How do you ship in this heat?

[spankey]

I was curious? I am shipping some zoo's tomorrow.. Is there a way to keep the container cool? Like maybe freezing a small ziplock with ice and placing that around the bubble wrap? That way the box does not get too hot? The zoo's are hardy.. Should I ship them in wet paper towels? Or small amount of water?? How do you guys ship.. Most of my shipments are two states away. I was going to ship USPS priority mail.....

 

Any hints of ideas?

 

Thanks

Spankey

[minimalist]

Don't use ice. You'll end up with the zoo's water going from 70 degrees to 80 degrees in a matter of days. I just ship them as I would normally and I've yet to have any casualties.

[spankey]

Thanks

 

Do you ship them in water? or wet newspaper? How?

 

Thanks for your time!

 

Spankey

[ecotoxlady]

hmmm, good question. I've normally found that if you take a small ice pack and wrap it really well with newspaper and then tape it securely to the lid of the cooler that will help to keep the temperature from getting too hot in the cooler and roasting the zoos but it really depends on how you're shipping and what conditions the corals will be handled under such as, will they be left on an individuals front doorstep where they may get very hot or are they going to be sitting in an airconditioned fedex facility awaiting same day pick-up. It's true that zoos are very hardy but you don't want to cook them either For a future shipping project, do a test, take the intended cooler and set everything up minus the corals obviously and let them sit outside overnight and see what the temperature of the water is like in the morning. If the temperature is above 85 degrees F than I would definitely recommend the use of an ice pack wrapped up like I described so it does not come in direct contact with the corals and can just keep the cooler at a somewhat lower temperature. That's just my opinion though and I'm not an expert so take it with a grain of salt

[minimalist]

Always ship in water. Use two bags. Put one inside the other. Make sure their openings are on opposite ends as to eliminate any corners where the piece can get stuck.

[Reef_Mad_Man]

"Don't use ice. You'll end up with the zoo's water going from 70 degrees to 80 degrees in a matter of days."

Whah??

I understand your concern ( sort of)

You only use ice packs when shipping out next day or second day.

The object is to cool the abinet air temp insid ethe container.

If you tape it up air tight and the container is styrofoam, you have created an air tight thermos that will hold temp for at least 6 hours.

Then because you made it air tight it wont rapidly heat up if not left in the sun (which most packages are not).

 

I ALWAYS ship with ice packs in the summer months. You want to use a styrofoam container with a snug fitting lid. use old newspapers or packing peanuts to fill in any loose spots between the bags.

Wrap the ice pack in news paper (only a couple wraps are needed).

Then either place a layer of newspaper over the baggies and pace the ice pack on it or tape it to the lid. VIOLA! your goo dto go for next day air or second day.

If you ship them using Priority (which is 2-3 day mail) dont use ice. The only reason I say this is because you will just be spending for extra water wieght when it melts. In this case use the same methods for packing described above minus ice packs.

When shipping ricordea use just enough water to cover the ric when the bag is on its side.

same thing only a little deeper for zoanthids.

for stoney corals you want to use styrofoam. This may sound wierd but bear with me.

Take a small block of styrofoam, hollow it out to fit the coral inside it but make sure water can get in there and saturate it.

Then fill the bag 3/4 full of tank water. Your good to go.

This ensures the stoney branches dont get broken during shipping and thet the branches dont poke through the bag.

I have shipped and recieved stoney's using this method and it rocks!

With snails:

Most ALL snails can be shipped with a wet paper towel that has been soaked in tank water and less than an inch of tank water in the bag.

You will need to let your custome rknow they have to acclimate the snails twice as long using this method but it is much cheaper and just as safe doing so.

It send the snails into a hybernation of sorts, almost like suspended animation.

shrimp , fish and crabs have to be shipped conventionaly.

[minimalist]

There's a distinct difference between ice cubes and ice packs. He was inquiring about the former. Ice cubes in a bag will melt and assume room temperature in a matter of 5-6 hours.

[Reef_Mad_Man]

AHHHH! LOL! I didnt read that part LOL! My bad!

[WaterWorldAquatics]

It isn't so hot here yet but few weeks ago was different story 110-112, plain and simple either do it same day via airport in a styro box with a cool pack taped to the top of the box or overnight shipping or just dont ship.

 

You can easily get away with cool packs being taped well to the top of the box and protection, styro coolers are a big help they come in all sizes use them!

 

Same goes for in the winter, they do make 60hr heat packs for ur 2-day shipping, if u want to know where to get them LMK i can put up their website.

 

Styro coolers and peanuts are your friend, wanna go cheaper route make ur own sytro coolers with the styro they use at home depot and stuff just thin or thick sheets cut to fit your box.

[Reef_Mad_Man]

Hey yeah post the site with the 60hr heat packs man I nee some for this winter for sure!

THanks!!

[WaterWorldAquatics]

Sure no problem, also take advantage of the bags 3mil bags will work wonders for frag rocs not poking through the bag and stuff,

http://www.kensfish.com/shippingsupplie.html

[Reef_Mad_Man]

I thank you sir!