Buying Corals in The Winter

[William Morris]

Curious if people change their sources during the winter months to avoid shipping across the country when the weather is bad.
I have had mixed results getting corals from the east coast to CA.
I may start buying only from the vendors in CA to avoid the cross country crap shoot.

 

[fish farmer]

I never get anything shipped past October and resume in April. I figure if I buy some new stuff in the fall that gives me the winter to see how they do and place them where I want.

 

[DoctaReef]

I live in CT, and have had corals shipped from WWC and Top Shelf in FL and from Unique in CA this winter. I haven't had any problems at all. They packed them well and the heat packs kept them super warm. No mortality. I'm actually more fearful of summer shipments as it's my understanding that most coral can tolerate temps on the lower side but have less tolerance on the upper limits... Nothing like sitting on the tarmac for too long.
That being said, I never had an issue in the summer either.

 

[lancesmith1]

one thing I focus on is getting UPS Priority or Fedex so they get here at 9:30 to 11am or so. If you think about it, if it is coming in Air freight it is cold in the storage area of the airplane for some amount of time during shipment no matter what the season is. Plus, if the seller packs it correctly with a proper heat pack its better to arrive at 70 degrees in the box in winter vs bumping around all day at 110 degrees in the brown oven in the summer. My vote would be Spring or Fall, Winter then Summer in that order.

 

[old salt reefer]

I got a shipment of coral the week of 01/11/21. Fedex sent it to the wrong city and it didn't come until 2 days after it was sent ---all coral dead. The replacements get shipped this Wednesday to arrive on Thursday---here we go.

 

[seahorsebill]

Curious if people change their sources during the winter months to avoid shipping across the country when the weather is bad.
I have had mixed results getting corals from the east coast to CA.
I may start buying only from the vendors in CA to avoid the cross country crap shoot.

I’m in Indiana so I have to get fish shipped. I won’t usually buy out of a LFS cause I don’t want to pay their overhead. So I get crap shipped to me from California Minnesota Ana’s Florida. Never had a problem everything I have ordered has lived and is thriving in my tank