shipping elegance coral

[jscarlata]

Hi all
I am in the process of selling a really nice, healthy elegance coral to a RC member. i live in NY, he in KY, so shipping is involved. I went to get some quotes today and FedEx Priority Overnight (10:30am delivery) is crazy expensive, depending on weight it could broach 100.00 to ship. I have no idea how heavy the box will be, but did samples based on 8lbs and 5lbs in an 8x8x8 box and it was like 95 and 85 respectively.
now, if it goes 2 day instead of overnight, the costs are totally normal, 35-45 again depending on weight. Can the coral survive the 2-day trip? any tips on packing LPS for safe travel?
does the bag need to have an air space or is it better to have no air so the coral doesnt get bounced around.

thanks!

 

[NeilFox]

It will survive 2 days. If you have access to pure o2 fill about 3/4 of a heavy duty 1/2 gallon bag with water and hit the rest with O2 to fill it up. You can take some thin sanwich bags and cut them into 1" wide strips and stick them in the water to stop him from moving around. Take the first 1/2 gallon bag and wrap it in newspaper. Then place another bag over that. You may even want to use a thrird bag. You can use bigger bags if you like but make sure they are heavy. Put him in a box with styrofome peanuts. If you can't get those use popcorn. If you can line the box with styrofoam even better.

You should be ok doing this. If you don't have o2 just use air. Alot of transhippers in remote areas would add a drop of peroxide if they don't have oxygen to accomplish the same thing but I wouldn't do this for a fairly short trip.

I hope this helps.

 

[gnu]

Ship it USPS overnight. 39.95 guaranteed by noon.

 

[jscarlata]

when using fedex overnight, do i have to tell them its a live coral and label the box?