# What is the best way to mail fish?



## bannh (May 3, 2008)

Best way to learn to ship fish is to have multiple boxes of fish shipped to you by good experienced shippers. There is no substitute for SEEING it done right.

You NEED a well insulated box. It can be a molded stryo box inside a fitted cardboard box or you can use a sheet of styro to cut very snug fitting pieces to line a plain box. If you do the latter, be precise, no gaps. Bubblewrap, fiberglass insulation and packing peanuts alone are not enough.

Your temps are warm, it's warmer in TN. IMO, summer isn't the best time to try to learn to ship fish. Ice packs are rarely a good idea. Fish get cold the first night and the ice pack is warm by the time it gets where it is going. Check the forecast and if it's too hot where you are or the destination, postpone shipping.

You have the choice of regular fish bags (a little water and a lot of air or pure oxygen) or Kordon Breather bags (little of no air space). I use both, it depends of what kind of fish (and the size) I am shipping. Some people put a bunch of fish in one bag, other bag each fish individually. The advantage of bagging individually is that if one fish dies, the water of the others is not polluted.

To keep the shipping water clean the fish should be fasted, how long depends on the size and type of fish. Knowing the right amount of water to use for a certain type fish isn't black and white.

This is a great article from a great shipper with pics.
http://www.angelfish.net/VBulletin/showthread.php?t=13953

This is another article.
http://www.fishforums.com/forum/fyi-your-info/9793-shipping-live-fish.html

The formula used for bag buddies has changed, fewer people use them now. I just put a drop of Prime in the shipping water. For some things I put in some ammonia absorbing filter material too.

Don't know where there are any articles on shipping with Breathers. I wrote a fairly comprehensive piece on how I use them, pros and cons and what fish they are best for, can't find it right now.

I would wait to ship those BN until they are an inch long and the bodies have begun to fill out. That is the smallest I ship them at. I can't even guess at how many of them I have shipped... hundreds.


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## JustOneMore21 (May 23, 2006)

Good info from bannh and the articles. 

I've shipped fish a couple times and I agree ^ summer isn't the best time. I don't use bag buddies....or breather bags. I just used a couple drops of Prime, regular bags (size depends on type and number of fish you are shipping), and an air pump. I didn't use pure O2...just put about 1/3 water and 2/3 air in the bags. I have shipped fish USPS priority, but summer definitely isn't the time for that. You want overnight IMO.

Definitely use a styrofoam lined box. I have kept all the styrofoam boxes that have been shipped to me.  I haven't had to buy styrofoam yet, but I'm sure you can find it at Lowe's or Home Depot.

Good luck!


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## kittytango (May 7, 2008)

I work at a vet so I can get both Pure O2 and the styrafoam boxes. So you wouldn't reccomend the ice packs? I can see if the person who wants them will pay for the Overnight shipping. Thanks for the help.


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## bannh (May 3, 2008)

The only time I will use an ice pack is if I am using a very large box, wrap the ice in many layers of bubblewrap and can partition it away from the fish with a piece of styro that seals the ice away from the fish. It's too easy to have the fish get too cold in a relatively small box. And by the second day the ice probably isn't ice anymore, maybe just a little cool. If you will be using the nice thick molded styro boxes vaccines and stuff come in, just pick the thickest one. If it's over 85F - 90F, have the box held at the Post Office for the person to go pick up, that way it doesn't ride around in a hot truck. Before having someone pay for Express shipping, check here:
http://webapps.usps.com/expressmailcommitments/landing.jsp
to make sure it is guaranteed to be delivered Next Day. It costs a lot to ship Express and it's the same price whether it is one day or two. I have found Wednesdays are the best day to ship Express, at least from my location.

I will not ship fish if it's over 90F unless it is Express and guaranteed to be Next Day. Period. I shoot for 100% survival. "Half the fish survived" isn't right. Dying in a little bag of polluted water in a hot box is a pretty bad way to go, lots of suffering before they actually die. 

If you use Priority you can look at this map:
http://www.abfb.info/ship/priority_airports.html#map
to see where the airports are which Priority Mail flies into. It's not always the closest or most logical one, but if the person (and/or you) is in a rural area and more than 50 - 75 miles away from one of those airports, there is a good chance it could take 3 days. The risk goes WAY up the longer it takes, especially in hot weather. Nothing worse than being happy you are getting a box of fish then open it to find dead stinking fish in polluted water.

I would rather ship fish in the middle of winter than the end of July, I have more control using long lasting heat packs that chemically burn.

If you just noticed babies a couple of weeks ago and they are eating mostly zucchini and stuff like that without also a good amount of a high protein also (not instead of) they might not be big enough to ship until fall. You want them to have full bodies and tails, not a clear separation between the body and a skinny tail. Summer heat may not be as big of an issue.


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## kittytango (May 7, 2008)

What else should I be feeding them? Right now they are eating Zuccini, algea wafers and crab crusine


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