Shipping fish in 30 degree weather?

SALTY 75 · Mar 15, 2020

Hey I am thinking of ordering a clean up crew for my tank from kp aquatics. But the weather where I am at is in the twenties and thirties sometimes the low to mid fourties. So I was wondering if you guys think that would be too cold to order my crew, I am NOT ordering any fish just inverts. Anyone with experience shipping fish in bad weather advice is much appreciated.

thanks in advance.

Leslie Tabor · Mar 15, 2020

They will be fine. I often ask this question as living in Minnesota it is cold 1/2 the year. The response I have always gotten is that it is better to ship when it is cool than hot. I have never had an issue, and BTW KP Aquatics are awesome. I got beautiful Florida jawfish from them!

SALTY 75 · Mar 15, 2020

Leslie Tabor said:
They will be fine. I often ask this question as living in Minnesota it is cold 1/2 the year. The response I have always gotten is that it is better to ship when it is cool than hot. I have never had an issue, and BTW KP Aquatics are awesome. I got beautiful Florida jawfish from them!

Thanks so much for the info. I live in north Dakota so I understand your pain lol. I guess I will be making an order soon

Gareth elliott · Mar 15, 2020

Most reputable places will adjust their shipping by weather. Colder larger heating pad, warmer larger ice pack. If the weather is outside what they feel these methods support most will delay shipping till the weather is more forgiving.

SALTY 75 · Mar 15, 2020

Gareth elliott said:
Most reputable places will adjust their shipping by weather. Colder larger heating pad, warmer larger ice pack. If the weather is outside what they feel these methods support most will delay shipping till the weather is more forgiving.

good to know. thanks!

SALTY 75 · Mar 15, 2020

I am not worried about the money so much because I can get refunded but I would hate to kill soo many creatures.

AcroNem · Mar 15, 2020

I have shipped many, many Boxes of corals, inverts and fish in very cold weather, and received even more here in Utah. A good shipper will use a two piece molded styro box(one piece box with a tight lid) with plenty of insulation inside and a good long burning heat pack, not hand warmers. I use 40hr heat packs, and will use more of them in larger boxes. I have ordered from KP aquatics and you shouldn't have an issue with any of that, plus they're great people with great livestock.

fish farmer · Mar 15, 2020

It's a gamble depending on if they are sitting an extra day. How many days is it supposed to take from Florida?

I just got a CUC shipment from Florida from a different vendor, shipped Monday arrived Thursday in Vermont. Thursday was in the 20's for lows. Most everything survived the trip. I did a similar shipment last fall when it was warmer and it was very warm down south (90's) and took an extra day to ship....I had more loss.

AcroNem · Mar 15, 2020

fish farmer said:
It's a gamble depending on if they are sitting an extra day. How many days is it supposed to take from Florida?

I just got a CUC shipment from Florida from a different vendor, shipped Monday arrived Thursday. Thursday was in the 20's for lows. Most everything survived the trip. I did a similar shipment last fall when it was warmer and it was very warm down south (90's) and took an extra day to ship....I had more loss.

No box with livestock should be anything longer than overnight, even across the country. I would never ship anything 2nd day or longer, that's terribly irresponsible of whichever vendor this is.

SALTY 75 · Mar 15, 2020

fish farmer said:
It's a gamble depending on if they are sitting an extra day. How many days is it supposed to take from Florida?

I just got a CUC shipment from Florida from a different vendor, shipped Monday arrived Thursday in Vermont. Thursday was in the 20's for lows. Most everything survived the trip. I did a similar shipment last fall when it was warmer and it was very warm down south (90's) and took an extra day to ship....I had more loss.

it would be overnight shipping. do you think it is best to pick them up at the ups office or let the truck deliver them?

SALTY 75 · Mar 15, 2020

I am being extra carefull with this package because my last one got a little mixed up in transit, it was not the shippers fault. I only had two loses but of course they were the two I was most excited for lol.

AcroNem · Mar 15, 2020

If it's priority AM I wouldn't worry about it. If it will be scheduled to be delivered late afternoon you can schedule to pick it up earlier at the hub/ office if you can. But the couple hours usually doesn't make a difference, an entire day or two yes.

AcroNem · Mar 15, 2020

SALTY 75 said:
I am being extra carefull with this package because my last one got a little mixed up in transit, it was not the shippers fault. I only had two loses but of course they were the two I was most excited for lol.

Of course, that's always how it goes. I had a box get lost from KP and it was full of very sensitive filter feeding invertebrates (they have some very cool stuff sometimes) and he made it right even though I didn't ask and I wasn't upset about it.

fish farmer · Mar 15, 2020

AcroNem said:
No box with livestock should be anything longer than overnight, even across the country. I would never ship anything 2nd day or longer, that's terribly irresponsible of whichever vendor this is.

I don't disagree, but I notice several vendors ship snails Priority Mail which is a couple of days or longer.

SALTY 75 · Mar 15, 2020

AcroNem said:
If it's priority AM I wouldn't worry about it. If it will be scheduled to be delivered late afternoon you can schedule to pick it up earlier at the hub/ office if you can. But the couple hours usually doesn't make a difference, an entire day or two yes.

yeah that makes sense. thanks for all the help. do you think I should try and risk it with more sea cucumbers? I already have one and he has been really bullet proof even survived when my heater broke and overheated the tank, most of the other inverts died.

SALTY 75 · Mar 15, 2020

AcroNem said:
Of course, that's always how it goes. I had a box get lost from KP and it was full of very sensitive filter feeding invertebrates (they have some very cool stuff sometimes) and he made it right even though I didn't ask and I wasn't upset about it.

yes that is one of my favorite things about KP they get some very interesting things sometimes.

AcroNem · Mar 15, 2020

SALTY 75 said:
yeah that makes sense. thanks for all the help. do you think I should try and risk it with more sea cucumbers? I already have one and he has been really bullet proof even survived when my heater broke and overheated the tank, most of the other inverts died.

Depends on the size of system and if there's enough to eat. I like them, but I quarantine everything so I have 30-34 days to watch cucumbers in an Invert only system before it goes into display so if they die and potentially cause an issue it would be there not in DT. You should be okay just making sure it settles in well and watching for it if it expels anything.