does any one know how to do a thermos trade?

[iceman5]

i was just down to sanibel island fl. for the week and checked out some wonderful stores in cape coral and fort myers. my father in law lives in cape coral fl. and with the local stores there they have some nice deals and a very good selection. i was wondering about thermos tades. well has anyone done this and how?do you just take a thermos fill it with water and attach the coral to the bottom of a piece of styrofoam? i have no clue so any help would be nice. sorry i couldn't make it to the meeting since i was gone hope to see you all at the next one thanks andrew

[z28cam]

Double bag or even tripple bag your frags seperatly. Place it in your thermos or small styrofoam container. Pack some paper towel in the thermos if there is room so the bags are extra snug. Take and appropriate sized shipping box and put some packing peanuts or newspaper in it. Stick you container in the box and then fill the voids with more peanuts or newspaper so your thermos doesn't bounce all around. Drive to the Post office or other carrier and send it off priority mail. Done :)

Styrofoaming your frag really wouldn't work in such a small container. Unless maybe the frag was super small.

[kass03]

I just got some zoo's by thermos trade sent priority mail from Utah and it took 2 days.
They were sent in a walmart thermos (campbells soup kind) 1 frag in each. I got 2 frags.
The person who sent it used whats called breathable bags but you don't have to.
You should use a rubberbanded bag inside the thermos because the thermos can leak. Be sure the rubberbands are tight.
Be sure to blow off the frag from detritis before placing in the bag. You can do that with a powerhead.
Do 1 frag per thermus.
Fill the bag (a normal poly) about half to 3/4 with water (breathable bags you fill all the way)
Ive also read don't use ziplocks as they can expand and break.
Pack the thermus well in peanuts or newspaper so it cant bounce around in the box.
Don't ship a fresh cut frag. Don't freshwater dip it (like zoo's) before it's shipped because it will slime more and be stressed.

Heres a thread about it.
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=462933&highlight=how+to+do+a+thermos
Corro with the breathable bags is the one I thermos traded with.

Here are some tips for standard shipping without a thermos
http://www.exoticreefs.us/_shipping_tips.htm

Some corals can handle 2 day shipping and some can't.
Usually zoo's and ricordeas can. Prolly some softies If it's generally a more hardy coral.
I wouldnt trust it with sensative corals such as sps and lps.

1 of my zoo's in the thermos trade did arrive stressed and got a fungus and died ( I did freshwater dip it the day after but was to late. I should have dipped right away. For zoo's it gets rid of fungus).The bag had also leaked some for that frag.
The other is doing good now but was stressed for a while.
It was also only in the 50's when I got them as the weatherbug was wrong said 60's. I would make sure it's at least in the mid 60's.

Ive had ricordeas shipped priority mail 2 days from Florida that are doing great but it wasnt a thermos ship.
They were packed in heavy heat sealed bags so they couldnt leak, packed in newspaper and sent priority. They also had very little rock on them so it couldnt put a hole in the bag.

Hope that helps and good luck?

and Joe said it sooo much quicker/easier lol

kass

[iceman5]

thanks for the info!! i just wish we had half of what the stores have down there. thanks again Andrew