With a little care and attention, you can get the best out of your Uniheat shipping warmers and ensure your tropical fish arrive in excellent condition. As the winter months are upon us, the following shipping method may be used as a guideline. Modify the method to your requirements but always pre test your shipping method before shipping your livestock.
There are too many variables to predefine a set packing method, not limited to but including, shipping box construction and heat conservation properties, livestock temperature requirements, shipping duration, ambient outside box temperatures, water volume within the shipping carton etc.
Use the following as a guideline.
When the heat packs are removed from the package and exposed to oxygen in the air, a chemical reaction takes place with the contents of the heat pack, generating heat.
Before beginning to pack the tropical fish, the first job is to carefully remove them from their packaging, shake and gently knead the contents for around thirty seconds. The shipping warmer stake a couple of hours to reach temperature.
Place them in the fold of a towel or in your pocket.
The heat packs will not heat up properly if left on the side.
Pictured is a pretty standard tropical fish shipping carton, of molded polystyrene construction. Used by most tropical fish importers and exporters worldwide, as well as in country wholesalers and retailers. This one has a decent wall thickness, secure fitting lid, cardboard outer for extra thermal properties and an interim polythene liner.
Due to the harshness of the Uk winter environment, the shipping carton has been lined with newspaper to provide extra thermal properties. This also aids uniform heat dispersion throughout the shipping carton from the heat pack source. In extreme conditions, newspaper can also be added between the polystyrene outer and cardboard inner.
Ok, it's fish bagging time! Scrimping on fish bags for shipping is seldom cost effective. The tropical fish bags pictured are made by King British and have a rounded bottom to avoid losses in transit due to squashed fish in corners!
Always at least double bag, a single leaking bag may cause the loss of the whole shipment as soggy heat packs don't work! If you cannot source rounded bottom bags, run a length of packing tape across the bottom of each bag to tape up the corners.
The fish have now been added to the shipping carton. All the tropical fish bags have been secured at the top with two heavy duty rubber bands.
The top of the bag is simply twisted then folded back on itself before adding the rubber band. The bags have not been inflated to the extent that they are pressurized. This will avoid bags bursting in transit.
A final single sheet of newspaper is placed over the top of the fish bags to aid uniform heat desperation.
Finally the heat packs are removed from the fold of the towel or pocket. If they were removed from the packaging a couple oh hours previously, they should now be approaching operating temperature. Remove, and gently knead the contents one last time.
On the heat packs are one to three red stripes depending on the pack duration. These red lines must not be covered. The red lines contain perforations that regulate and allow oxygen to the pack contents. If the red lines are covered the pack will cool.
If the heat packs are placed directly in contact with the fish bags, the fish will be subjected to extremes in temperature that some will not tolerate. The aim is to provide a comfortable environment, free of major temperature variations to ensure the livestock arrives in perfect condition.
Here the heat packs have been securely taped to the underside of the shipping carton lid, red indicator stripes un hindered.
The lid is then taped to the carton, and the cardboard outer taped up.
As mentioned previously, heat packs rely on oxygen to generate heat. In heavily laden boxes, the air gap may be insufficient to support the heat pack or packs throughout the total destination period.
If you think this may be the case, take a look at how reptiles are shipped. Both the reptile and the heat pack require oxygen in transit!
Perforate the cardboard outer and shipping carton with two small holes on opposite sides a third of the way down to ensure optimum heat pack performance. This is easily done with a phillips screwdriver and should obviously be performed before adding the fish bags!
Other packing tips.
Do not feed any livestock for at least 24 hours prior to shipping. If you do, they will produce ammonia in the bags that may kill them. It goes without saying that the shipping water must have no Ammonia, Nitrite and acceptable levels of Nitrate for the particular species.
In heavily laden bags, fish waste can be removed as it is produced using a small pouch of an all round mechanical media such as Pura Complete.
All that is required is a small amount tied in a portion of the media bag which is provided. This is practiced by many exporters world wide to ship multiple fish per bag and save on air freight.
For shipping fish with "spines" such as Discus fish, or corals on rock, that may easily puncture normal fish bags, heavy gauge bags must be used, again double bagged.
These heavy duty bags you can easily make yourself. Sealy, make a bag sealing machine and Viking Direct sell heavy gauge flat roll tubing. The corners of the bags can even be "chamfered" to avoid losses in transit.
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