Shipping GSP, how cold is too cold?

Tuffloud1

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So I need to ship some GSP. I am going to use USPS Priority.

Question is, do I need a heat pack if it’s going to a destination where it is 40 degrees at night and 60’s during day?

I know GSP is tough but have any of you had issues shipping?
 
So I need to ship some GSP. I am going to use USPS Priority.

Question is, do I need a heat pack if it’s going to a destination where it is 40 degrees at night and 60’s during day?

I know GSP is tough but have any of you had issues shipping?
1, How big a piece. (a smaller piece will cool off faster than a larger piece).
2. Assume you're shipping it in water - how much (more water, less worry)
3. If I was going to ship 'anything' alive - I would ship it overnight. (not sure how good USPS is at that)
4. I would include a heat pack - but part of it also depends on where its coming from. (if its 80 there - its going to take a while to get down to 40 anyway).

Hope this helps
 
1, How big a piece. (a smaller piece will cool off faster than a larger piece).
2. Assume you're shipping it in water - how much (more water, less worry)
3. If I was going to ship 'anything' alive - I would ship it overnight. (not sure how good USPS is at that)
4. I would include a heat pack - but part of it also depends on where its coming from. (if its 80 there - its going to take a while to get down to 40 anyway).

Hope this helps
I’m going to use around 1 cup water. 5 pieces a little larger than quarter size without Frag plugs.

I see people using USPS Priority for GSP so curious if people with that experience have had any issues.
 
I’m going to use around 1 cup water. 5 pieces a little larger than quarter size without Frag plugs.

I see people using USPS Priority for GSP so curious if people with that experience have had any issues.
With that small a package - a heating pack could make it way too hot. The good news is that they are hardy. It all depends on the TEMP on the day you're sending it - and the time the GSP is in that temp.
 
I grew GSP along with aqua-cultured live rock in 150G Rubbermade tubs buried in the ground outdoors under Texas summer sun and winter cold. Temperature swings of 20 degrees were common during cold nights. As long as water temperatures didn’t go below 45 degrees, there was no damage observed in several winter seasons.
 
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Honestly, those will probably be fine above freezing. I have heard of some recovering even after forming ice crystals. When you consider how easily these can spread from just a small piece of surviving tissue it is not surprising that even such extreme cases aren't always a loss. I just don't think it's worth paying overnight shipping for a coral that is probably worth less than the packaging. If you pack them well, they will probably survive, and if you insulate them well, they are almost guaranteed to live unless they get stolen or totally pulverized somehow. Same applies to most soft corals and corallimorphs as well as zoanthids.

Make sure to ship them "dry" (in a container with near 100% humidity but no water to slosh around. Use wet paper towels or newspaper to keep them from bouncing around but don't wrap the coral tightly, just enough to keep the inside humid while allowing it to breathe) they tend to ship better dry. Most corals are well adapted to being in the open air for extended periods and their response to shipping stress often kills them faster if they are in stagnant water. This stress response is an adaptation to low-tide or seasonal tide environments where they often spend half a day out of water and in the baking sun, and it seems even many typically deeper water corals have this same response. They coat themselves in mucous and stop wasting their energy. The mucous protects them from drying out but will foul the water if they are in water. They also seem to be surprisingly resistant to a wide range of temperatures (so long as the swing isn't too fast) both cold and hot.
 
Honestly, those will probably be fine above freezing. I have heard of some recovering even after forming ice crystals. When you consider how easily these can spread from just a small piece of surviving tissue it is not surprising that even such extreme cases aren't always a loss. I just don't think it's worth paying overnight shipping for a coral that is probably worth less than the packaging. If you pack them well, they will probably survive, and if you insulate them well, they are almost guaranteed to live unless they get stolen or totally pulverized somehow. Same applies to most soft corals and corallimorphs as well as zoanthids.

Make sure to ship them "dry" (in a container with near 100% humidity but no water to slosh around. Use wet paper towels or newspaper to keep them from bouncing around but don't wrap the coral tightly, just enough to keep the inside humid while allowing it to breathe) they tend to ship better dry. Most corals are well adapted to being in the open air for extended periods and their response to shipping stress often kills them faster if they are in stagnant water. This stress response is an adaptation to low-tide or seasonal tide environments where they often spend half a day out of water and in the baking sun, and it seems even many typically deeper water corals have this same response. They coat themselves in mucous and stop wasting their energy. The mucous protects them from drying out but will foul the water if they are in water. They also seem to be surprisingly resistant to a wide range of temperatures (so long as the swing isn't too fast) both cold and hot.
I shipped some to a few people across the country. I used urine cups filled all the way with tank water.

1 person I shipped to, it was delayed so took about 4 days. He said the water stunk very bad but the GSP recovered.

I’m guessing the moist paper towel method would have avoided the smelly water issue.

You are saying to wrap the GSP in paper towels soaked in tank water, not freshwater correct?
 
I shipped some to a few people across the country. I used urine cups filled all the way with tank water.

1 person I shipped to, it was delayed so took about 4 days. He said the water stunk very bad but the GSP recovered.

I’m guessing the moist paper towel method would have avoided the smelly water issue.

You are saying to wrap the GSP in paper towels soaked in tank water, not freshwater correct?
Yep, use tank water. If you wrap them too tightly it can smother them though. Some do better than others with tighter wrapping but the goal here is not to keep it wet, but just prevent it from getting totally dried out. So long as the air in the cup/container used to hold them stays very humid, the mucous should keep them alive for a while. GSP is again pretty hard to kill, so I don't know if it matters much whether you use the dry or wet shipping, but dry is generally cheaper since it's less weight. You also don't have to worry about leaks and it might kill bad hitchikers too if that's a concern.
 

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