FYI nice post on shipping Zoa's

[eboonaman]

read this on another form (uberfrags.com) It was interesting so I thought I pass it along.
the people who posted it said they shipped them like this during the cold spell and had no problems.

http://club-zoa.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1400

chuck

 

[teen]

cool, u think it would work with other corals? possibly sps frags?

 

[Reef Junkie]

This is a good way of shipping zoas, but it's not recommended for SPS. SPS will suffocate in it's own slime, where zoas are filled with water and can survive longer out of water.

One thing to note, Zoas shipped this way don't ship well in very cold weather. The air pocket in the bags is not a good insulator. They can also get fried by the heat pack, so be careful placing that in the package. This shipping method is best used in warmer weather.

 

[Justjoe]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9225260#post9225260 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by teen
cool, u think it would work with other corals? possibly sps frags?

It works very well with photosynthetic gorgonia as well, key is to purge the corals, etc and to get them to slough off as much mucus as possible first.

There is a similar method of packing sps, using rigid containers with a lid and just adding a small amount of water in the bottom of the container, and to then have the frags wrapped in strips of plastic (like cutting up the standard shipping bags into strips). You can fit many frags in one leftover Chinese soup type container, as the strips keep the frags from rubbing into each other. The sps frags need to be purged as much as possible as well. Drawbacks are lack of water volume and you can see wide temperature ranges. There is also a limited shipping time, with greater mortality rate relative to the length of shipping time.
Preferred shipping time with this method is 18hrs, with increased mortalities once over the 18hr period.
Joe

 

[woodworker1959]

Joe by purging do you mean rinsed well with tank water?

 

[Reef Junkie]

Joe,

Do you recommended using this method in cold weather like we've been having? (Assuming it's done within 18 hrs)

The reason I ask is I have had zoas shipped to me by the first shipping method in the cold and they did not do well at all and they came within 18 hours.

 

[billsreef]

If your using heat packs, tape them to the underside of the cooler/styro's lid that your using. Be sure and only tape the edges Also put a layer of newspaper on top of the frags so that it will protect the bags from direct contact should the heat packs fall off.

 

[Justjoe]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9230402#post9230402 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Reef Junkie
Joe,

Do you recommended using this method in cold weather like we've been having? (Assuming it's done within 18 hrs)

The reason I ask is I have had zoas shipped to me by the first shipping method in the cold and they did not do well at all and they came within 18 hours.

A good quality styro taped shut (not just the cardboard box, but thicker styro itself) and several heat packs and it should be fine.
In general, I try to avoid shipping in weather extremes.

 

[Justjoe]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9229060#post9229060 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by woodworker1959
Joe by purging do you mean rinsed well with tank water?

Often if you take them out of the water for a short time, they'll ooze some mucus, and they can then be placed in a bucket to slough it off, and this can be repeated several times. This is often done with xenia, and then suspend them from some styro floats in the bag, so they stay suspended in the water column, swaying back and forth, and this way the mucus doesn't settle on them. Good to ship acros this was as well.
Joe

 

[Neurotech]

check this out:
http://club-zoa.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1400
its about zoas, but interesting.