Best way to ship a dendro?

kass03 · Apr 15, 2009

Hello,
I'm not new to shipping corals but I usually ship softies and zoa's.
I have to ship a dendro colony that's about 1 1/2 inches wide by 2 1/2 inches long. It's on a frag plug so another inch long for the stem.

I usually ship corals bagged and then I put them in the ziploc containers with the screw on lids.
I'm debating if I should break the stem off the frag plug so it's smaller and put some plastic pieces in the bag for cushion and ship it in the ziploc container as I usually do.
OR
Try floating it on styrofoam but I'm afraid it might be too heavy or if the bag would leak for some reason it might not be able to turn around in the container and possibly be out of water.
OR
I read about the specimen containers but it scares me not having it bagged and what if it would leak?

I'm thinking I should prolly try the first method as thats how Ive shipped before with good luck but I am afraid of possible breakage.

My original frag was shipped to me just bagged with strips of plastic and was fine but I'm a worry wart lol.

Also it's going from Wisc about 50 degrees to Florida 70-80. Should I use a heat pack? I always worry about heat packs warming up to much in the beginning but think I will use one.

Thanks
kass

colorfan45 · Apr 15, 2009

try using one of the 12 hour packs. Will be cool by the time it gets there.

Chad · May 29, 2009

I think suspending it in shipping helps on a lot of different corals also.

stunreefer · May 29, 2009

There are two types of corals people refer to as "dendros"... based on your post I assume your speaking of Dendrophyllia, not Dendronephthya...

Dendrophyllia are a very hardy coral, and I wouldn't hesistate to ship them in any of the fasions mentioned... I've shipped many of them before.

IMHO I would not use a heat pack... for fear of overheating exactly as you mentioned... they're from deep water so they're used to being "cool"

H@rry · May 29, 2009

I would try to ship it suspended on styrofoam when at all possible. This would help with the plug scrubbing a hole in the bag. Putting it inside a screw-on lid container would be good too. You might want to them put the whole thing inside another bag.

Many people have a false impression about the use of heat packs when shipping coral frags. Heat packs consist of iron powder, charcoal, salt, vermiculite, and water. They generate heat via the oxidation (rusting) process. This can only occur in the presence of oxygen. I ship frags in a cardboard box with all the edges taped shut. Inside the cardboard is a plastic trash bag to prevent any leakage that may get the box soggy and Styrofoam pieces cut to fit inside the box for insulation. There is no way oxygen from outside the box can enter once it is sealed. Once the heat pack consumes the oxygen that was in the box when it was sealed it cools off. That’s the simple truth.

Heat packs are available ranging from the 6 hour hand warmers to some that will last up to 30 hours. I think the ratio of ingredients is how this is achieved. The hand warmers get hotter than the long lasting ones. This is absolutely not what we want when shipping frags. These things can get over 110 degrees. I always use the longest lasting ones I can find. I conducted tests on two boxes containing bags of water packed like I pack them to ship. One box had one of the commercially available heat packs sold for shipping livestock and the other had a long lasting heat pack from WalMart. Each box had a digital thermometer inserted through the side so I could monitor the temperature. I kept a log of the temps for 24 hours. I moved them from inside to outside and then back in. Within an hour of being packed both started cooling off to ambient temperature. There was no difference.

Heat packs would be ideal for shipping something like reptiles where there would be air exchange between inside and outside. The best protection for coral is a well insulated box that prevents air exchange with the outside and having the box held at FedEx for pickup.

Sometimes the people I ship frags to tell me that “the heat pack was still warm”. I ask them if they checked it as soon as they opened the box. Invariably they opened the box and laid the lid aside, picked up the bags and admired their new frags, and began the acclimation procedure. Some time later they start to clean up the shipping supplies and notice the heat pack. They feel it and “it’s still warm!” Nope, it’s “warm again” after being exposed to oxygen.

A heat pack will help on the "front end" of the shipping process and if it's 50* where you are I would use one. By the time it gets to Florida it will be cold. Good Luck!

stunreefer · May 29, 2009

Great point on the available O2 Harry!

Here is some data that a local reefer (BeakerBob) collected while running tests on various heat packs: http://www.michiganreefers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62394&highlight=heat+pack

kass03 · May 29, 2009

Great info about the heat packs. My worry with them is when it's a small box I'm afraid in the beginning it will heat up to much just as you said.
I was lucky the day I shipped as it was 80 here. The only day it has been lol. So I did'nt use a heat pack.
I shipped it as I usually do bagged in a ziploc container with screw on lid, styro liner, packed in newspaper, and it arrived fine.

kass