Damp Shipping Pictorial

[cardgenius]

Very nice, Ill have to try it next time I trade

 

[da6d2003]

Miguel should have some input for this thread.

Bryan, we had that little snafu with usps and that was 4 days with over 50% survival.

 

[surfn]

hmmm.... the science teacher in me questions this. water has a very high specific heat capacity and therefore keeps temp better (water temp should be very stable/gradual change, i would think anyway) then not having it. i think the common belief in this method is actually more closely tied to the O2 and water Q issues of being in stagnent water for 2 days???? really makes me wonder though, as i've personally never tried it and i like your experiment should help tie up some lose ends in the theory...
thanks a lot for this thread - well done

i was thinking the EXACT same thing.

i knew it would be better for the coral in an avg climate zone, but was wondering if it actually made things worse if the package got too cool. as a bag of water is a better insulator than wet paper towels (at least in my mind it is).

 

[Who Dah?]

think adding O2 for 'top off air' would help much or be kinda pointless w/ a shipping method like this?

thx for the pics bryan, gj!!

-Who Dah?

 

[jessiesgrrl]

think adding O2 for 'top off air' would help much or be kinda pointless w/ a shipping method like this?

thx for the pics bryan, gj!!

-Who Dah?

You would then be required to label the box per fed regs for haz... in theory... plus the added danger?

laurie

 

[Stixbaraca]

Amazing pictorial!!!! You only made one mistake...the thank you card didn't read "Steve"...and I don't remember getting a frag of Desert Fox, PPE, Green Goblin...and a bonus!!!!!!!


In all seriousness Bryan...awesome job

 

[Stixbaraca]

O2 may be pointless since there really isn't any water or O2 exchange going on?

 

[twon8]

i think with small frags they are not likely to use up the o2 in the bag during a short transit. just make sure there is air in the bag and not just a wet paper towel.

the only frags ive gotten that i lost all of at shipping they were in long ziploc bags with almost no air, most were dead on arrival.

 

[Zeppelin]

Gret pics Bryan.

 

[fishes2889]

great pictoral....

Steve

 

[Mr. Ugly]

I do some variations on the damp shippping.

I add top off air in either case, because living organisms do respire, and I want to make sure there is excess oxygen/air for that purpose. Also, I wrap the zoas in only a couple layers of towel, in order to facilitate gas exchange through a thin layer of water/towel. That's one of the main reasons to damp ship. It simulates, the exposed reef at low tide where the corals slime up and are protected from the elements. Gas exchanges through the thin layer of slime.

The one time I had problems with damp shipping, the person had a little too much water, the towels got wadded up, and there was not much air in the bag. Stagnant stinky water and towels by the time the zoas arrived.

If I'm concerned with temperature variations, I'll add triple/quadruple bagged water to the container for thermal mass. This negates the weight savings, but my main concern is the health of the zoas during shipping. I do label the bagged water as such, in effort to minimize the hazmat panic should the package somehow rupture.

I set the zoas on a scrap of styrofoam before wrapping with towel and rubberbanding. Stick that into a thermos. The styro keeps the zoas from knocking around inside the thermos, and keeps the towel from getting bunched up.

With these variations, you can get both good gas exchange, and thermal stability. I've only ever damp shipped, and have yet to wet ship.

 

[bryan]

Excellent discussion all ! So nice to see that we all are still learning and have bits and pieces to add from experiences.

Some quick thoughts : I think damp shipping is most effective on wild specimens, in captivity under 3 months. A good number of our corals actually comes into the country this way due to the high cost of fuel. So many wild organisms don't survive the transition into our tanks and can easily foul water in a shipping bag.

For captive grown pieces I don't think it has much advantage over potential weight savings.

I'm lookig forward to running my temp control test, though it may be delayed a day or two as some things have come up I need to attend to.

I had an idea last night I think will give us some decent data. I have 3-4 wirreless temp probes I can finally use I plan on building a normal shipping box, and actually have forgone the idea of using live zoanthids in my test...no reason to risk it on an extreme test even if they are ugly

I will place a probe in the damp paper towels, a probe in a normal amount of shipping water, and a probe in the void area of the box. Over a 3-4 day period I'll be able to monitor which holds better.

Should be fun, I'll catch up with you all soon. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Peace, bryan

 

[familyreefer]

damp

I have recieved damp shipped Zoas here in Georgia that shipped well all the way from California! I was impressed!

 

[BradL.]

Great thread!

 

[maroonytunes]

Hey BradL, :welcome:

 

[Mr. Ugly]

Here's a useful article that some may not have seen yet:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-11/eb/index.php

 

[maverick451]

Bryan, I have a question

In this pic have you wrapped the wet paper towel in another? would it be worth putting some filter wool in the bag to stop any rattling around during shipping?

 

[rocko918]

Can't wait to see the results on the wireless temp test. That will be very helpful to see which one keeps the temp best.

 

[bryan]

Good idea Maverick, I've wondered about that myself. I wouldn't want anything in the bag that could wick moisture away from the towel though. Not being much of a filter floss user (ok, never ) , I guess I need to pick some up and see if it's a synthetic type and see.
Great idea, thanks and Happy Holidays!
Bryan

 

[maverick451]

no problems, as per above though, do you wrap the wet towel in a 2nd outer one? in the above pic it looks like maybe more than 1?

also what is the aclimitisation procedure when damp shipping?