Methods for reducing stressors and maintaining water quality associated with live fish transport in tanks: a review of the basics

Fish culture operations, public aquariums, fish biologists and aquatic researchers often have the need to transport live fish. These fish are frequently transported in live-haul boxes by ground transportation. Activities involved with transporting fish, such as handling, confinement and exposure to sub-optimal water quality, have the potential to create physiological changes in the fish because of increased stress. Because of the affiliation between stress and fish health, it is important to minimize the amount of potential stressors as well as to minimize the duration of exposure to stressors during these procedures. Furthermore, understanding aberrant environmental conditions and how they affect fish often leads to establishing new protocols that reduce stress. Increased survival rates and the arrival of healthy fish are dependent on transport and on the pre-handling and post-handling procedures associated with fish-hauling operations.