some info on sending corals to CA

[ryanpal]

hey guys. i need to send some corals to CA. a few questions for you all:

-should the heat pack be touching the actual bag full of water? if not, where do i put it?
-should this be shipped over night or is that not necessary? (coral being shipped in green hammer)

thanks in advance.
ryan

 

[Phyl]

If 99% of the corals in the hobby COME FROM Cali, why oh why would you be shipping them back?!

I've always seen heat packs wrapped in newspaper to distribute the heat more evenly and taped to the top of the box, with a buffer of paper or stuffing between them and the coral bags.

To Cali you better go overnight otherwise it will be a week. For states that are close enough that regular ground gets there in a day no big deal, but states that are so far that they would take 3-5 days in transit would be WAY too much. Unless you're shipping zoas in a thermos. Then almost anything goes. Those things are crazy resilliant.

Some folks fill the bags with water and no air. Others fill the bag with air and water. If you do air and water DO NOT BLOW into the bag. They need o2 air, not your exhale.

Hope that helps!

 

[ryanpal]

phyl,

thanks for the input. i wouldn't do ground but priority (2 days). would that be ok?

ryan

 

[Phyl]

Heat packs are 24hr at best. In this weather you run a risk with the coral getting cold not to mention being without O2 for 2 days. You could try priority, but be prepared to take a loss if it doesn't work. In warmer weather packing it with O2 might be of some help. Again for Zoas that probably wouldn't be a problem, but I'm not so sure about the frog.

 

[smcooler]

shipping should be pri overnight, also be sure to wrap the coral in a large piece of 4 mill plastic, cut open bag works well as hammers have sharp edges and will cut through the bag, then triple bag it, heat pack on the inside of the lid and peanuts all around inside the box. If its on the small side you can float it in the bag. HTH


s

 

[jonathan.]

Heat packs are 24hr at best. In this weather you run a risk with the coral getting cold not to mention being without O2 for 2 days. You could try priority, but be prepared to take a loss if it doesn't work. In warmer weather packing it with O2 might be of some help. Again for Zoas that probably wouldn't be a problem, but I'm not so sure about the frog.

Most heat packs used in shipping give a good 36hr or so under normal conditions. I still have ones from the last fish shipment (yesterday morning -- sent Monday afternoon) and they are still warm. I guess it all depends on what they are, but the packs that both Seagrest and A&M (and I believe Quality Marine -- being the big 3 that I deal with) last a definite 36 hours.

 

[ds4x4]

Anything, from any shipper, is horrible for the most part on shipping to the west/midwest.. any retailer will tell you that.. heck i had to wait 2 days for fed-ex to ship one day from Mr. Coral in MD.. The part that makes you mad is it passed my house to go to North Jersey the day before, go figure

 

[GreshamH]

Heat packs are 24hr at best. In this weather you run a risk with the coral getting cold not to mention being without O2 for 2 days. You could try priority, but be prepared to take a loss if it doesn't work. In warmer weather packing it with O2 might be of some help. Again for Zoas that probably wouldn't be a problem, but I'm not so sure about the frog.

Most heat packs used in shipping give a good 36hr or so under normal conditions. I still have ones from the last fish shipment (yesterday morning -- sent Monday afternoon) and they are still warm. I guess it all depends on what they are, but the packs that both Seagrest and A&M (and I believe Quality Marine -- being the big 3 that I deal with) last a definite 36 hours.

20 and 40 hour are the normal packs used All the wholesalers I've worked for have just used 20 hours as 99% of our shipments took less time then that.

be careful not to use too many. This will lead to less 0@ which = less heat in the long run.

The newspaper is actually to stop any water from getting to the heat pack. if it gets wet, it stops producing heat Be sure to allow O2 to enter the newspaper though as that is what makes the reaction in the first place.

I'd do a 2/3 water to 1/3 air with a piece of 4ml plastic inside the bag as a "baffle" AKA a "wrap". Is it just one piece?

 

[ryanpal]

thanks for the replies everyone

greshamh,
yes this would be one piece.

ryan

 

[Phyl]

Interesting to know about the heat packs getting wet! Thanks, Gresh.

 

[jonathan.]

Heat packs are 24hr at best. In this weather you run a risk with the coral getting cold not to mention being without O2 for 2 days. You could try priority, but be prepared to take a loss if it doesn't work. In warmer weather packing it with O2 might be of some help. Again for Zoas that probably wouldn't be a problem, but I'm not so sure about the frog.

Most heat packs used in shipping give a good 36hr or so under normal conditions. I still have ones from the last fish shipment (yesterday morning -- sent Monday afternoon) and they are still warm. I guess it all depends on what they are, but the packs that both Seagrest and A&M (and I believe Quality Marine -- being the big 3 that I deal with) last a definite 36 hours.

20 and 40 hour are the normal packs used All the wholesalers I've worked for have just used 20 hours as 99% of our shipments took less time then that.

be careful not to use too many. This will lead to less 0@ which = less heat in the long run.

The newspaper is actually to stop any water from getting to the heat pack. if it gets wet, it stops producing heat Be sure to allow O2 to enter the newspaper though as that is what makes the reaction in the first place.

I'd do a 2/3 water to 1/3 air with a piece of 4ml plastic inside the bag as a "baffle" AKA a "wrap". Is it just one piece?

Exactly. The heat pack is basically creating an anaerobic environment inside whatever container is by taking the O2 and giving off CO2.

We use relatively the same concept in the lab to create an anaerobic environment to grow obligate anaerobic bacteria.

The heat pack is just super lab grade activated carbon.

 

[jimroth]

Exactly. The heat pack is basically creating an anaerobic environment inside whatever container is by taking the O2 and giving off CO2.

We use relatively the same concept in the lab to create an anaerobic environment to grow obligate anaerobic bacteria.

The heat pack is just super lab grade activated carbon.

I think there's a few other things involved, like iron and salt.

 

[GreshamH]

Exactly. The heat pack is basically creating an anaerobic environment inside whatever container is by taking the O2 and giving off CO2.

We use relatively the same concept in the lab to create an anaerobic environment to grow obligate anaerobic bacteria.

The heat pack is just super lab grade activated carbon.

I think there's a few other things involved, like iron and salt.

And sawdust, right?