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Coral Shipping 101!


Paratore

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Reefers!

I've been wanting to learn the art of shipping corals for quite a while now. But the whole idea of packing up a beautiful coral and shipping it to a far away land can be very intimidating. Like what company do I ship through? How do I pack the coral? Heat pack or no heat pack...? Cold pack? Insure the package? Should I only ship on certain days/times? How do I get the cheapest shipping cost? ....Etc....

There seems to be a lot that goes into shipping and I would love to hear from some of you how you do it. I know that there are quite a few members here who ship coral after selling them through Facebook Coral Action sites and would love to hear from you. There is some info online about it but they tend to contradict each other, be outdated articles, or are very confusing. I would much rather hear first had experiences and what works for you.

So, please teach me your ways!

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Cody give mattv or Brad (Reefjunkie) or Rudy (go) they can all help!

Oh They would be helpful but I was hoping that they would post on here so everyone could see! I know I'm not the only one who has been curious about shipping corals :) if I don't get a reply on here then I'll probably PM them.
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When I shipped in the past I would order boxes from uline and big sheets of styrofoam and break them up to fit in the box. I would either ship with specimen cups or the tiny bags and of course triple bag them.

 

I would use fedex but it's more expensive than than tbe post office but more reliable and you could track it. If it was someone in Washington or local then ups ground actually gets it there overnight and it is mich cheaper.

 

I would put styrofoam on the plugs like you do Cody. This time of year I would use a heat pack but I don't like to ship sps this time of year because of the risk of the package getting to cold or weather delays.

 

Zoas tolerate the cold better and delays. I once had someone ship me Zoas in an envelope and baggy with paper towels and it survived lol. I don't advise that way of shipping.

 

Some people have accounts with fed ex if they ship enough and you get a discount which helps. Overnight commands a premium price. I also bought a scale and tried to minimize weight. You can also print shipping labels at home.

 

We had a few packages go missing but for the most part no big losses.

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Shipping, heat packs and ice packs are typically needed. Both should be secured/ taped to the lid so there is no direct contact with the bags. There is only a few months out of the year that one or the other is not needed.

Insurance is typically not used due to the cost and most carriers won't insure live animals, if they do the cost is ridiculous. Never ship for Friday delivery as any delay along the way will result in a weekend of sitting in a cold warehouse.

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No exact science in shipping, just common sense.

It is something that you have to do it often to master.

Live fish and coral seller / vendor will be reluctant to share the knowledge because it is consider trade secret.

When I first started shipping I learned from shipments came in to me.

I just observed how the shipment were packed and follow what work the best.

 

Some common sense:

- Double / Triple bags

- Use quality bags that can be secure for no leak. Zip Lock bag is not for shipping long distance.

- Use heat / ice pack when necessary during extreme temp.

- Do not ship when temp in the teens, heat pack wont help much and has its limitation

- Use cooler box or Styrofoam liner with cardboard box outer.

- Box will tumble in UPS/FEDEX conveyor belt, securing the inside may minimize damage.

 

How to get cheaper shipping? The only answer is volume.

Vendor shipping rate from UPS/FedEx is base on dollar value of shipping volume.

UPS vendor shipping rate is base on weekly performance and FedEx vendor shipping rate base on quarterly performance.

Both UPS and FedEx require aquatic animal shipping certification before you can ship live fish or coral. Sales Rep from both company

can guide you through the process.

 

Any third party shipping company to use? Plenty, but again your rate will depend on your dollar volume of shipping regularly.

You will not see immediate lower rate before shipping often for a few months.

 

Do I need to buy insurance? No insurance for Live Animal Shipment. Shipping live animal with FedEx / UPS / Airlines pretty much as is.

 

Where to buy shipping supplies? Uline or local companies.

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No exact science in shipping, just common sense.

It is something that you have to do it often to master.

Live fish and coral seller / vendor will be reluctant to share the knowledge because it is consider trade secret.

When I first started shipping I learned from shipments came in to me.

I just observed how the shipment were packed and follow what work the best.

 

Some common sense:

- Double / Triple bags

- Use quality bags that can be secure for no leak. Zip Lock bag is not for shipping long distance.

- Use heat / ice pack when necessary during extreme temp.

- Do not ship when temp in the teens, heat pack wont help much and has its limitation

- Use cooler box or Styrofoam liner with cardboard box outer.

- Box will tumble in UPS/FEDEX conveyor belt, securing the inside may minimize damage.

 

How to get cheaper shipping? The only answer is volume.

Vendor shipping rate from UPS/FedEx is base on dollar value of shipping volume.

UPS vendor shipping rate is base on weekly performance and FedEx vendor shipping rate base on quarterly performance.

Both UPS and FedEx require aquatic animal shipping certification before you can ship live fish or coral. Sales Rep from both company

can guide you through the process.

 

Any third party shipping company to use? Plenty, but again your rate will depend on your dollar volume of shipping regularly.

You will not see immediate lower rate before shipping often for a few months.

 

Do I need to buy insurance? No insurance for Live Animal Shipment. Shipping live animal with FedEx / UPS / Airlines pretty much as is.

 

Where to buy shipping supplies? Uline or local companies.

Rudy--thank you for this! You are always so generous with your knowledge and experience.

 

Sent from my SM-G928P using Tapatalk

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If you need to ship large colonies or lots of frags, I still have a few very large live aquaria Styrofoam boxes with card board boxes for free. I feel bad tossing them so I ended up hoarding them over the years. If no takers, I'll take them to the recycling center.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

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  • 1 month later...

Big thanks to Kim, Rudy, and Matt V! I shipped off my first package of corals the other day and everything arrived in perfect healthy! Zoas were even opening up within an hour of being in the new tank! The new owner was very satisfied. With all of the info provided here and talking with a few other people I felt very confident and comfortable shipping. So thanks again everyone!!! First of many packages I hope :)

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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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