NOTICE!!
Today I recieved four sick elegance corals. I am greatly appreciative of the effort.
BUT
If you are sending live corals for the study, please take the time to ship them as described and properly. One of the corals today was sent in a small tupperware container in a small box with heat packs directly around the container. there was virtually no air in the container, so the coral sat in a small volume of stagnant water that probably went from very hot to very cold during its journey. This is what it looked like when I opened it (it is now useless for the study).
Two others were packed by a store. In fish bags without air above them, basically just tied with some water in them. They leaked, of course. They were put into a small box with pieces of styrofoam layed around them, totally unsealed to air, and some heat packs under the sytrofoam. The bag water was 56 F. Needless to say, it will be very hard to use these corals, too, since that temperature causes all sorts of stress that confound the study. I will put them into a tank to see if they recover and follow them, but they are not likely to be valuable, either, if they live.
The fourth coral came in a large bag with lots of water and some air, floated upside down on a piece of styrofoam. It also leaked, and had some packing around it, but was in a sealed container so cold air didn't hit the bag. The water temp was 72F, and the coral is fine.
Please, please, please...if you are going to send live corals, please take the time to pack and ship correctly. Its a total waste of effort and money if these small things are not done right. If you cannot or are worried about doing it correctly, please just fix the corals in ethanol or formalin as described, or contact me to determine the best course of action.
Again, I really appreciate the effort, and do not want to see the effort wasted.