Going to be driving from Denver, CO to Tampa, FL in a couple weeks, and need to take about a dozen grown Koi Swordtails, and about 8 grown White Clouds and about 20 White Cloud fry, roughly 1/4" long, but getting baby brine daily to bulk them up before the move. All fish will be in transit for about 3 days.
Scenario #1
Bag the fish and put them in a cooler to avoid temp swings.
Scenario #2
Use two 5 gallon buckets, one for white clouds and one for swordtails, each with a USB air pump.
My main concern is trying to keep the 5 gallon buckets cool while traveling, I don't really have room for them within the AC of the car. They would likely be in a uhaul trailer that I would be checking on 1-2 times a day during the trip. Can't really do water changes, but could add ice during the heat of the day. If I bag the fish, I could keep them in the car, but they would have much less water overall.
Thoughts, ideas, opinions...?
Thanks!