any tips on shipping anemone?
- Thread starter tvrsir
- Start date
Some people ship with little water-you would need to research this. I know that when I would have stuff shipped in long distance this was the way we had the best results. Stuff that we would get from the wholesaler we would bag normally, as it would only be in transit for a few hours.
D-Nak
Active member
The logic is that if they are shipped with little water, only enough to keep it wet, then they can't foul the water.
I've heard it done one of two ways. Either with little water as mentioned,or with 3-4x the normal amount of water. Also, if you can ship from airport to airport, that should help limit its time in transit.
The reality is that it depends on what kind of nem it is. If gig or mag, then extra care needs to be taken, than something like a BTA. It also depends on the who's paying for shipping and how much extra they're willing to pay -- water is heavy and the more used the more expensive it will be to ship.
bues0022
New member
I really don't understand that logic. If they "foul" the water, one has to assume they are excreting something into the water to foul it. If you have very little water, the junk is now concentrated in the little water that exists. Having more water volume would be the appropriate solution to protecting against fouling the water.
Allmost
New member
seems like they have developed skills to not "poop" on low tide ?
the Little water that was in mine [drops] wasnt clear, but wasnt brown neither, it was just cloudy ...
D-Nak
Active member
That's exactly it. My understanding is that the thinking is that the anemone can determine that the osmotic pressure has changed (they know they're not in water) so they don't excrete anything. The problem is that if it's waste, it could start to decay within the anemone causing other issues.
I agree that it's merely a concept and definitely anecdotal. I would love it if a scientific study was conducted to determine the best way to ship anemones. Unfortunately, there are quite a few variables involved that would make it very difficult -- determining the health of the anemone prior to shipping is just one of those variables.
bues0022
New member
I guess my biggest problem with the whole this is highlighted here. What seems like good logic gets touted by some as fact. Additionally, statements such as "mine came this way and was the healthiest one I've ever purchased" gives undue credit to the shipping method and forgets about the prior anemone health. Ultimately, there is a huge difference between causation, and correlation - which I see being confused in this case.
Allmost
New member
Wait a min !
I just posted my experience ! I did not draw ANY conclusion from it. I think you did though ..
lol ...
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bues0022
New member
Woah. This wasn't a personal attack. I've seen statements such as yours mentioned in several threads. The quote wasn't you, hence why you weren't quoted. However, when you state your experience as you did above, the logical conclusion an uninformed individual is lead to make (intentional or not), is that low shipping water leads to better nem health.
bues0022
New member
I have no experience either way. I'm merely asking and questioning how some conclusions are coming about. I don't intend to claim I am an expert in this subject, and I am here to learn like others. However, I will ask and question to make sure the conclusions I assume are based on more than correlational data. I appreciate your input, and hope others continue to add to the knowledge base.
D-Nak
Active member
I have a sign posted in my office that reads...
"I DON'T LIKE ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE"
Back on topic... I've discussed this with wholesalers and LFS when trying to determine why so many anemones -- S. gigantea in particular -- were dying within a month of import. Both practices -- lots of water or no water -- have had successes and failures, which is why exporters are still doing both.
If I were to ship an anemone, I personally would go with a lot of extra water. I may even include some Cipro in the shipping water.
"I DON'T LIKE ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE"
Back on topic... I've discussed this with wholesalers and LFS when trying to determine why so many anemones -- S. gigantea in particular -- were dying within a month of import. Both practices -- lots of water or no water -- have had successes and failures, which is why exporters are still doing both.
If I were to ship an anemone, I personally would go with a lot of extra water. I may even include some Cipro in the shipping water.
D-Nak
Active member
I don't want to steer this too far off topic, but this is precisely why I am here. I enjoy trying to help people head in the right direction -- they are free to believe in anecdotes -- but I urge them not to rely on anecdotal evidence alone. You're right though, especially in this hobby, many times it's all we have to go off of. The key here is to combine what we already know to be fact (based on the scientific evidence) with this anecdotal evidence to try to figure out what's really happening.
When people on the boards say something is a fact but can't back it up with facts (something has a known result that can be repeated over and over again), then I like to follow up with a question. If they cannot answer the question, many times they realize that what they're saying may not really be a fact, but an opinion. They need to do this on their own. Saying "I don't believe you" typically ends with a thread getting shut down.
In this case, what I'm telling readers is that there are two common ways to ship anemone, but neither method has be proven to be the "right" one. And neither one works every time. Finally, when asked what I'd do, I provide my answer.
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