any shipped sps in damp newspaper
- Thread starter johnvu713
- Start date
DarkXerox
New member
Well this isn't shipping, but when I transport frags from home to school, I have been using dampened strips of plastic in a regular LFS style bag. Did about 3-4 frags of cali tort and green slimer and they opened up immediately in the tank. These were kept around for about 6 hours at room temperature and below so they seemed to be fine.
dweakl01
In Memoriam
I saw Anthony Calfo do a presentation last summer and one of the things he mentioned was "dry shipping" anemones. No wet paper towls, just a dry plastic bag. He said this is best with anemones because they won't release slime/bacteria into the bag until they are in water. They hold all the bacteria inside. When you get them on the other side, simply put them in a QT tank and let them release the slime. I've never tried it, but it did raise my curiosity about the concept.
XeniaMania
Active member
I wonder if some people are confusing wet newspaper for the paper they use as bag liner so the coral doesn't poke thru the bag. My prefered method is to ship via "Float method" in a breathable bag. You can use 1/2 the water you'd normally ship w/, and no worries about oxygen supply and it stays warmer too due to less water.
dippin61
New member
you need to put the frag and the damp paper towel in a good sealed ziplock bag. what you need to accomplish is a 100% humidity enviroment within the bag. with the humidity 100% in the bag like this, it keeps the frag and paper towel very damp, but not pooling.
imagine a day outside when the humidity reaches the upper 80 percentage and higher.. remember how "wet" you always felt?
imagine a day outside when the humidity reaches the upper 80 percentage and higher.. remember how "wet" you always felt?
RichConley
New member
I havent shipped either way, but I think the newspaper would be a LOT better than paper towels. The whole point is to let the coral breathe, and it seems that the towels would stick to the coral, which is bad.
I finally got a chance to try "dry shipping" this weekend. I got some new frags from LFS in Toronto, Canada and since I'm from Montreal, Canada the new frags were not going to be my tank for at least 8 hours. I decided to try dry shipping a couple frag I generated from the free acro.
I separated the frags into three category, three frags each. One ziplock bag I used moisten white paper towel, the second moisten brown towels and the third wet ship (bag of water=my control).
About 10 hours later I was home and excited! The bad news is that the frags in the white bleached paper towels were all dead whereas the dryship in brown paper and wet ship frags all survived.
So dry shipping does seem to work for acros but don't used bleached white paper towels. I guess residual chemicals in the bleaching process in some brands of paper towels can be toxic to frags.
I will definitely dry sip again, but with only unbleached brwon paper towels.
I separated the frags into three category, three frags each. One ziplock bag I used moisten white paper towel, the second moisten brown towels and the third wet ship (bag of water=my control).
About 10 hours later I was home and excited! The bad news is that the frags in the white bleached paper towels were all dead whereas the dryship in brown paper and wet ship frags all survived.
So dry shipping does seem to work for acros but don't used bleached white paper towels. I guess residual chemicals in the bleaching process in some brands of paper towels can be toxic to frags.
I will definitely dry sip again, but with only unbleached brwon paper towels.
RichConley, welll newspaper may be good since they use non-toxic organic dervived ink but I believe that the paper they use is still bleached and therefore residual chemiclas from the bleaching process may still be present and toxic.
In my case the acros didn't seem to stick to the either paper towels I used.
In my case the acros didn't seem to stick to the either paper towels I used.
masterswimmer
New member
goph, thanks for the feedback. Very helpful. I'll be trying that method as well.
Russ
Russ
RichConley
New member
Do we know that its the residuals from bleaching? Maybe its just that the white paper towels are more absorbant. Who knows. Calfo told me he was doing it in newspaper, thats why I suggested it.
RichConley,
I agree with you about using newspaper but I'm not saying don't use news paper. I'm just suggesting that if brown unbleached paper towels is available it would be a better alternative since all bleached paper do have some degree of chemicals residuals from the bleaching process which could be harmful to the acros
I'm only speaking from only one shipping experience in which my frags did not make it in the white paper towels. I may try newspaper on my next trip and see what happens.
Just curious as to why you would suggest absorption to be a factor? The towels should be 100% saturated with water and therefore no additional absorption would occur.
I agree with you about using newspaper but I'm not saying don't use news paper. I'm just suggesting that if brown unbleached paper towels is available it would be a better alternative since all bleached paper do have some degree of chemicals residuals from the bleaching process which could be harmful to the acros
I'm only speaking from only one shipping experience in which my frags did not make it in the white paper towels. I may try newspaper on my next trip and see what happens.
Just curious as to why you would suggest absorption to be a factor? The towels should be 100% saturated with water and therefore no additional absorption would occur.
RichConley
New member
I dont know, its just that the brown paper towel in general seems to be very coarse, industrial grade stuff. White paper towel on the other hand seems to be cushier, and seems like a totally different product, so it may be something other than the bleaching. Was just throwing out an idea.
Also, the brown stuff is more like a paper (like newspaper) whereas the white stuff is generally more clothy.
I have no idea if any of these affect it, but I just thought I'd throw that consideration out there.
XeniaMania
Active member
Hmm...1 speaks from experience while the other speaks from his imagination...I wonder.
RichConley
New member
His experience was anecdotal. He said that his lived in the brown paper towels, and not the whites. Thats his experience. That the bleaching killed them is an assumption he made.
The fact that it worked out that way doesnt prove the bleach killed them. It could be be the fact that the towels are bleached, it could be something else.
Its comments like yours that keep any progress from being made in things like this.
