how do I transport corals

[ibefishy]

I am planning on attending the Reef-a-palooza next weekend down in Costa Mesa Ca and possibly purchasing some new frags. The drive is about 4 hours from my house. If I did pick up some new frags what would be the best way to get them home with the least amount of stress? Is there anything I should take with me besides money? This will be the first event of this kind I have been to.

Nate

[Ninong]

Hopefully the people selling you the frags will be prepared to package them properly for you. In which case, all you have to bring is money. And a container to put the bags in.

The safest way to transport frags is to float them upside down, attached to a floating piece of styrofoam. This isn't really necessary for short trips like yours where you can control them the entire time. It's a good idea for shipments involving rough handling by shipping companies who have no clue what's inside the box.

As long as the vendor puts each frag in a separate bag with adequate water, you should be good to go.

If you feel like it, take some pieces of styrofoam. The stuff they use for cushioning whey they package TVs, etc. The same sort of stuff they use to make the insulated shipping containers for fish and corals. Break up some of the stuff into small pieces -- 3"x3" for small frags. Attach the mount of the frag to the piece of styrofoam with large rubber bands. Make sure there is enough water in the bag so that the frag doesn't touch the bottom of the bag when it's floating upside down. If you have several bags of frags, make sure to stuff newspapers between the bags in the cardboard box that you brought with you so that the bags will remain upright during your trip.

Actually, instead of a cardboard box, you should take an insulated container, such as a cheapy styrofoam ice-chest that you can pick up for a few bucks at your local supermarket. Bring something like that with you instead of a cardboard box. Place all of the bags upright with crumpled up newspaper between them to support them. Cover the ice-chest to maintain temperature. You don't have to worry about heat packs or cold packs inside your car. Place the container on the floor in front of the front passenger seat, assuming nobody's occupying that seat and assuming you're not running the heater, which I know you won't be.

Don't bother with that if the frags are freshly cut and unmounted. They will just lie on their sides in the bottom of the bag. Make sure the bags are supported in the box you brought so that they don't move around.

In most cases, you don't need to bring anything other than a container (styrofoam ice chest) and maybe some old newspaper. The people selling the frags will package them properly for you. I would stay away from unmounted frags if I were you. And stay away from frags that were obviously just mounted a couple of days ago.

[ibefishy]

Thanks for the tips, I had planned to take along an ice chest but didnt know if there was anything else I needed to do.

Thanks again

Nate