- Pre-warm a 1/2 gallon thermos with some tapwater.
- Take the unmounted healed frags and clean them off in front of a powerhead.
- Soak some paper towel in tank water. Drain it a bit so that it's not totally dripping.
- Set the frags on the paper towel, and fold in half. Don't use so much towel that it turns into a big wad, because the zoas can suffocate.
- Place into a big plastic bag with a few sprinkles of tank water. Should be minimal/no free water in the bag.
- Fill with air or oxygen. Oxygen would be best(definately don't blow into the bag, unless for shipping plants). Tie off with rubberband.
- Put the bag into the thermos. It should fill the thermos about halfway.
- Add a thin piece of styrofoam on top of the bag.
- Fill another bag with tank water for maintaining temperature, and place into the thermos. Thermos should be full.
- Put the lid onto the thermos and seal it with clear packing tape.
- Pack the thermos into a shipping box with styrofoam or newspaper etc. Depending on the temperature, use a heat or cold pack in the shipping box. Temp pack should be separated from thermos... can tape it to the inside of the box. Last time I used a quadruple bagged amount of water for temperature ballast in the box itself.
The reason for damp shipping is that it's healthier for the zoas, especially for long trips. They will have better oxygen exchange with just the thin layer of water.
The one problem is that with so little water in the bag, the temperature can change quickly compared to shipping in water. That's why I use a second bag with tank water for temperature ballast. Also, the whole thing is packed in a thermos to insulate better from outside temps.
Here's a good article about damp shipping:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-11/eb/index.php
