moving - take fish or not

Question
I am planning to move from Georgia to Illinois in a few months.  I currently have 5 fish tanks with freshwater fish (2 with goldfish and the other 3 with tropicals).  Would it be smarter to rehome the fish here and start over in IL or to move them with me?  I want to do what is best for them, but I really hate the thought of losing my fish.  What is your advice?

Answer
Hi Amanda,
This does depend on your method of travel. If you are taking a plane then I'm not sure if the airport will allow the fish to be taken.

But otherwise, say if your going by car. According to yahoo maps -- It would take about 11 hours and 52 minutes to go from Georgia to Illinois. Its up to you if you are Ok with taking all those fish with you and if you have enough space for the tanks and the containers holding the fish.

The thing's you'll need for transporting fish are-
*Large ice chests (estimate how many you'll need)
*Battery-powered Airpumps (extra batteries too)
*Ammonia neutralizer (for adding to water to control the fish waste)

Also you should be able to save your biofilter in the tanks by keeping them moist but not underwater. Keeping the gravel and filter media in large plastic storage bags should work but as always, travel at your own risk and I cannot guarantee anything unfortunately.But that way, when you reach your destination, setup the tanks first and if the bacteria survive (lets hope) the tank shouldn't have to go through the a terrible cycling process. But just in case keep extra ammonia neutralizer on hand.

*Another thing to keep in mind is its helpful to bring test kits so you can check the water of Illinois and compare it to Georgia's water. If it is drastically different you will have to carefully acclimate your fish to the new water for a couple of hours.

Best of luck and I hope all goes well!
Karen~