Lol
..here goes a really long post. I apologize up front if Im repeating things you already were aware of.
(Im sure you knew this) Flushing is a super no-no. Not only is it a cruel means of fish disposal, but sometimes the fish do survive and then become biological problems elsewhere. If you need to euthanize/dispose, a small plastic baggie in the freezer is best. Some people swear by the garbage disposal method, which is pretty instant, but I really never could do this.
Of everything you have Id be worried about the tetras and angel fish the most. They are a little more water quality sensitive and can be a lot more general stress sensitive.
If youre not in love with them, you might want to give/trade/sell them back to a fish store. Pretty often non-corporate pet stores (no Jacks Aquarium, Petsmart, etc) will do exchanges or store credit etc. Im going to list some more supplies so you could try to use to money from the fish to buy things, not that Im going to list $100s of dollar of fish stuff. Some places though only take fish as a credit for more stock. Anyway, Id consider giving whatever fish youre not devoted to back to a pet store. Theyre normally used to this and b/c they often take back customers fish who did not get along with the rest of the tank.
The clawed frog may also be somewhat sensitive, but IMO they have a lot of individual variance as to how much they can take. If you do take the frog, make sure that you fast him, have a lot of water, and change his water more frequently than the fish. They are poop machines and will foul the water much more quickly.
Corys have barbs, so again you might decide that its not worth dealing with transporting this fish. If you want to, double bag him and put the bag inside a cup/container so that if he punctures it all his water will sort of stay where it is. Again, corys have a lot of variance as to when/if they decide to shoot those barbs. You may want to do a few test runs of bagging him to see what he does. Otherwise, they are fairly hardy. BTW corys are schooling fish so if you take him, get him some friends in NY.
The pleco would obviously need a bag to accommodate his size, but aside from that should be tolerant of the stress and water quality. You should get him a piece of PVC pipe that he can mostly fit inside. It allows them to have something to hang onto as well as a nice dark place to feel safe, which will minimize stress. You could also invest in a piece of wood for him to hang onto. Not the pretty african hardwood, b/c its too hard for them. It would give him something to do, but may slightly increase his waste production. Chances are finding a piece small enough might be hard so dont freak out if you cant find one. I think the PVC pipe is a must though.
If you take the tetras Id group them all together in the same bag for schooling-securities reasons.
For all bags you should add some Elodea/Anacharis. This will help give some hiding places and add to water quality through the plants metabolism and the good bacteria that can live on it. Its very cheap. Just make sure you buy it from somewhere where you know it wont contain snails, parasites, etc. Also break off any brown, dead pieces before adding it to the bags.
You can get good fish bags at a pet store. Usually if you buy something there and ask for bags theyll give you some. Make sure you have lots of extras.
You could buy some Stress Zyme (Aquarium Pharmaceuticals) which contains bacteria and add it to bags each time. It is a little pricy, but well worth it, and you can use it to help cycle your new tank once you get to NY. I prefer Tetras AquaSafe as a declorinator/slime helper. Some people believe in dosing everything that travels with methylblue etc., but everything I have every heard/been taught advises against this. Medicate later if you need to.
If you dont have water testing chemicals, you may want to buy them. Its good to know what kind of water you are starting out with. If your water is very hard, Id start to transition the fish to less hard water in their tank b/c youre likely to be using distilled water for changes along the way and when you first set up the tank until you determine what the water quality is in NY. I realize this would involved a LOT of buying of bottled water. Youd probably be ok not worrying about it, but if you wanted to play it really safe youd want to address hardness issues. Personally, for freshwater fish, I wouldnt worry about it.
I could probably say a lot more, but Ill wait and see what/if questions you have from this.
Hope this helps.
