# A low(er)-stress way of moving a fish to my dorm?



## newlynothere (Jul 27, 2010)

Hey guys! I'm new to the betta world and one of the main reasons that I decided to get into it was so that I could have my little buddy, Zombie with me at college. He is currently in a one gallon tank but in a day or so I'll be moving him to his five gallon with a filter and heater and places to hide and such. 
I was wondering what the easiest way to move muh fishy to my dorm with me would be. The dorm is about an hour away and I'm not sure the easiest way to transport him and his tank and such along with all the other things i need for schooling would be. If anyone has any tips on getting Mr. Zombie into my new home easily and as stress free as possible, I would reeeally appreciate it! Thank you so much!


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## kikuhoshi (Mar 26, 2010)

How far away is your school? If it's relatively close (30 minutes; hey, I lived on campus during the week because I'm without a car/license), then you cam probably just transfer him in his tank. If it's farther away (or you don't think that you like that idea), put him in the cup he came in (or a tupperware container with a lid & plenty of air) and transport him like that.

I don't think there's really a completely non-stress way to do it, but I never had trouble with my male fish. Then again, I bought him as a dorm fish for when I lived on-campus at a school 2 hours away, so he kinda got used to the commute.

When you're going there, try to keep him cushioned, so that he's not bouncing around. If you're capable, hold him (I'm not sure if you're driving or someone else is), because I noticed that holding my fish seemed to make him feel more comfortable (didn't bite his fins during/afterwards).

I hope this helps. I've only been betta'd for about a year, so someone else probably knows more than I do about the whole thing... I did get my bettaboy as a companion for when I lived in a single room during the Fall 09 semester... Best decision I've ever made. I just got him a "girlfriend", but I don't think I'm going to mate them.

Good luck with school and Zombie!


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## newlynothere (Jul 27, 2010)

Someone else is driving. It's about an hour. I like the tuppaware container idea! I think holding him would be best. I can try to compensate for the car movement. 
And Yeah I thought getting a fish for school would be a neat idea. To have a little friend until I can meet my own human ones (and after that too!) will be nice! 

Thank you so much! I really appreciate the tips from someone who has moved a betta already. I think I'll do the tuppaware holding him thing. Thank you!


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## kikuhoshi (Mar 26, 2010)

Don't be surprised if he's a little "woozy", so to speak. He might not want to eat immediately, so what I'd do is set him up first, and then arrange your room or whatever, then give him a little food. That's what I always ended up doing. 

No problem - this site helps me a LOT when I need it.  I admit that I just jumped into it (I bought one fish, but the fish ended up dying later that day due to an illness I hadn't noticed). I learned about a great water conditioner, when the one I used crystallized (crystallized. Seriously), and ended up with a small addiction (thankfully, I only have two  otherwise, I'd be homeless. Haha). My parents are both supportive, though, because grandfish = lack-of-grandbaby.


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## wallywestisthebest333 (Nov 30, 2009)

Ah. =] I'm going back to college with my little guy too! =] 

My drive is 5 hours though. =/ Oh well. 

I agree with the tupperware container thing. just poke a couple holes in the lid for air though.

Also make sure the car isn't cold and isn't too hot because you don't want your fish to get temperature shock. =[

I'm putting my guy back in the container he came in and putting him in the drink holder. =] That's how I got him from the store I bought him at back home (an hour drive). =]

Good luck with him and moving to college. =]

Edit:


kikuhoshi said:


> My parents are both supportive, though, because grandfish = lack-of-grandbaby.


LOL!!!!! Glad they're supportive. XD


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## Welsh (Apr 13, 2010)

Metalbetta has just moved home with her fish so maybe she could help you  maybe you could double bag your fish wrap the bag in a towel or bubblewrap and then place in a cooler with another towel around for extra security


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## kikuhoshi (Mar 26, 2010)

wallywestisthebest333 said:


> Edit:
> LOL!!!!! Glad they're supportive. XD


I just graduated 2 years ago, and roughly 11% of my graduating class is pregnant or has a child already. I still live with my parents, so they'd be dealing with the baby, too. Grandfish are quiet. lol


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## Welsh (Apr 13, 2010)

kikuhoshi said:


> I just graduated 2 years ago, and roughly 11% of my graduating class is pregnant or has a child already. I still live with my parents, so they'd be dealing with the baby, too. Grandfish are quiet. lol


My parents aren't supportive of their grandfish and would prefer to have grandkids lol


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## kikuhoshi (Mar 26, 2010)

Welsh said:


> My parents aren't supportive of their grandfish and would prefer to have grandkids lol


I'm so sorry. There should always be support for grandpets, especially grandfish, as they're so quiet. 

Aaaand we've taken this off topic, haha. Sorry, OP!!


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## newlynothere (Jul 27, 2010)

Hahaha I love the grandfish thing. My parents don't really care what I do as long as I pay for it. I really appreciate the help everyone! I really like the idea of the cooler with all the extra cushioning and I'll do the slow tank set up thing too to help him get accustommed. Also thank you for the wellwishes!

I just have one more question about tank size... Do you think I should keep him in his filtered five gallon or switch him out to the one gallon and just deal with changing the water everyday? Is the size of the tank really that big of a deal? Or was it for you? The college rules say we can have tanks of UP to 25 Gallons.. .which is way more than I thought it would be... but even so, is a bigger tank really that much more of a hassle? Did your room mates mind and all that?


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## kikuhoshi (Mar 26, 2010)

I'd say the 1 gallon, unless you have a suite (with bathroom), only because it's a LOT easier to carry to the bathrooms. Honestly, I didn't change my water every day, because when I did, he'd get panicky and frustrated. I changed it every other or third day, and he was okay. Now, at home (without the chlorine and such, because we have well water), he gets tchy if I change it on any day other than Sunday. Weirdo.

(I have a 1.5 for him, by the way. Anything bigger and he gets nervous.  )


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## newlynothere (Jul 27, 2010)

aww that's cute! Haha ohkay. The thing is the dorms that I stayed in during orientation all had sinks in all the rooms... I just got room assignments and I'm in a different one than the one I stayed in then and I'm unsure about if there are sinks in these rooms or not.. If there are do you think the five gallon would be better? He likes it a lot... but I'm still thinking it might just be difficult to give him a good amount of space.. all though the rooms at my school are pretty spacious...


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## kikuhoshi (Mar 26, 2010)

If you have a sink, I'd definitely go with the 5 gal. Just make sure you have a large cup (maybe a fountain pop cup, like from Speedway or 7-11, if you have them where you are) to fill them up. It's a pain to try to fill up a tank in a leetle sink.


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## newlynothere (Jul 27, 2010)

I keep all of my fishy stuffs in a pitcher that I was planning to bring to use and such. Okay. I was just concerned that it might take up more room than I want it to but now that I think about it... it's really not that bad.. I'll just have to smuggle in a power cord so I can plug in his light and filter and heater and my TV and wii and such... haha


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## kikuhoshi (Mar 26, 2010)

...You can't bring in a power cord? We were required to bring them - they were the only things that could be plugged right in to the outlets. It's weird for me to think of other schools besides the two I went to - both of which were similar but different.

Aaaand we're getting off topic. Owell.


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## newlynothere (Jul 27, 2010)

haha Well I think I have a plan now so it doesn't matter so much. We aren't supposed to bring in the kind that I'll need... like... for all of my excess plug in items I'm going to need a massive octopus style monster of a mess of plugs... which is not allowed.. .a simple like four plug power cord would be allowed.. .but not If I'm piling other ones on top... my roommate and I each get ONE outllet thingy with two places to plug in... so I have to expand that.. by a lot... haha


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## kikuhoshi (Mar 26, 2010)

Ah. We had the 4-square honkers for each of us, and I usually had 2 strips plugged into mine, with my fan plugged in separately (because we didn't have A/C).  It was nice.

But back on fishies. How'd you pick the name "Zombie"?


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## newlynothere (Jul 27, 2010)

oh.. I guess i could do that... Two seperate power strips. You're brilliant aren't you? haha!

Zombie.. I picked his name because when I first brought him home from the pet store he used to swim in kinda jerky movements... which he doesn't do anymore, but it just reminded me of a cliche horror movie zombie. Also I've always thought that the VT tail looked kinda like cobwebs.. which is horror movie esque in a way as well.. Also my friend had just named her's LeonardoDeCaprio and I was mad at her for that for some reason so I kinda went with the complete opposite. haha


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## kikuhoshi (Mar 26, 2010)

I'm sometimes a genius; other times, I'm completely and utterly cuckoo. 

My friends and I had a theory that Jaws got Leo at the end of Titanic. I don't know why I felt that was necessary to this conversation, but I do.

And Zombie is a great name.  I'm impressed.


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## newlynothere (Jul 27, 2010)

Hahaha I haven't actually seen titanic.. maybe that's why I was mad at her for naming him that but I don't remember...

and thank you!


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## kikuhoshi (Mar 26, 2010)

IMHO, you didn't miss much. I never got into the whole "Titanic" craze, myself; then again, I'm more of a Roman invasion or Middle Ages/Tudor-era person.

Yes, I'm odd.


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## newlynothere (Jul 27, 2010)

not odd at ALL! I love the middle ages and reading about them and watching them.. it's fasinating to me!


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## kikuhoshi (Mar 26, 2010)

Can I keep you?  Everyone else I know, even fellow history people, think I'm weird. They don't understand why I'm not into "modern" history (18th century onward).


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## newlynothere (Jul 27, 2010)

Because modern history is boring. Haha and yes. You can.


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## kikuhoshi (Mar 26, 2010)

It *is* boring! Then again, I may just think that because that's all we studied in school. Our pre-Revolutionary War schooling lasted maybe 3 days.  Thank you, a certain-Michigan based public school system. Thank you for teaching the tests and not really encouraging out-of-the-box thinking.

Aaaand now we're really off topic. Haha.


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## newlynothere (Jul 27, 2010)

Hahaha Oh I totally agree... it feels like we whizzed through the mideival and renessaince and all that and then spent decades learning about the revolution and such.... which is probably why I don't remember ANY of the modern history stuffs. haha! And yeah.... WAY off topic. Haha


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