Shipping frags

[SDguy]

Could someone please direct me to information on how to ship SPS frags properly.

Styros, no prob. Bag type? O2? Float on styro pieces upside down? Wrap in plastic inside bag? etc etc.

TIA for any help.

[Echidna09]

O2 is not needed for coral frags. They will be fine packed with a small amount of air. Floating the coral on a styrofoam block is not necessary, but will keep the coral from crushing itself or being crushed by the bag . This is more a problem with LPS corals, such as Euphyllias.

I ship inside a coleman cooler to keep temperatures right on. I would like to learn how to properly use a heatpack though...

[SDguy]

We get TONS of small styro with thick wall at work from shipments to my lab, so I think the thick walled coolers would work well. I too would like to know how to use a heat pack and not cook the coral. Just strap it to the lid? And what kind of bags?

[twon8]

i wrap the heat pack in a page of newspaper and tape it to the lid; also put a bag of air/peanuts/paper between the corals and the heat packs.

i got bags from the lfs about a year+ ago, 40 bucks for a 1000, and i still have a thick pile left. i have'nt lost anything since some montis sent priority usps didnt' make it till the third day.

for acros i double bag and then double bag again(and if something sensitive or special i'll end up using 6 bags. I twist the bag and secure it with cable ties(rubberbanding 10 corals twice each kills my hands) each time. I prepare the cable ties already "looped" about halfway and put them onto some forceps.using the forceps to grab the twisted top of the bag; after pulling the top of the bag down i can flip them off the forceps onto the bag's twisted loop. (not sure if anyone else can follow this)

i put about 300-600ml of water in each bag, but im thinking i could cut that down with no ill effects. i try to put a good bit of air in each bag, but i'm not sure how much is really needed

[SDguy]

Hmmm, that's another good point. How much water per frag, and air?

[flyyyguy]

a couple things I will add......

I really prefer thick walled cooler, and wont ship any other way. I buy these.

https://www.uline.com/ProductDetail.asp?model=S-9903

yeah, they arent exactly cheap, but healthy animals always arrive and open up wihtin minutes of being in buyers tanks. thats important and it makes for a overall really nice package as well as is no bigger than needed so you save on shipping, and I dont have to scrounge around to put a cooler together. Not having to look around for a perfect cooler is worth $5 alone to me every time.

Extreme temps dont scare me in the slightest, hot or cold and its a good thing living in the high desert of central oregon in the winter time. You need enough space in the coolr that you can tape the hot or cold packs to the roof, and be left with a few inches in between the bags themselves and the hot or cold pack with pakcing material in between so the packs help with the temp of the entire inside of the cooler, and not any specific bags in particular.

I use just a little bit of air, and I put all the double or triple wrapped bags inside a big black bag to make sure it is as dark as possible so the corals will try to respirate as little as possible for the journey. this big black yard bag also acts as my pakcing material as I am only really using tem percent of it, the rest fills up the remaining space inside the cooler

Ive recieved frags from twon and he does a great job as well. He uses ten times as much water as I do wanna know the truth. LOL

here is how much water and air I use to bag up a inch and a half frag that didnt need floated under styrofoam......if it did.....i would use just enough water that it could be floated and not hit bottom.

thats just one bag....i will put it in one or two more depending on how sharp it is. and I hate rubberbands.....bags need to be tall enough that they can be tied shut...its just easier IMOyes...i buy my bags from petsmart. haha

[jay24k]

I use a heat sealer. Pick one up cheap on ebay. It is almost impossible to bust one of those seals. I have slammed them into the ground with good success.

[Corn]

I like to take some stryo and suspend the acro up side down in the water. that is how most wholesalers do it.