Shipping a Mantis Shrimp

[mp3z24]

i know that shipping fish is done with plastic bags, but how should i ship a mantis shrimp? what kind of container should i put it in? glass mason jar? tupperware? something else? obivously i can tape the lid down to make sure it is water tight, but i am hesitant to use a plastic bag...

i need to send this to a fellow AA member, and i would like it to make it there without smashing a hole in the container...

~mike

 

[quarryshark]

How big is it? A very small one would not be able to smash a hole in the plastic bag. You could always double or triple bag it.
For a larger one, my though is the tupperware container.
Call you LFS and ask them, they may have some experience.

 

[mp3z24]

about 2 inches or so. i just dont trust him if the box gets tipped and shaken, and he gets pissed off and hits the side of the bag. i think i am going to try and find a plastic container w/ a screw on lid. something about 1 liter or 1/2 liter.

~mike

 

[austinsdad]

What about oxygen? Talking about 1-3 days in transit I'd guess. Gotta be able to shoot some air in the container and trap it in there, right? Maybe a plastic bag WITHIN the tupperware. That way if it pops the bag, the oxygen will remain within the plastic container.

 

[steve-s]

A plastic lined thermos works very well.

Cheers
Steve

 

[zacdl]

A plastic lined thermos works very well.

Cheers
Steve

Yes that would be fine.

No advantage to putting a plastic bag inside another container.

Someone mentioned oxygen... What makes a plastic bag better than a container????


Anyway, you could try to fill the container with as much pure oxygen as you could if you wanted to, but as long as it gets there in 2 days it should be fine (in other words dont send it priority because that takes 3 days sometimes)

 

[austinsdad]

Someone mentioned oxygen... What makes a plastic bag better than a container????

Just that I've seen the LFS - and done it myself, hold the bag and pump air into it, squeeze it (to hold the air in) and tie the bag. Just not sure how much air you can put it a container that won't seep out by the time you close it.

 

[zacdl]

You can put enough in there to count. its not that hard you just do the same thing you do as a bag, you plug the openings with your hand or whatever fill it up and screw the lid the rest of the way on.

 

[pearsont74]

just get a disposible plastic container....like those glad containers and whats Ive seen with stuff Ive gotten is they have a small ice pack in there too

 

[mp3z24]

yes this will be shipped with a supply of air... not oxygen. the container will be filled with enough water to cover the shrimp regardless of the orientation of the shipping container, and the rest of teh volume will be air.

oxygen is explosive, and simply using air will not cause any detrimental effects, especially if (when) i ship it overnight. i dont have a source of pure compressed oxygen, and i am not going to go to a welding shop just to get oxygen to ship a shrimp. so long as the air isnt squeezed out of the container, it will be fine.

thanks for all the replies...

~mike

 

[austinsdad]

OK. Now I know that references to air and oxygen aren't interchangeable. Thought that the air compressor at the LFS provided oxygen. Now I know. Thanks Mike.