california: I've got about a 10-11 inch red devil cichlid, a 6 inch koi, about 6 common goldfish, 4 swordtails, 2 bettas, and 4 algae eaters that I want to take with me to the Philippines from California. The red devil is alone he will not go with other fish and neither will the bettas but the others I think would get along well enough together. Anyone know of a way to transport them? Are there ways of shipping them by boat? Or by plane? Definite answers please, I am not going to risk killing my fish on something someone heard from a friend of a friend of a friend.|||Importers here in the Philippines usually have their stocks shipped by air, so it might be wise that you do the same. As mentioned by other members proper conditioning and packing is a must, for the larger fish you may need to purge them for 2 to 5 days before shipping, while smaller fish 2 days is usually enough. During this period the fish are not to be fed, and the wastes are siphoned twice a day, this is to ensure that their guts will be empty comes shipping time, and that the water they are shipped with will not be contaminated unneccessarily by their feces. Fishes are packed in plastic bags of appropriate sizes, with 1/3 water and 2/3 oxygen, usually doubled bagged and placed in styropor lined cartoon boxes, sealed and properly labeled. Larger cichlids especially with well developed spines needs to be packed in thicker plastic bags and a layer of newspaper in between the bags, and sometimes sedated. By the way, fishes here are relatively cheap, so if you are not attached to your fishes it might be wise to sell the fishes there and buy new ones here, and all of the fishes you mentioned are available in pet shops within Metrro Manila.|||I'm not to sure but they will have to stay in Quarantine for at least 2 weeks|||Sorry, but that seems to be alot of fish to transport. You're flying, I'm guessing. By boat would probably be a better choice, I'm thinking that the altitude and pressure change and stress the fish out and possibily harm them. I just did some further research, and found that pressure change in an airplane often kills the fish. Also, you have so many fish, that it would be very difficult to have a suitable tank on the plane. I don't even know if you are able to bring un-vaccinated animals on a plane. Anyways, I had to travel from Virginia to Massachusetts in a car. I brought my 2 guppies and 1 molly along for the ride. I knew it was definetly risky, but I knew that if I let my grandma take care of the fish, she would probably kill them. I found a fish bowl that I had used a few years back for a betta i had had. I got extremely lucky, because I found a tupperware container lid in one of my kitchen cupboards that fit perfectly and snapped onto the top of my bowl. I added the fish (and of course the water!) and it was great. Every now and then I would open the top to get some air in there and close it again. Since there was a top on the bowl, no water splashed out at all and my fish were fine. When we got to the hotel I did a water change. When we finally got to our destination I added them to the tank I had packed away in my car. I know you are going by plane, so this won't help you too much, and you have more than three fish, but here's just an idea. I know bowls are unsuitable for fish, but it wasn't for too long. If you like this idea, you could try it. But, it is risky. Personally, I think fish have a better chance of surviving in a car than a plane, because of altitude and pressure change. Our ears pop in a plane, think of how that would feel to a fish! Before you decide to take your fish with you, it would be a good idea to make sure that there is absolutely no other solutions. I would make sure that there isn't anyone that could care for them first. Sorry this is so long. Good luck with you and your fish and have fun on your trip!|||This is a lot of fish to ship and it's about more than just "getting them there." It's proper packing, proper temperatures, and choosing the proper shipping option. I would highly, highly suggest going to a fish store and asking them about how they ship and receive shipments. You can learn a lot of useful information from them.|||Besides shipping problems, you will have issues with the Phillipine and US government. You will need to contact the appropriate offices and get permission to bring them into the Phillipines. You will also need to get permission from the airlines to bring them with you. The red devel will be difficult to ship, will need alot of water and even more pure oxygen. You will also want to use multiple bags in case a fin pokes a hole in the bag.|||HI Glenn, It appears some airlines will accommodate you with specialised, labelled containers & careful handling-someone on the forum I help run recently needed to do this but it was only internally within the US. As you are moving abroad there will be the added complication of customs quarantine for a specified period after you arrive. I know of someone who is having to leave her fish in the UK with someone else on the forum when she goes back to Australia next year because she understandably doesn't want to subject her fish to the long journey followed by 4 weeks of quarantine. I wouldn't have thought shipping by boat would be a viable option because we would be talking in terms of several days [at least] instead of hours by air. I would suggest you contact the Philippines's customs & ask about quarantine regulations, also ask the airline[s] about specific handling procedures & if they sound too daunting perhaps consider leaving them with people you know will take care of them. I know this last choice would be a heartbreaking thing to do but may well be the kinder option. Hope this is of some help, I'm sorry I couldn't be more specific.|||Glenn, I think you would be better off if you gave your fish away in California before you left the States, then purchased new fish when you set up your tank in the Phillipines. The reason I say that is that usually most animals and fish are forbidden to be transported between two countries without Import/Export Permits and the like. People like you or me just don't have access to them. So to cut out all the hassles, give them away. A good group is FreeCycle. They're a group that facilitates exchanges of used goods that are still usuable that people no longer want, but don't want to throw out in the trash. Go to WWW.FREECYCLE.ORG - From there you can find your local group - they're set up by Zipcodes. Then you can make an "OFFER" - and you'll get replies - fairly fast. Since you're traveling a long distance - for I don't know how long - I'm assuming you're giving up your entire aquarium set up - so you can offer up everything to one person. Good Luck - Ken - who recently gave away a couple of hundred minnows through freecycle.