Good CuC and Winter Shipping?

[Kayman]

Right now I have 5 Astrea Turbos, 5 Blue Leg Hermits and 5 hitch hiker brittle stars. All 5 of my closest LFS's have been sold out of Nassarius and Ceriths for a long time they say, so I'm turning to Reef Cleaners. In my cart I have:

 

5 Nassarius

3 Florida Ceriths

3 Dwarf Ceriths

3 Zig Zag Periwinkles

3 Nerites

 

Is this a good start for my CuC? I have a 29 gallon with a 10 gallon sump. Plan on getting a pair of tiny clowns this coming weekend. Also do you think shipping them in the winter would be a problem. They only do 2-3 day shipping for snails.

 

Thanks!

[cju84]

Right now I have 5 Astrea Turbos, 5 Blue Leg Hermits and 5 hitch hiker brittle stars. All 5 of my closest LFS's have been sold out of Nassarius and Ceriths for a long time they say, so I'm turning to Reef Cleaners. In my cart I have:

 

5 Nassarius

3 Florida Ceriths

3 Dwarf Ceriths

3 Zig Zag Periwinkles

3 Nerites

 

Is this a good start for my CuC? I have a 29 gallon with a 10 gallon sump. Plan on getting a pair of tiny clowns this coming weekend. Also do you think shipping them in the winter would be a problem. They only do 2-3 day shipping for snails.

 

Thanks!

 

Can you ship them to a business address so they aren't sitting out by your mailbox/doorstep? You might lose some but hopefully the majority will survive. Couldn't hurt to try.

[Kayman]

Yeah I can make sure they won't be sitting out for long if at all, I just know the back of those UPS trucks can be kinda chilly in the winter. Can't hurt to try though, you are right. Kind of a useless post now that I think of it ha

 

Thanks!

[cju84]

Yeah I can make sure they won't be sitting out for long if at all, I just know the back of those UPS trucks can be kinda chilly in the winter. Can't hurt to try though, you are right. Kind of a useless post now that I think of it ha

 

Thanks!

 

Not at all. I debate the same thing. Wonder if I can get corals shipped to my building downtown rather than my doorstep. I haven't pulled the trigger yet, but definitely have thought about it and have same concerns.

[Kayman]

Yeah I can definitely understand the concerns with coral, a tad bit more expensive than a few snails. Rather not kill anything at all though if I can help it!

[MrLang]

I'm new so take this with a grain of salt.

 

I like what some people say about building a CuC based on your needs instead of loading the tank up on overkill. Watch for a problem, identify it, and add a few of the CuC 'counters'. If the problem persists, add a few more and wait for the next problem. This will keep your load minimal for the amount of cleaning needed.

 

Coming from a background mostly in reptiles, we don't usually ship under freezing temps as a best practice. If the box is insulated and if they can include a 40 hour heat pack you should be fine in anything but the harshest of weather. Be sure to check the entire route of the shipment for weather that may cause a delay before pulling the trigger. Just because weather is nice here and there doesn't mean the hub where the package will be transferred through isn't going to get hit with a storm.

 

Good luck and following

[jtwisconsin]

If you upgrade your order to spending $25 or more you can get Express Mail service instead of Priority. I did that when I placed an order a few months ago when it was very cold out (highs in the single digits, overnight lows around -20).

 

I shipped them to my work address so they could get inside and warmed up as soon as possible. The only thing that didn't make it were the Trochus snails.

[Zorro237]

John at reefcleaners always ships with a heating block. I just had a CUC shipped to me over Christmas and everything lived even with a 2 day delay (5 days of total shipping). Every single snail made it out of 40 except for 5. Also, I only ordered a 30 snail package, John hooks it up.