Tips for Shipping Corals to COLD Location??

[PSUolive]

Does anyone ship Corals when the destination Temps are sub freezing or is it too risky?

This is the destination weather forecast for someone who purchased several corals off me on Ebay.

I use 1 1/2" Thick insulation for my 10x10x10 boxes and have 40 and 60 hour heat packs. But the heat packs can only compensate for so much cold.
I always ship Next Day Air (delivery before 12:00 Noon.)

Has anyone shipped in this kind of weather and do you have any tips to maximize survival of the soft coral.

 

[His Coral Highness]

Looks like State College weather to me

 

[PSUolive]

Looks like State College weather to me

Duluth, Minnesota actually

going to be 68 tomorrow in State College ​

 

[His Coral Highness]

Duluth, Minnesota actually​

​

going to be 68 tomorrow in State College ​

Haha that's not how I remember it from when I was there!!

 

[mfinn]

Does anyone ship Corals when the destination Temps are sub freezing or is it too risky?

This is the destination weather forecast for someone who purchased several corals off me on Ebay.

I use 1 1/2" Thick insulation for my 10x10x10 boxes and have 40 and 60 hour heat packs. But the heat packs can only compensate for so much cold.
I always ship Next Day Air (delivery before 12:00 Noon.)

Has anyone shipped in this kind of weather and do you have any tips to maximize survival of the soft coral.

I know this can be a disputed subject, but when I have received corals when the weather is cold, if the shipper tapes the heat packs to the lids of the styro box and puts small air holes in the lid, the heat packs are almost always still working.
When I have received corals in completely sealed boxes the heat pack is usually cold. But once the box is opened they usually heat back up.

If the weather is going to be that cold in my area, I don't buy corals or fish.
I also try to pay attention to the forecast around the country and if there are any major storms ( multi-state) I hold off.
Expecting the shipper to deal with the weather conditions isn't being very realistic.

 

[littlebigreef]

You can control the amount of heat given off by the pack by how much you wrap it (bear in mind which side the vent holes are facing).

You’re using a good sized box which means you’re paying for that dimensional weight. In this case, depending on the amount of corals and packaging, I would use as much water as possible for each bag - while still allowing yourself some space between the the corals and the top of the box. I prefer to use paper to create space but peanuts work well too. From there I might only do a single wrap on the heat pack or even none at all depending on how much total water is going. Water is a heat sink so decent sized box + fair amount of water = larger margin of error.

Biggest mistake I see in cold weather shipping is too small of a box with smaller orders with coral in 2-3oz of water. Smaller box always increases the odds of something getting cooked.

Heat packs reach their temp at 3-4 hours generally so packing closest to final pick up is advisable. I’ve had a few duds the last couple of years so I always open the pack 10-20 mins before taping stuff up to make sure it’s working.

Final pointers - always use a larger wet bag to hold all of your corals. Water will otherwise kill the heat pack. I shouldn’t have to say this but heat pack never goes inside the wet bag (I’ve seen this 3 times over the last few years lol). Finally, sounds like you have the right product but never use non-animal hand warmers/heat packs.

 

[bushdoc]

I live in Central Valley, CA. Wine clubs, I am a member of are not shipping in summer heat, conversely shipping Corals in Freezing weather is not a good idea. Carrier delays happen more often then we would like.

 

[PSUolive]

You can control the amount of heat given off by the pack by how much you wrap it (bear in mind which side the vent holes are facing).

You’re using a good sized box which means you’re paying for that dimensional weight. In this case, depending on the amount of corals and packaging, I would use as much water as possible for each bag - while still allowing yourself some space between the the corals and the top of the box. I prefer to use paper to create space but peanuts work well too. From there I might only do a single wrap on the heat pack or even none at all depending on how much total water is going. Water is a heat sink so decent sized box + fair amount of water = larger margin of error.

Biggest mistake I see in cold weather shipping is too small of a box with smaller orders with coral in 2-3oz of water. Smaller box always increases the odds of something getting cooked.

Heat packs reach their temp at 3-4 hours generally so packing closest to final pick up is advisable. I’ve had a few duds the last couple of years so I always open the pack 10-20 mins before taping stuff up to make sure it’s working.

Final pointers - always use a larger wet bag to hold all of your corals. Water will otherwise kill the heat pack. I shouldn’t have to say this but heat pack never goes inside the wet bag (I’ve seen this 3 times over the last few years lol). Finally, sounds like you have the right product but never use non-animal hand warmers/heat packs.

I pretty much follow this video on how I pack.


- Insulated Box
- Paper for a little extra padding on the bottom.
- Coral in the middle of the box.
- more paper on the sides and top
- piece of cardboard as a divider on top
- 1 more layer of paper
- Heatpack taped to top of the lid with Red strip un-obstructed

Thats a rough rundown of how I do it to make sure the corals do not get too hot and never come in contact with the heatpack.

 

[littlebigreef]

I pretty much follow this video on how I pack.


- Insulated Box
- Paper for a little extra padding on the bottom.
- Coral in the middle of the box.
- more paper on the sides and top
- piece of cardboard as a divider on top
- 1 more layer of paper
- Heatpack taped to top of the lid with Red strip un-obstructed

Thats a rough rundown of how I do it to make sure the corals do not get too hot and never come in contact with the heatpack.

Right on. Doubling bagging or single bagging with a wet bag, either way works. I don't use cardboard to separate out the areas - but, there's many different approaches to shipping that all get the job done.

To your original question, I've always shipped this time of year to colder climates largely without issue. You'll just want to check to make sure there's no adverse weather at the destination or hub that it might go through (ie most FedEx goes through Memphis). Here's the link to the misery map to give you an idea of delays: https://flightaware.com/miserymap/

Depending on your label provider you might be able to do a 'hold at facility' which I always recommended when my label service was with FedEx. It's annoying that the buyer has to drive to a physical location, but the packages have to be dropped here first before the driver starts their route so stuff is usually available hours earlier than it would be otherwise and its sitting in a heated building vs riding around on a truck.