You can successfully ship fish if you follow a couple simple procedures. Stop feeding the fish 24 hours before they are set to be shipped, fish with a full belly don't ship well. Make sure you are ready to take your fish to the post office so they are in the box the shortest amount of time possible.

Don't ship your fish in brand new water, do a water change the day before and then ship in tank water. Use the smallest bag to accomadate the fish you are shipping. The larger the bag, the more sloshing the fish will endure on his trip. Fill the bag 25-35% full, more air then water is what's important. Fill the rest of the bag with air and rubber band it tightly. You'll then want to double bag your fish by inserting the bag with the fish rubber band side first into the second bag. Then rubberband the second bag off.

Your box should consist of a styrofaom cooler, a cardboard box, and packing peanuts, newspaper, or anything the pack the bags in tightly. You'll want to add some packing material to the bottom of your cooler. Next add your bag or bags of fish and then surround them tightly with packing material so they will stay in the position for the entire time they are in the box. The last thing you want is for them to roll all over the place in transit. Cover them completely with your packing and add the styrofoam lid and tape it in place. If you are shipping in unfavorable weather conditions consider a heat pack or an ice pack. If you use one, tape it securely to the inside lid of your cooler. NEVER place it where it will have contact with your bags of fish and make sure it has plenty of material in between it and the fish. Tape your box closed well and label it with something to the extent of "LIVE FISH" or "THIS END UP" or both.

If possible ship the fish overnight, it's worth the money. I personally prefer for the person to have to sign for the box so they don't end up sitting on a person's porch all day long. Just make sure that shipper and receiver are both communicating and are aware of when the fish will arrive.

When you are recieving shipped fish you can take action to make sure they have an easy transition. Open you box in a dim lit room. These fish have been in darkness for at least 24 hours and they need to be adjusted to the light gradually. When you have your fish out of the box they need to be slowly acclimated to your own water before they are released. It may be a good idea to ask your shipper what their water looks like so you have an idea what your fish are going to have to adjust to. You'll want to either float your bags in the tank or empty the fish with water into a cup for acclimation. Add small amounts of your tank water to the bag or cup over a period of about an hour. Net the fish and add it to your tank and discard the water in the bag. It's best to keep the tank lights off while the new arrival settles in. If the fish is going into a community tank, quarantine would be best. Wait a few hours for them to settle in before offering food and you should be fine

Awesome post Sorrell

The only point I disagree with is the 1 hour acclimatation period.

I would suggest taking as long as possible. When I ordered my bettas, I acclimated them ove ra perdio of 9 hours

I started by letting the bag sit in the tank for a few minutes, until the temps match

I then took a pipette and added about 10ml of water every hour. I did this until the bag was full.

I'd rather be safe than sorry with fish, especially when you pay big bucks to ship fish overnight and you can't know for sure what the water parameters of the shipper are.

I started feeding a couple hours after they were in their tanks and they ate a little bit. I gradually increased feeding for 2-3 days.

Awesome post, and also relevant for people who are driving fish to a location, not just shipping. For example, I need to move all of my bettas back and fourth from PA to NY a few times a year. However, once I get everyone bagged up, and put them in a regular beer cooler. I pack them in with the styrofoam "popcorn," add a layer of bubble paper, then place ziplocked bags of warm water on top of the bubble paper to keep the temperature of the cooler warm without directly coming in contact with the fish themselves (or their water). Obviously this is for tropical fish, not coldwater.
I've also noticed a preference in long, thin species of algae eaters for placing the bag on its side instead of upright for the simple reason that they are able to maintain a more natural posture. They otherwise end up clinging upright the whole trip, or smushed on the bottom of the bag.

This post has been edited by RandomWiktor: Feb 23 2005, 04:16 PM

The most important thing is going to be PH.

Get your PH test kit ready to see how much of a difference there is. If there isn't one you can release as normal.

If not you need to add tank water slowly to adjust, but 10ml a hour is a bit OTT IMO. I did about a cup every 25mins and incresed this as the time went on. of course being stingrays they were in a big bag so was more water to change.

When I got my stingrays I took 2.5 hours changing the PH from 7 to 8.2 . It was much easier monitoring what i was doing with my digital PH meter, very useful if your buying alot of fish from far away places. It's either £15-20 that will last you for ever or £8 a test kit that lasts a few months until the best before date is up!!.

This post has been edited by Paul_MTS: Feb 23 2005, 06:04 PM

cool where did you get your ph thingy?

eBay!!

[COLOR=green]I have to add that if you are shipping Bettas, length in a bag with put oxygen being added to the water isn't that important. When I shipped my Congos and BGK I used a dual air pump to add O2 to the water as I do the slow 1 hr water transfer and aclimation. All three fish are doing fine after spending 34 hrs. in their shipping bags before getting them home to put them in my tank. I also suggest getting some type of amonia absorbing material to put in the bags to help with the build up. The information here in these posts are very helpful and hope everyone recieves and ships their fish with favorable results.

As an added note about oxygen, you can buy 'oxygenating tablets' that dissolve in the water and add oxygen. A lot of people use these during shipping, TBH they aren't good for much else

this topic should be pinned.

I agree this should be pinned. One thing I would like to add is a thing I learned from folks selling discus at auctions. They take a small cube of mature filter foam, around 1/4" square, & add it to the bag with fish. Between the fish swiming, and the bag being handled at the auction, enough current is created with the foam to have a temporary bio-filter effect.

Tolak

Just wondering, what companys to use? In th UK, I'm pretty sure Royal Mail don't do live fish, and also, how do you go about posting it? Do you walk in the shop and say, hello, I'd like to post this great white shark to darkest Mongolia or what?

never ever ship abroad
to meny strict laws
plus you can get some huge fines if your ever caught never mind totaly messing up the eco system of there countrys. and yes its happend before with things like apple snails and such.

i was told ya can post with royal mail but ya need next day delivery b4 9am id say was the best one to use but dont send the fish to late in the week or they b stuck in a post office depot which almost ceretainly kill the fish.

Royal Mail is a bit funny. You cannot post live fish with Royal Mail, but you can post live fish with "ParcelForce" which is kind of Royal Mails parcel division, with the guaranteed next day before 9AM service. Otherwise you need a courier firm.

There was an article about this in PFK a few months back, with particular reference to shipping from eBay auctions etc.

yeah but couldnt ya just not tell royal mail wot it is??? says it a vase or somink and write fragile all over it lots peeps on ebay send royal mail i think or as ya say parcelforce b ideal

This post has been edited by glass cats: Mar 1 2006, 01:21 PM

you can addsalt to the shipping water to help with the ammo build up tho thats more for long distance haul. you have to have a set up at the other end tho to help the fish get used to unsalty water on the other end tho, all the asain exporters use it for big orders.