Diy heat pack

[juannnn]

Does anyone know how you can make a homemade heat bag to send corals?

 

[KrisReef]

When I was a kid I heard that people who went camping would put rocks in the fire and bury them under their sleeping bag to help stay warm. I knew a guy who told me his application of that method: he had heated the rocks until they were glowing red hot and then he rolled them into his bag. I don't exactly know why your question brought this story to mind but he laughed when he reported that he was cold all night sleeping with the tattered remains of his sleeping bag. :) I guess perhaps knowning that there are rules regarding what you can legally ship in the mail would make me stop and think before I used any heat pack. I would want to know that it was approved and safe for shipping. i think what you are looking for is a slow exothermic reaction in an uninsulated container that doesn't get too hot and lasts long enough to keep the package unfrozen during shipping. I'm certain I don't have a better answer, but thanks for asking because it reminded me of an old buddy that I'm gonna look up this holiday season and ask him to tell me that story again. :)

I will also say that corals can survive lower temperatures for a short time (24-36 hours) but suffer a lot of mortality if their water approaches freezing. Just getting cold for the same amount of time isn't a death sentence for coral, and may actually help them survive transportation (by slowing down metabolism of the coral and of bacteria?)

So its an interesting subject / question -and who knows who else has tried this in our hobby? There are a lot of DYI folks with plenty of knowledge who can probably provide you with a more useful answer?