How long can a coral survive in the bag?

[juanmanuelsanch]

hi all ! So I live in Costa Rica, and usually here coral prices are double or triple of what you might find in the US. For an already expensive hobby with some really crappy LFS you can imagine how this goes...

So I was thinking in shipping some here. Usually the package has to get to Miami and then use a courier to get them here. The whole process usually takes 3-4 days.

So my question is, would they survive? Or maybe there is seller that can ship directly to my home address?.

Thanks for the help !

 

[Kremis]

most likely not, temperature, oxygen, water quality, ammonia etc would all become a big issue

 

[ThRoewer]

If packed well a small frag may survive it. My primary worry would be customs troubles - exporting and importing living animals and plants usually raises a whole load of issues. There are reasons why the online stores don't ship across borders: a customs hold can really ruin your day.

 

[juanmanuelsanch]

I know but there are ways to get them. You just tramit a permit.

The issue is the survival. Ammonia shouldnt be an issue since corals do not produce vast ammounts of it (at least not like fish). Please correct me if Im wrong. Oxygfen is the one I will be must worried about.

 

[ThRoewer]

The biggest issue is lack of water movement. While fish breathe actively and just by swimming cause the water to move and mix, corals are totally passive breathers that have to rely on water flow to bring them fresh and oxygenated water. To make matters worse, their symbiotic algae also consume oxygen without light.
As long as the package is moving the water will not be still, but any longer period of just sitting around in a warehouse could become problematic.

If you want to do this I would suggest to do a (few) test run(s) with cheaper and easily replaceable corals and see how it goes.

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[scooter31707]

I had a couple one time from a shipment that got delayed, lasted almost lasted 48 hours. I think it was actually around 45-46 hours.

 

[Snaredrum]

As a person that worked for a major airline I few years back, it would make you sick to your stomach the amount of corals and fish go into a dumpster. Shipment would get delayed and finally make it to the connecting airport just to be rejected by the end buyer. Shipper would say destroy the shipment and in the dumpster it would go. Seen it happen many times and would make me sick. I do know there were a few guys working there that had really nice tanks.

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[ThRoewer]

... I do know there were a few guys working there that had really nice tanks.

Were those nice tanks stocked with rescues from those delayed shipments?
Many things can actually survive quite a bit. It's just that the wholesalers are not willing to take a risk or having the extra space and manpower that would be needed to nurture​ them back to health. So delayed shipments are generally rejected to avoid potential money loss.


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