New Project & Question:

[Marshall]

I am building a transport tank to move turtles around the property since some of the buildings are literally several football fields apart and was wondering if I may be able to use them for koi also ?
The tank is 180 gallons fiberglass with an aluminum reinforced bottom and is going to be mounted to the custom steel trailer I am welding. The trailer is going to be made of 2" tubular steel and will have a single axle with a leaf spring and coil suspension. The tongue and hitch is a basic 2" ball type with a 3" free riding pivot because the terrain on my land is really rough with some steep grades that would buck a normal hitch or break it which is also the reason for the rugged framing. The tank is a basic fiberglass tank that I modified by putting a large access hatch in the top and molded in fiberglass baffles to keep the water from shifting too much. Basically as the question above states, I am wanting to know if it would be okay to move fish in this matter in emergency situations. The trip would be no longer than 10 minutes or so and I am also going to add a powered water pump on the trailer so I can fill it with water from a pond or other tank if need be. So that means I could fill it with the same water the koi is in for transport. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

A few minutes travel time in such a tank with a reasonable fish load should not create any significant health issues for the fish. Of more importance is the matching of the various water parameters between source and destination..primarily temperature and pH, although Ammonia, Nitrite, Dissolved Oxygen are to also be considered.

 

[Marshall]

A few minutes travel time in such a tank with a reasonable fish load should not create any significant health issues for the fish. Of more importance is the matching of the various water parameters between source and destination..primarily temperature and pH, although Ammonia, Nitrite, Dissolved Oxygen are to also be considered.

The 180 gallon tank size allows me to use my standard transport protocol with the turtles which is to transport them with the entire water load of the current tank and then add that to the destination tank so that would be possible with the koi as well because I would only move them around if they had to go into a quarantine but I doubt I will ever really need to move any of them from one pond to another as my ponds are very specific setup for either turtles only, koi only or no life at all and I never switch around. Thanks for the answer.

 

[Marshall]

A few minutes travel time in such a tank with a reasonable fish load should not create any significant health issues for the fish. Of more importance is the matching of the various water parameters between source and destination..primarily temperature and pH, although Ammonia, Nitrite, Dissolved Oxygen are to also be considered.

Are there any guides on how much a given parameter can vary and still be reasonable and acceptable ? Such as one that has all elements that are important to koi specifically ?

 

[Dave 54]

I beg to differ with Meyer about this Marshal as there is a tried and tested method of transporting koi and it is not in a tank as you want to do any rough ground tarmac or cement ever grass or soil will cause vibrations this will cause more stress than the way koi are norrmally caught and transported mate please read my rticle carefully and you'll do it in a less stressful way :-

https://www.gardenpondforum.com/articles/transporting-koi-and-how-to-go-about-it.42/

I hope this helps you in future

Dave

 

[Marshall]

I beg to differ about this Marshal there is a tried and tested meathod of transporting koi and it is not in a tank as you want to do , rough ground will cause vibrations this will cause more stress than the way koi are norrmally caught and transported .

I never said it would work, I was asking if it would before I tried it and it is not the purpose of the tank anyway just was going to be a secondary use if compatible. What is this preferred method ? I normally use large plastic bags if I have to move one to quarantine and that seems to work okay but may not be the best.

 

[Dave 54]

Had you given me a few more seconds to find and add the link to my post to you you would have had the answer to your question mate
Water movement would be another issue 180 US gallons weighs quite alot mate and if you come up against something hard then that water would want to move forwards and backwards maybe even slopping clear of the tank

Dave

 

[Marshall]

Had you given me a few more seconds to find and add the link to my post to you you would have had the answer to your question mate
Water movement would be another issue 180 US gallons weighs quite alot mate and if you come up against something hard then that water would want to move forwards and backwards maybe even slopping clear of the tank

Dave

The baffles mitigate the movement by about 70% because I designed this using the same technology that fuel tankers use and they are hauling about 40 tons at a time. I have a 200 gallon potable water carrier and it also has baffles and I have never had it buck the hitch or throw the utv around so they do work very well. Also once the hatch is closed the water has nowhere to go even if it does get stirred up by something. It would have to bust the hatch which is highly unlikely at the slow speed I travel when carrying something of that size and weight.

 

[Dave 54]

You still have the exessive vibrations mate, in our 24 years of showing koi traveling in some cases 140 miles doing it by the prescribed method we have never lost a koi , another problem you would have is matching temperatures this is why they are transported in bags
Stress can kill koi their only release is to bleed from the gills if they dont they die if this happens en-route to a show they need to be removed from the bag of blooody water and put straight into the show vat without equalizing this is done after asking the on duty BKKS heath officers say so the other bags are then floated for the prescribed time , the water in the bag is not allowed in the Vat and is put down the drain , this is the same proceedure we use on returning home because of the ammonia build up you get at shows and in transport
I know all about baffles I'm a former Royal Navy Carrier rating her any amount of water slopping about especially in the hanger could capsize the ship as so the hangers and compartments of the ship have doors/hatches that all have baffles as my shins and head can bear whitmess too because of the scars I carry travelling at spead through the ship in my duties as a Damage control rating
Dont get me wrong I'm not poo pooing your idea just pointing out the possible pit falls you could encounter mate



Dave

 

[Marshall]

You still have the exessive vibrations mate, in our 24 years of showing koi traveling in some cases 140 miles doing it by the prescribed method we have never lost a koi , another problem you would have is matching temperatures this is why they are transported in bags
Stress can kill koi their only release is to bleed from the gills if they dont they die if this happens en-route to a show they need to be removed from the bag of blooody water and put straight into the show vat without equalizing this is done after asking the on duty BKKS heath officers say so the other bags are then floated for the prescribed time , the water in the bag is not allowed in the Vat and is put down the drain , this is the same proceedure we use on returning home because of the ammonia build up you get at shows and in transport
I know all about baffles I'm a former Royal Navy Carrier rating her any amount of water slopping about especially in the hanger could capsize the ship as so the hangers and compartments of the ship have doors/hatches that all have baffles as my shins and head can bear whitmess too because of the scars I carry travelling at spead through the ship in my duties as a Damage control rating
Dont get me wrong I'm not poo pooing your idea just pointing out the possible pit falls you could encounter mate



Dave

My father was a marine pilot so I had to endure a few sailors tricks lol... But hey I can belay a rope to a cleat like a pro and know the difference between coaming and a cofferdam and his story about being stuck on the Ashtabula was pretty funny as him being a pilot on a oiler lol made him pretty useless.
The Ashtabula first and where he should have been second

 

[Meyer Jordan]

He is a take on all forms of fish transport.
http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/af000e/af000e00.HTM