Shipping in the heat

[CherryCorals Verified Sponsor]

I couldn't find Patedships thread so I thought I would share a little experiment.

Yesterday I shipped out a few more corals and I didn't have any cool packs. I started to worry that they may in fact overheat on the way to VA and IL.
I took a bag of tank water and prepared a dummy shipment and set it out in my driveway overnight.

I just checked it(roughly 12 hrs later) and the temp went from 76 down to 68.6. I honestly thought it would have gone up a little.

I am going to try it again today and see what happens, its going to be hotter.

 

[rocko918]

cool,

where are you at?

 

[patedship]

hes in MI

 

[Raptor]

I would periodically check it thru the day to see if the temp spikes.
It could have cooled down after the heat up. Last night did cool off.

 

[BigBadZoaDaddy]

DO packages get left outside in the sun very often? Arern't they either being housed or transported?

 

[Azurel]

With the temps getting cool at night I wouldn't worry about the heat yet.....If you think about it the package is doing most of it's travel at night and high altitudes. So it wouldn't get to hot till it comes on a delivery truck, and if it is express and they treat it as such it shouldn't spend to much time on the truck. The only time I would think it could be an issue right now is if it is sent priority then it might spend some time on a truck......

 

[mecold]

I agree with azurel. I sent a frag pack of sps to york, PA yesterday. The daytime temps here are 85+ in York, they are 80+. I used a 24hour heatpack due to the 58-65 nighttime temps. When the new owner opened the box the water temp was 78.

Now when the temps start hitting the 85-95 range and nightime temps are in the 80+ range, I use a cold pack. But, generally only worry on zoanthid shipments that go usps 2day.

 

[Acro76 Verified Sponsor]

I think you are better off this time of year keeping the coral on the cool side, since you really cannot not know the actual shipping conditions every time you ship.

I've had corals survive down to 40 degrees F. Anytime things have gotten screwed up and sat in an airport warehouse and got nuked by the heat, everything was dead!

Just picked up some of these Rubbermaid blue ice at Target for shipping. Awesome size! You can cut them to the size you need. Just bag them incase the gel leaks out.

 

[SteveO]

so what's the consensus here? No heat pack, no cold pack? I am shipping out soon. I am using full formed styro boxes (ULINE) and my package will sit in AC in the shipping department at work from lunch until 6 when it goes out. I send Fed-ex, by 10:30 am) express. I was thinking a short lived heat pack would be usefull since it still gets a little chilly at night. Any suggestions?

 

[Zoanuts]

If the shipping conditions are in the northern states I would probably put a small heat pack up in the lid of the styro box with tape. Make sure you poke a hole in the top of the lid to allow air to get in the box. Learned by experience. If you are shipping southern I probably wouldn't use a heat pack. I don't think we are quite there for ice/gel packs yet. But getting close! I ordered some 6oz gel packs from uline for a good price. You may want to take a look for later down the road.
Regards
Dustin