Whats the longest its taken coral to arrive alive for you?

[LoJack]

Hey guys,

I'm in the process of ordering some live coral online, but no one can offer me next day guranteed, there is a chance it will spend 48 hours in its cooler box.

So I guess my question is:

Whats the longest you've had coral in a cooler box during shipping, and survive?

Are any types likely to survive longer than others? (ex zoas over SPS)

Thanks

[LoJack]

Once I had a guy from Texas ship me a sandwhich bag of chaeto. It got held up at the border and didn't show up for like 18 days total.

I opened the bag and it was green as grass, and started growing immediately. It was an absolute shocker lol.

I know coral could never do that ... but at the time I didn't think chaeto could either!

[yh1185]

Most zoo's/softies would be ok for probably 2 days. Possibly some LPS, but SPS i wouldn't risk. You should see if there are maybe some LFS/online retailers that ship in canada? I would try to pick a time period where the weather is pretty consistently nice around 80s. Good luck!

[LoJack]

The place I'm ordering from is within Canada. The problem is we have a fairly large country lol. 2nd largest in the world in terms of area (def not population)

So guranteed next day isn't an option ... I'll have the order shipped Next day UPS ... except they can't gurantee next day due to my remote location lol.

I just want to see how people's experiences were with shipping delays.

This particular order is just zoa's, some acans, and a few snails.

[LetsGetTanked]

LPS should be alright. I wouldn't worry too much about them. SPS on the other hand, will likely not make it. They "could", but chances are slim...

[LetsGetTanked]

just saw your particulars. Zola and snails should be alright. Just male sure they dont bag them together. I don't have any particular experience with acans, however. Good luck!

[cfredallen]

Any chance of getting them to ship air freight? May be a little more expensive and you have to go to the airport to pick them up but Air Freight is same day if you have an airline nearby that offers it.

[LoJack]

Originally Posted by cfredallen

Any chance of getting them to ship air freight? May be a little more expensive and you have to go to the airport to pick them up but Air Freight is same day if you have an airline nearby that offers it.

No thats the problem, we have a pretty small airport that the major airlines don't fly to.

We have a small airline, but none of the major players.

And I called and If I get them shipped from Vancouver to Winnipeg ... they will not transfer the package to another airline.

You would need to have someone that could physically take it from the WestJet counter, over to the Calm Air counter because the airlines won't do it for you, which is kind of ridiculous.

So you figure softies and LPS will be fine, but its just not worth it to risk SPS frags?

[Tmoriarty]

Is there a location within an hour of you that you can ship to? I know for us in the states you can have your item held at a fedex location for pickup, its usually faster to pick it up there than it is for it to get loaded on a truck.

I would assume you have a central shipping station somewhere within an hour of you. Perhaps the best way to ensure 1 day is to drive to that location for pick up?

[on the spot]

Toronto is a mere 32 hours away, road trip it.

Plus you get to visit Bemidji, MN and Flint, MI. An extra hour in there you could go to the Trop. So worth the trip.

[scolley]

From a sole experience of having an SPS shipments delayed due to weather, I had the following occur:

48 hours in transit
outstanding boxing/packing by the vendor
moderate temperatures
approx. 14 SPS shipped
approx. 4 DOA, 8 RTN'ing, 2 badly browned
long term 4 recovered after TLC

Just one data point to consider.

[LoJack]

Originally Posted by scolley

From a sole experience of having an SPS shipments delayed due to weather, I had the following occur:

48 hours in transit
outstanding boxing/packing by the vendor
moderate temperatures
approx. 14 SPS shipped
approx. 4 DOA, 8 RTN'ing, 2 badly browned
long term 4 recovered after TLC

Just one data point to consider.

This is exactly what I was looking for. This confirms that shipping SPS is a poor decision in my current location.

I figure zoas and LPS should be alright. At least I'm hoping so.

I just ordered a couple of inexpensive zoa frags and acans in order to test the theory. If it survives and handles well, I'll place a better larger order lol.

[Psirex]

if you are ordering LPS i think they will be ok for 48hrs barring any major swings in temp with the package...