Posting Shrimp - Tips on ensuring they arrive healthy and alive

[NoGi]

Probably belongs in BSS :confused: Happy for Dean to move. Some of you may have seen me post this elsewhere but it's fairly relevant here.

There are a number of ways in which Shrimp can be sent from plastic bottles to containers to fish bags. This thread is for showing pics, tips and tricks to help others out so please share your packing experience here too. It also gives buyers a better appreciation into what makes up the shipping and handling costs.

I choose to use a mixture of containers and Kordon breather bags so I’ve detailed my steps below.

The first thing I get is a hard plastic container which won't (shouldn't) leak if filled with water. Also one that won't crack when thrown around whilst in transit (not takeaway containers). My tip on these are to grab a bunch when they go on sale at Coles or Woolies. Fairly common to see them at 50% off.

Depending on how many bags I am going to use, I create some "compartments" using thick cardboard. The container is also lined with newspaper to absorb any leakages:

I always post the shrimp the same day as I remove them from the tank. That said, if you work fulltime like me and have to catch a lot of shrimp, 100 on this occasion, catch a bunch before you go to bed and put into a breeder box that floats around in the tank. It's that or getting up at 4am for me to catch that many. :p I still scoop them out of this and into the bag to avoid bagging any overnight waste.

Kordan bags are great, they allow for the exchange of CO2 through the bag. You just need to ensure that the container is big enough to have enough air to last the journey. When closing the bags, make sure you get as much of the air out as possible. These bags can apparently also be heat sealed. Haven't been game enough to try yet. Before sealing, I include a couple drops of Seachem Prime.

Another layer of newspaper on top and sealed. I use just one run of tape to ensure the lid doesn't pop off.

Just a personal touch, I gift wrap it. Yeah I know it's newspaper but it's better at absorbing water than gift wrapping paper.

A few layers of bubble wrap to protect everything:

Into a cardboard box with more padding:

Sealed and ready to be sent via an appropriate delivery method:

[Sprae]

Hi Nogi, good to see your thread here, but images are not displaying for me.

[Gbang]

very nice system there nogi! thanks for the tips :)

[durro68]

Hi Nogi' date=' good to see your thread here, but images are not displaying for me.[/quote']

ALL SHOWS UP GOOD FOR ME AND NICE ONE NOGI

[Dean]

nice thread mate, sure to help out many people :victorious:

[shrimpsider]

Thanks for posting a manual Nogi! I am preparing an instruction for my blog also, but it still is in process of proof-reading by a friend at the moment. Don't you ever experienced O2 problems with the plastic container, as there is no air exchange when wrapped with newspaper and more plastics?

[NoGi]

Thanks guys. Let me know if anyone else can't see the images. A while back I was on a shared host and someone was being naughty which resulted in all domains on that host being blacklisted. Has taken me ages plus a move to another provider to sort out. I'll host the images on flickr if it becomes an issue.

Not sure about volume of oxygen but I've had no DOA after 2 - 3 days transit. The next thing I wanted to try was using Styrofoam boxes instead of hard plastic. I hear they are better insulators.