Shipping?

[Islander84]

Couldnt think of a better place to ask then guys who do it often what's the best way to ship overnight fish and approx cost.....best company to use and proper procedure. Thanks

 

[billsreef]

As for shipping companies, I've found FedEx to be the most reliable over all. Cost is going to vary widely based on location and size/weight of box. Best boxes are the stryo fish boxes that the LFS gets their shipments in. Since most of those boxes head for the garbage, it's worth asking your LFS for some. The actual packing, the bag should be 1/3 water and 2/3 oxygen from an O2 tank. I also like to put a squirt of Amquel in the bag to lock up the ammonia. Depending on time of year, your local weather, the destinations weather, and the weather en route, a heat pack or two (if it's a big box) or ice packs are needed for temp stability. It's also good to pack as late as possible to make the overnight shipping drop off deadline.

Also, shippers like FedEx expect you to be pre approved to ship fish. This involves sending them a trial shipment (just bags of water without the fish) showing that you can properly pack them. The real important part for them is that you line the box with enough absorbent material to absorb all the water should the bags break. This involves much more newspaper than you see in the typically packed box

 

[reefstew]

When I ship fish I don't feed them for 2 days pryor to bagging them. That way they don't polute the water. I ship using the Southwest Air but you would need an account to use them & you need to be inspected by the TSA. FedEx is expensive but probably the easy way to go.

 

[Islander84]

Thanks for the help guys! I will call fedex and give it a whirl