flamenco-t
06-20-2011, 11:18 AM
Disclaimer: This is strictly based on my experience only, I have shipped hundreds of fish with great sucess. Most of the fish that I shipped are larger fish, so it should work well with smaller fish as well.
Also, I only ship AIR CARGO, same day arrival, I have done UPS and Fedex overnight as well and this method works for both.
Before shipping:
1. Starve the fish 3-4 days prior to shipping days. This will reduce the amount of waste that the fish will produce while being in a bag during shipping.
On the day of the shipping:
-Get yourself a nice and sturdy cardboard box. I usually ship with "florida" box which is the standard wholesaler box (a styro box inside of a cardboard box), but any box with styrofoam lining will work.
You can also purchase Styrofoam sheets from home depot and cut to fit the inside of a regular brown cardboard box.
To determine the size, I used the rule of thumb of 1.5 X the longest length of the fish. If your fish is 10", try to give him about 15" of length on the box. This obviously doesn't apply to rays or other "flat fish"
1. Flip the box over and tape the bottom flap of the box, you want to do this NOW instead of later once the fish is bagged inside the box.
I always use 3 tapes along the seam, one on each side and one in the middle. This will reduce the possibility of the box "breaking apart"
http://i330.photobucket.com/albums/l427/flamenco-t/ff644277.jpg
If you look at the picture above, anywhere you see a line is where you need to put a tape on the box.
2. Get 3-4 layers of plastic bags to fit the dimension of your styro box, I prefer 3-4 mil or thicker. The square based bottom bag works well..
http://www.uline.com/BL_157/3-Mil-Gusseted-Poly-Bags
3. Lay out the bags inside the styro box, fill it with water. I usually fill the bag with 1/3 of water. As long as the entire height of the fish plus a few inches is covered in water, you're good. Fish needs oxygen before water BUT having plenty of water will help the fish from fouling the water too quickly.
http://i330.photobucket.com/albums/l427/flamenco-t/233515b6.jpg
4. Place the fish inside the bag, I am a big fan of Jungle Bag Buddies. It's essentially an O2 tablet and a fish calmer. I'd put a tablet in the water after I put the fish in the bag.
5. To close the bag, grab each ends and rapidly join them together and tie them with rubber band. I never fill the air space with airborne oxygen. IME, in the event of a puncture the air will push the water OUT of the hole so fast, your fish will suffocate in a short amount of time. Your water should contain dissolved oxygen that the fish needs. If you have very litle air inside the bag, in the event of a puncture, water will leak out slower than if you have a lot of air in the bag.
This is strictly my experience only, I can't speak for everyone's opinion or experience.
6. Grab 3-4 rubber bands to tie EACH bags separately.
http://i330.photobucket.com/albums/l427/flamenco-t/c269bedb.jpg
7. I always use heat packs, just because it is hot in here, it's not the case inside the cabin of an airplane. It may be 60 degrees inside the cabin during transit.
Remove the heat pack from its sealed pouch and place it on a sheet of newspaper
http://i330.photobucket.com/albums/l427/flamenco-t/9c00e182.jpg
Wrap it with about 1-2 layers of newspaper,
http://i330.photobucket.com/albums/l427/flamenco-t/0ec166e0.jpg
Tape the wrapped heat pack to the inside TOP LID of the styro box
http://i330.photobucket.com/albums/l427/flamenco-t/ac75d2a8.jpg
if you're shipping in the winter time, it's best to put 1-2 heat packs for a medium size box. In the summer time, one heat pack per 17" x 17" box will do just fine.
NEVER TAPE A HEAT PACK DIRECTLY INTO THE BAG !!!
8. Put the top lid of the styro box on, close the flap on each box, tape it just like the instruction # 1 above.
YOu may want to place a few labels marking "Live tropical Fish, keep warm, this side up and etc" I always use air cargo for everything but in my experience it's best to keep the box plain with UPS or fedex. All this due to human curiosity...
http://i330.photobucket.com/albums/l427/flamenco-t/8b5cee11.jpg
9. Ship the package. Try to drop off the package 1-2 hours before the cut off time, there's no sense in leaving a fish in the box all day before being processed. The lesser time the fish spend inside the box, the better chance they will arrive alive.
Also, ALL shipping carriers will not insure a live animals. They will only insure against LOSS or DAMAGE. If you receive your shipment and the fish is dead but the box is remain perfect, they will not re-imburse your fish.
If the box is beat up and the fish is dead, they MAY reimburse you, although I never heard of anyone getting reimburse for those.
Your best bet is to just have them lose the package, then you will get 100% reimbursement.
Hope this helps,
Stan
Also, I only ship AIR CARGO, same day arrival, I have done UPS and Fedex overnight as well and this method works for both.
Before shipping:
1. Starve the fish 3-4 days prior to shipping days. This will reduce the amount of waste that the fish will produce while being in a bag during shipping.
On the day of the shipping:
-Get yourself a nice and sturdy cardboard box. I usually ship with "florida" box which is the standard wholesaler box (a styro box inside of a cardboard box), but any box with styrofoam lining will work.
You can also purchase Styrofoam sheets from home depot and cut to fit the inside of a regular brown cardboard box.
To determine the size, I used the rule of thumb of 1.5 X the longest length of the fish. If your fish is 10", try to give him about 15" of length on the box. This obviously doesn't apply to rays or other "flat fish"
1. Flip the box over and tape the bottom flap of the box, you want to do this NOW instead of later once the fish is bagged inside the box.
I always use 3 tapes along the seam, one on each side and one in the middle. This will reduce the possibility of the box "breaking apart"
http://i330.photobucket.com/albums/l427/flamenco-t/ff644277.jpg
If you look at the picture above, anywhere you see a line is where you need to put a tape on the box.
2. Get 3-4 layers of plastic bags to fit the dimension of your styro box, I prefer 3-4 mil or thicker. The square based bottom bag works well..
http://www.uline.com/BL_157/3-Mil-Gusseted-Poly-Bags
3. Lay out the bags inside the styro box, fill it with water. I usually fill the bag with 1/3 of water. As long as the entire height of the fish plus a few inches is covered in water, you're good. Fish needs oxygen before water BUT having plenty of water will help the fish from fouling the water too quickly.
http://i330.photobucket.com/albums/l427/flamenco-t/233515b6.jpg
4. Place the fish inside the bag, I am a big fan of Jungle Bag Buddies. It's essentially an O2 tablet and a fish calmer. I'd put a tablet in the water after I put the fish in the bag.
5. To close the bag, grab each ends and rapidly join them together and tie them with rubber band. I never fill the air space with airborne oxygen. IME, in the event of a puncture the air will push the water OUT of the hole so fast, your fish will suffocate in a short amount of time. Your water should contain dissolved oxygen that the fish needs. If you have very litle air inside the bag, in the event of a puncture, water will leak out slower than if you have a lot of air in the bag.
This is strictly my experience only, I can't speak for everyone's opinion or experience.
6. Grab 3-4 rubber bands to tie EACH bags separately.
http://i330.photobucket.com/albums/l427/flamenco-t/c269bedb.jpg
7. I always use heat packs, just because it is hot in here, it's not the case inside the cabin of an airplane. It may be 60 degrees inside the cabin during transit.
Remove the heat pack from its sealed pouch and place it on a sheet of newspaper
http://i330.photobucket.com/albums/l427/flamenco-t/9c00e182.jpg
Wrap it with about 1-2 layers of newspaper,
http://i330.photobucket.com/albums/l427/flamenco-t/0ec166e0.jpg
Tape the wrapped heat pack to the inside TOP LID of the styro box
http://i330.photobucket.com/albums/l427/flamenco-t/ac75d2a8.jpg
if you're shipping in the winter time, it's best to put 1-2 heat packs for a medium size box. In the summer time, one heat pack per 17" x 17" box will do just fine.
NEVER TAPE A HEAT PACK DIRECTLY INTO THE BAG !!!
8. Put the top lid of the styro box on, close the flap on each box, tape it just like the instruction # 1 above.
YOu may want to place a few labels marking "Live tropical Fish, keep warm, this side up and etc" I always use air cargo for everything but in my experience it's best to keep the box plain with UPS or fedex. All this due to human curiosity...
http://i330.photobucket.com/albums/l427/flamenco-t/8b5cee11.jpg
9. Ship the package. Try to drop off the package 1-2 hours before the cut off time, there's no sense in leaving a fish in the box all day before being processed. The lesser time the fish spend inside the box, the better chance they will arrive alive.
Also, ALL shipping carriers will not insure a live animals. They will only insure against LOSS or DAMAGE. If you receive your shipment and the fish is dead but the box is remain perfect, they will not re-imburse your fish.
If the box is beat up and the fish is dead, they MAY reimburse you, although I never heard of anyone getting reimburse for those.
Your best bet is to just have them lose the package, then you will get 100% reimbursement.
Hope this helps,
Stan