Wet shipping zoas abroad

[121]

Has anyone tried shipping zoa frags in wet paper? I've heard that its quite successful.

I contacted a seller on Ebay and asked him if he would wet ship a zoa frag to me in London without a live guarantee. He replied, stating that he couldn't because the zoa was attached to live rock.

So if a zoa is grown on a frag plug can it be wet shipped to me?

 

[cdsheid]

i dont have any experience but it sounds interesting. Zoas are a real hardy coral. I could see it working. I imagine it could take a lil bit longer to open when you get it but there may be less of a risk of a temperature change like if it was in a bag of water.

 

[firsttank]

I have received zoas in wet paper from cali to michigan and it worked out just fine. I have never shipped it myself but may be worth a try.

 

[121]

Hi Firsttank,

How many days were the zoas in transit for?

 

[Bronco300]

About 4 years back or so a friend tested this out shipping me small frags in wet paper towel...I think it was 1-2 days to me...and it actually worked fine. It did take a few extra days to open up, but they did open...although I'm not sure the live rock is the only problem shipping corals internationally...

 

[jeff@zina.com]

He replied, stating that he couldn't because the zoa was attached to live rock.

That's odd, live rock is shipped in wet paper all the time.

Jeff

 

[121]

I think he meant that I would require a CITES permit to ship scleractinia rock (live rock). Even a tiny bit on a frag would be illegal. Zoas are not CITES listed corals so a frag could be shipped to me if it was mounted on a regular frag plug.

 

[121]

Say there was a hold up and it arrived late. How long could an average zoa frag survive in transit if it was wet shipped?

 

[organism]

Say there was a hold up and it arrived late. How long could an average zoa frag survive in transit if it was wet shipped?

You could probably do 40-48 hours, although under 40 is ideal. A lot of zoanthids that get imported into the US are wrapped in newspaper with like 80+ colonies in one box. They do fine as long as you give them good flow when you get them in, but they'll melt if you do anything other than low light and moderate-high flow.

 

[Thisseemsfishy]

I received Zo's where the water had drained out of the bag, they were barely wet to say the least, but have acclimated just fine. I think wrapping them in wet paper would work fine. Less water to get cold, and less weight for shipping cost.