Heat packs

[shiftingsands]

Hi, I received some fish via Royal Mail special delivery last week ( in tranit for 13 hours) and all were in fine condition.
I want to have some more sent but with the falling night time temps am worried its getting a little chilly at night.

I have heard that people use heat packs, but am a bit confused. I have seen some for sale for transporting fish, but they say they heat to 50C!!!

I know you have to wrap them in newspaper/cloth and not put them right beside the fish bag - are these ok to use.?I dont want to "cook" them.

Could someone give me details instructions ( or a link?) as to how to package fish for posting please, so I can pass it on the the person who is sending them - they have not sent fish through the post before.

Thanks

 

[BigC]

Hi,
I have tried to find some Heat Packs aswell in the UK, without any luck. The USA seem to have no problem in obtaining these. The brand name of "The Heat Source 35+ & 60+ hour heat packs" seem to be the most popular.(which you can order over the net). I am very interested in this thread as I send out fish to the States and Europe, but I am limited to certain months. I do hope that someone in the UK can come up with a solution as to where to source them locally. I have heard of aquarists approaching their LFS for used ones and subsequently re-using them, but I don't think that works.
Interesting to see what this thread throws up.
On the packaging side, If you can get hold of a small polystyrene box from your local aquarist shop then well and good. Bag the fish (only one in each bag) leave more air in the bag than water, tie the bag and then double bag it. (just in case the first bag springs a leak). Pack them into the poly box Newspaper, Bubblewrap & Polystyrene are all good materials to have handy. Seal the box lid with packaging tape. Wrap the box (if no too large) in brown paper and address. Don't forget to write fragile along the flanks of the package.
I hope this was of some help to you
Regards
BigC
P.S. Are the person/s who are sending you the fish local or international?

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

Sorry i dont have the answer to yours question but i have a question which is probably going to make me look very stupid ) . if you did post a fish and double bagged it. If there was a leak from a small hole in the first bag, wouldn't the water just go into the second bag and the fish wouldn't fit the through and just dry up and die? But then if you dont double bag it just dies anyway if there is a leak?

 

[BigC]

i have a question which is probably going to make me look very stupid . if you did post a fish and double bagged it. If there was a leak from a small hole in the first bag, wouldn't the water just go into the second bag and the fish wouldn't fit the through and just dry up and die? But then if you dont double bag it just dies anyway if there is a leak?

A bag in a puddle keeps some water. A bag without outside water may drain totally.

 

[emma12321]

Depending on the size of the heat pack BHS (British home stores) sells small ones, the kind you heat in the microwave to keep your hands warm in your pockets. Or you can freeze them and put them in a lunch box. I know this as my boyfriends mum was on about them the other day they were about £5 for two.

Hope this helps

Emma

 

[shiftingsands]

Hi,
I have tried to find some Heat Packs aswell in the UK, without any luck. The USA seem to have no problem in obtaining these. The brand name of "The Heat Source 35+ & 60+ hour heat packs" seem to be the most popular.(which you can order over the net). I am very interested in this thread as I send out fish to the States and Europe, but I am limited to certain months. I do hope that someone in the UK can come up with a solution as to where to source them locally. I have heard of aquarists approaching their LFS for used ones and subsequently re-using them, but I don't think that works.
Interesting to see what this thread throws up.
On the packaging side, If you can get hold of a small polystyrene box from your local aquarist shop then well and good. Bag the fish (only one in each bag) leave more air in the bag than water, tie the bag and then double bag it. (just in case the first bag springs a leak). Pack them into the poly box Newspaper, Bubblewrap & Polystyrene are all good materials to have handy. Seal the box lid with packaging tape. Wrap the box (if no too large) in brown paper and address. Don't forget to write fragile along the flanks of the package.
I hope this was of some help to you
Regards
BigC
P.S. Are the person/s who are sending you the fish local or international?

[snapback]917839[/snapback]​

Thanks for all the replies.
I have sourced quite a few hand warmers/heat packs but I am worried the temp would be too high, see original post.
Big C:
The fish I am getting are from within the mainland UK and to be honest the night time temp on a milder night is no cooler than when I recieved my fish last week which were absolutely fine without a heat pack. So i think if I get them sent very soon they should be ok I guess. Thanks for the packing tips.

If any international members see this post and know more about them/where to get them I'd be grateful for the info.

Also : does anyone know where to get Kordon breather bags please in the UK?

I do find searching ( google etc) a real trial as I put a dot in the "UK only" and put +co.uk in the search and most of the results are STILL from US GGGRRR LOL.

I spend hours online lookjng for UK firms and rarely find any that actually are in the Uk.
Edited to add:

I have found some heat packs and am going to order some and experiement with them, but using no fish to see if the temp range is acceptable and how long it holds the heat etc etc.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Have you tried Ebay? Google searches are good for very specific info, but for others, its rubbish. Speaking of packaging, where can you get poly boxes from and what about long bags for betta juvies?

EDIT-
http/search.ebay.co.uk/heat-pack_W0QQfltZ9QQfromZR8

 

[BigC]

Poly boxes can sometimes be obtained from your LFS. smaller ones which his/hers frozen fish food are packaged in.
Kordon breather bags must be only available in the states as one of our killifish assoc. members asked if anyone wanted some so as we could bring in a large order. She had heard a rumour that they were about to be discontinued.