Ship Large Fish

HI all, I've had a situation and need to rehome a few fish, but one of them is very big and active so I'm not sure what the best thing to do would be. I don't think he would even fit in one of the large size bags that the lfs uses for bigger fish, he's ~9" long and the other two I need to send off are ~4".
This is also my first time potentially shipping so advice on how to pack them and whether I'll need any heat packs or anything would be greatly appreciated.

 

You might contact coralbandit. I believe he ships fish on a regular basis.

 

Yeah, I think he does too. I'll shoot him a pm if he doesn't come over here. Let's call AquaticJ too

 

Big fish increase difficulty with out a doubt.
You need an insulated box no matter the temp to keep the water stable .
Heat pack is questionable depending where you are shipping from and to.
I also would strongly encourage Express/overnight which may shock you when you see the cost .
Good plan to get bags from LFS but yea a bag the right size is needed and I use oxygen which again will not be easy for you to get on a one time thing if at all.
Biggest fish I have shipped is 9" tall angels ..They made it to HawaiI on Express that was 2 nights ..
3 mil bag is what you need for rough fish and make sure to double or triple bag it so if its spines poke the bag they may not get through all of them ..
What kind of fish ?

 

It's one aproxx 9" bala shark, and 2 that are ~4". I'd be shipping out of Colorado Springs and it's being a bit chilly right now (50 or below) so I would think a heat pack is needed for that if I find someone within a few days. I think if I end up shipping I'll use 2 large lfs size bags for the smaller ones, but I don't know where I'm going to get a bag big enough for the 9" one. I'm thinking one that's less than like 15" long is too small for it.

 

I might price shipping before you go into great effort ..
IMO says overnight on the bala is likely $50-100 USPS and double with other delivery providers ..
I use this app to check on pricing ;

 

It's one aproxx 9" bala shark, and 2 that are ~4". I'd be shipping out of Colorado Springs and it's being a bit chilly right now (50 or below) so I would think a heat pack is needed for that if I find someone within a few days. I think if I end up shipping I'll use 2 large lfs size bags for the smaller ones, but I don't know where I'm going to get a bag big enough for the 9" one. I'm thinking one that's less than like 15" long is too small for it.

They sell gallon ziplock bags you could triple bag in and tape over. Walmart also sells some waterproofing bags that are bigger.

Your issue is our current weather. Its 50 degrees today but 2 days ago it was hot out by 9am. Your best bet is going to be double boxing with that insulating foil bubble wrap. Short of that, a lot of balled up newspapers. I don't see shipping being economical at all.

Aquaria masters on Tia Juana has offered to ship fish to me when I move. You could probably ask them to do it for you. They are likely equipped to do it.

 

Thank you both, that is very helpful. I agree that shipping wouldn't be very economical, but if absolutely no one can do a local pickup I'd rather lose a few bucks on shipping than drop them off at petco so they can get put into a 40 or 75 gallon tank.

Your issue is our current weather. Its 50 degrees today but 2 days ago it was hot out by 9am.

Tell me about it, isn't Colorado weather the best?

 

Wraithen would mind telling me more about how everything went with Aquaria masters? It's very interesting that any fish you ship through them gives you credit towards their own stock

 

Wraithen would mind telling me more about how everything went with Aquaria masters? It's very interesting that any fish you ship through them gives you credit towards their own stock

I didn't ship. I mentioned how I would love certain fish but don't wanna drop the money on them, only to have to restart when I inevitably move in a couple of years. That's when they said they shipped fish to their owners. I didn't go further into it though.

I will say, that store is 10x better than it was a year ago. I only went in for vague things just to see if they had them, and they always had apI test tubes for cheap by the 4 pack. Now they have plants, discus, a few good strains of neocaridina, and a decent quality stock. They aren't very big though and the building looks kinda sketchy but it's a gunsmith next door so I felt comfortable.

They even had a red and a white (african) arrowana. Apparently they couldn't get the blue in time for memorial day, but they were optimistic to have one of each color for 4th of July.

Seascape aquatics on the north end of union could be another. If nothing else, when they aren't busy they will give you good, real world advice about how to do just about anything. Just speak kind of loudly to the lady as her hearing aid isn't always turned up. Super good couple that owns and runs the store!

 

My bad, I didn't put that together right. If I need to I'll go take a look there; Seascape is the one by Big Lots right? I've been there a few times and they were pretty nice, the store is well run so I might ask them about it too

 

My bad, I didn't put that together right. If I need to I'll go take a look there; Seascape is the one by Big Lots right? I've been there a few times and they were pretty nice, the store is well run so I might ask them about it too

Yes I think it's near a big lots. I shoot up union though so I'm not completely sure. I love that store for hardscape stuff and they are willing to order just about anything you would want. I'm never in there less than half an hour just because I genuinely love picking her brain. (The husband defaults to her for all things freshwater lol.) They even ordered a certain sera food I wanted to try. I didn't like it but now they stock it so maybe they like it.

 

Ok guys, thread is up. If you happen to know or see anyone near me that would like them I'd greatly appreciate you pointing them towards the thread https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/need-to-rehome-some-bala-sharks.411632/

 

Ok guys, thread is up. If you happen to know or see anyone near me that would like them I'd greatly appreciate you pointing them towards the thread https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/need-to-rehome-some-bala-sharks.411632/

Check out the Colorado springs group FB page. Just be sneaky about how to post it.

 

What do you mean by "sneaky"?

 

What do you mean by "sneaky"?

I think FB banned sales of animals or something.

 

Ah ok, that's fairly understandable. I'll see what I can do there

 

Exactly

 

I might price shipping before you go into great effort ..
IMO says overnight on the bala is likely $50-100 USPS and double with other delivery providers ..
I use this app to check on pricing ;

What did you use when you shipped to me? Express? It was only like a day.

nikm128 yeah Facebook is being super adamant about it, even shutting down groups that are selling

 

I also would strongly encourage Express/overnight which may shock you when you see the cost .

Just a bit, express would be $110-120, 2 day priority is $35

 

What did you use when you shipped to me? Express? It was only like a day.

nikm128 yeah Facebook is being super adamant about it, even shutting down groups that are selling

Yea you got USPS Priority Express shipping ,usually over night .
That makes FB 100X more useless to me ! I was contemplating how it could possibly be worth it to suffer through all the snipe but without sales ,it is impossible ! I have a big heart but am short in other areas ! I guess I may never make it there !
So glad I never wasted one minute yet I guess ! As a responsible seller I think that this being a rule speaks volumes for who is using FB..People who have made it a big enough problem that banning was the solution ? That is the sign of the last step of a closed mind and a broken system ..

Just a bit, express would be $110-120, 2 day priority is $35

That sounds right !
Water ain't light ...
I always sell fish with 2-3 day shipping and offer my customers express for cost minus 2-3 day which would mean your $120 would only cost you $85 with me ..I am paying the $35 already so it just makes sense ..Shipping is not cheap or for the faint of heart ..Not Express is not at all guaranteed ..It is EXPECTED on a certain date ..That is all.No refund if it takes 2 weeks ! Ask me how I know !

 

On the Facebook thing, it started with backyard breeders but made it's way to include fish. Adding fish wasn't because of the general public, it was because people decried the horrors and those voices were loud. It probably doesn't hurt that businesses can continue to show pets on their pages.

Basically, you can show pictures of what you need to get rid of, but not say what they cost. I don't know what fantasy world Facebook lives in. They just added a step. Luckily plants still get a pass.