Transporting Corals.

[aussiereefer82]

I am planning a road trip this weekend in search of some good corals. My question is that if i purchase corals some of them maybe in bags for 6-8 hours before making it home to my tank. Is this ok? I figure that corals get shipped all round the place for long periods of time. Is there any way that i should get the LFS to pack them, eg. large bags lots of oxygen? I have a cooler that i am going to pack them in to keep the temp good. Any thing else i should know?

[tims]

Aussie,
as long as the corals are in plastic bags with NO air in it and kept in the dark( styro foam container or box) they shoudl think it will be night time and ( lack of a better word) shut down. you dont want them trapped in the bag with air bubbles and getting bounced around. once home you should be fine ..

[yardboy]

Tims, don't be mad, but i've never seen a bagged coral without a major air bubble inside of it. A full bag of water would cost a fortune to ship, and with the corals suepended upside down on styrofoan, air provides a buffer for the coral to stay in the water.

[Junkzoo]

I kinda agree with both Tim and Yardboy,,(hows that for not fallin of the fence ? LOL)
I believe frags ship better without being "mounted" as i've seen with SPS in my experience and some other local club members. I used to transport my frags to club meeting with them mounted on frag plugs(Cyberchief sells these kind) and the plug is mounted into a small piece of styrofoam. after seeing other guys stuff, some of it loose in a bag. i now go the loose inna bag way.
Although long range shipping, 'specially with softies and the likes, i think it would be better to go the rubber banded to a styro "float" as to keep the coral from getting crushed in a corner of a bag, and kind of free floating with hopefully less contact with the shipping bag.
I think in Aussies situation, temperature control is prob the main concern here, and how they are in the bag not so important as far as how it's in the bag.
Tim's concern with air in the bag probably relates to around the world .long term shipping , with a little bit of box tossing involved(we all know it happens)
In a road trip environment ,i think Aussie , like most of use will travel/pack our stuff a little more carefully, and not treat the container with the goodies in it , like the dudes at the airport conveyor belt.
hot/cold packs(based on your temps there Aussie) in the cooler,making sure they do not touch any of the bags would be the way to go IMO.
No Mad Max drivin, keepin the auto of choice on four wheels most of the time , to keep the sloshing to a minimum, and keep the temp from fluccuating.
(i fill my cooler with tank water in addition to the bagged stuff, cover it with a towel ,hot/cold packs taped to the lid,and a towel over the cooler while in the truck to help stabilize temps)
6-8 hrs is not that long, if temp is kept decent,,
When i was on the other side of a LFS counter, i used to remember stuff that came from the other side of the planet(that got detained/went awol for a while at stops )arrive in better condition then stuff from Fla.,that came straight thru.

[aussiereefer82]

Thanks guys i'm probably just paranoid about spending a big wad on corals and getting them home in one piece. I will take towels, cold packs and what not with and it will be softies and LPS that i will be buying, if i find any good ones ( its been very difficult to find good corals round these parts lately, very frustrating when you have a new tank and you are trying to fill it). Anyways, i will let you know how i go, maybe post some pics.

[tims]

maybe post some pics.

LIke you have a choose!

[wharyat]

5000 posts Tim!

I agree with everybody, keep them in a dark place, a portable cooler (styro or plastic) works excellent, also keeps them from cooling off to bad.

I brought up some corals from Denver, bout 8-10 hours, they all did great.

[Junkzoo]

Darn right you are gonna post some pics!


You know how we are,,,,pics,pics,pics!

[aussiereefer82]

I'll post some maybe monday or tuesday, watch out for them.