you phone the airline :) good luck!

[Lady Hobbs]

Fish are shipped everyday in cargo. But cargo can get very warm in the summer months (and cold in the winter) so shippers add ice packs or heat packs depending on the season.

The double trash bags seem to work fairly well as the bags hold more oxygen than the small store bags. You tie the bags off near the top so more oxygen is trapped inside. Of course the ideal way would be to just add oxygen to the bag and big bags would not be needed at all. I'd personally put them in styrofoam coolers and then in boxes marked as live shipment! But I would definately check with the airlines so you don't arrive there and then have a problem.

Even better would be to ship them yourself Express delivery and have them arrive after you are there to save you messing around with them. Do not feed your fish for 2 days prior to shipping to cut down on the ammonia in the bags.

Now let's hope they don't get stranded on the tarmac for hours and hours like the big problem as of last weekend.

[RobbieG]

When fish are shipped, they fill the bag with oxygen and that's how they're able to survive for 24 hours until they reach your home. I do not think your fish will survive in bags without it. At least in those bags. The ammonia builds up rather quickly.

I would call the airlines and ask what they recommend for transporting your fish. When folks move, they put their fish in double trash bags then put them in a box or cooler with an ice pack. They could probably go in cargo in this manner and will have a better chance than your briefcase.......(which will get checked and not allowed to go with you like this.)

Especially as large as those fish are

You also may run into a LOT of trouble trying to get a snakehead through customs.

I would strongly advise you to find a local buyer - or sell/trade the mto your LFS.

[zackish]

Either way whatever you do plan to spend money and do it right. With those kind of fish I would take extra precautions getting them to where you want. Anyone with those kind of fish should have some good setups and I would want to keep those alive.

[salman]

I think you should take them to your LFS and see if they will buy them or not. If they buy them, then sell them. Then when you get to Dubai, there are many fish stores that sell AMAZING fish there. 1/4 of the fish that you might see there you would have never heard of them or seen them. + The prices there are cheaper.

[*Sarah*]

Trying to smuggle those fish into another country would likely get you into mounds of trouble. Either have them shipped properly so they actually have a chance of survival...or sell them off and buy new.

[A340]

First of all, you will not be able to bring your fish on board the aircraft as carry-on (as you are planning to in your briefcase) ...

1) Transport Canada still does not allow containers filled with liquid measuring more than 100ml past security.
2) The airline will not allow you to bring such large amounts of liquid in unreliable packaging into the passenger cabin of an aircraft (let alone with fish in it).
3) What are the entry requirments set out by the UAE/Dubai for the entry of live fish into their country?

If I were you, this is what I would do ...

1) Find out what requirements need to be met given by the country I am moving to. Am I allowed to bring live fish with me? Do they need to quaranteened in customs? If so, how long?
2) Find out if the airline I am flying on carry's live animals (most do). If so, ask them for advice on how to ship them (airlines such as Air Canada, KLM, Lufthansa, Emirates have many years of experience in this) and ask if they can provide any equipment (transport boxes, bags, etc.) for the fish.
3) Find out if it would be cheaper to send the fish as excess luggage or seperate as cargo. Cargo would most likely be more expensive, but I have a feeling you won't have a choice because the airline might only accept it as cargo.
4) If the airline can't help you (I doubt it), contact a fish broker and ask them for help and advice in transporting live fish.

Those are just a few tips that should be able to send you in the right direction.

Having said that, don't bother trying to take them on board the aircraft as carry-on because it won't work ....

1) Your briefcase will have to go through an X-ray machine at the security point where your fish will show up quite nice on the monitor. They fish will then be confiscated because you have more than the allowed amounts of liquid in your carry-on luggage.
2) Your trip will be much longer than 6-9 hours as you stated. I don't know where in Canada you are, but you are looking at a 12-14 hour non-stop flight from Toronto to Dubai (I'm not sure if Emirates has even started this service yet), if you are stopping off in New York or Europe to switch planes, you can add another 2-4 hours on top of that.
3) Where are you going to put the fish once you've arrived?