Thermos Trading

[michealprater]

Anyone want to swap frags? I have some green stripe mushrooms and devils hand frags if anyone wants to swap. I would like to trade within one state of IL but any offer is considered.

 

[fishfreek]

Im still waiting for warmer weather. We acutally had a frost warning last night.

 

[rottenpineapple]

micheal, sent you a PM

 

[reefrunner69]

Cool!! I am hoping to be doing some thermos trading by the end of the summer/beginning of the fall.

rottenpineapple,

to AquariumAdvice.com!!

 

[rottenpineapple]

Thanks Reefrunner69!!!
I like Thermos trade especially since I don't know any people in my area with reef' yet.

 

[reefrunner69]

You should join our North Florida Hobbyests forum (click the link to it in my sig), there are several of us here. I'm just a couple hours away, and timbo2 is in Jax. Give me till the end of the summer and I should have some pretty decent frags to trade.

 

[fishfreek]

BUMP!

Its now getting warm. Its hard to belive that its still getting down in the 50's at night here in Virginia and its June.

Anyway lets get this trading thing going. Whos got what and who wants what? Lets get to swapping some frags.

 

[Hara]

If anyone wants to try a trade, I have the following: Big double stalks of xenia that is well secured to rock, smaller batch of xenia, well secured. Some yellow polyps on a shell (about 12 on the shell), a combo shell with yellow polyp and a few zoos, a couple of small shells with star polyps.

 

[Hara]

the big xenia, about softball size

 

[Bob Ashcraft]

Can someone fill me in on how thermos trading is done? I have 4 good size Capnella tree corals I'd like to trade.

 

[fishfreek]

This is how I understand it.

Someone purchases one of those hot/cold thermos's from wal-mart that you use for like coffie or soup. You put water in and your frags. If your frags are agressive in nature you ight bag them indiviudaly and put in thermos. You ship thermos to recipient. They get the frags out and dump the existing water. Rinse it out and put your frags in thermos and ship back to you.

Or maybe you arrange to cross ship the thermos's and you buy a thermos and you recive the others thermos with frags.

What do you want to trade for?

 

[reefrunner69]

I'm interested in packing technique as well, sine I've never done it, but I know the idea is to send it 2nd day priority mail. to lessen the shipping costs. I know shipping has about doubles over the last year for the same size and weight package, so this is an idea whose time has come for sure.

 

[Bob Ashcraft]

I'm assuming that you can't send frags that are attached to rocks, since they would probably destroy the frag from bouncing around. Or am I wrong?

Does the thermos have glass interiors or are they now plastic?

Do you fill the thermos completely full of water, or do you leave some air in it?

 

[reefrunner69]

I'm assuming that you can't send frags that are attached to rocks, since they would probably destroy the frag from bouncing around.

hmmm, shreded plasitc strips or something else (I just received some frags in a pillow of Chaetomorph) could be used as a bumper, so I don't think that is a real issue.

Does the thermos have glass interiors or are they now plastic?

I think most newer thermoses are plastic with a thermal interior.

Do you fill the thermos completely full of water, or do you leave some air in it?

From what I have read, you want to fill it about 2/3 to 1/4 full. It is important also to use a large mouth thermos.

 

[d9hp]

I have a green ricordea I would like to trade, its good size. I want some GSP

 

[Bob Ashcraft]

hmmm, shreded plasitc strips or something else (I just received some frags in a pillow of Chaetomorph) could be used as a bumper, so I don't think that is a real issue.

My concern is, since I don't have Chaetomorpha to pack frags in, that the piece of rock will crush the frag from bouncing around inside the thermos.

 

[reefrunner69]

I copied this from another site. I find the lack of puntuation difficult to decipher exactly how to do it, but, FWIW... Also as I have never done it, I'm gonna PM someone that I'm pretty sure has done a thermos trade, or at the very least read enough about them to have a stratagy

get a thermos with a good sealed lid a wide mouth
thermos put three quarters water in it if the coral has a rock attached to
it then you put the coral in a small bag dont close it and drop it in the
thermos the bag acts like a cushion you then seal the thermos tape it up
around the lid and any spout it might have tape it down also put the thermos in a heavy plastic bag and seal it shut this for extra caution if the
thermos was to leak,m trhen set thermos in a box close to its size stuff
news paper all around the thermos for padding and so it wont get flopping in the box tape up the box with packaging tape or the post office can tape it for you . send it 2 day priority tell them you want a tracking number but
not a signature confermation. thats alll there is too it

 

[Guest]

put three quarters water in it if the coral has a rock attached to
it then you put the coral in a small bag dont close it and drop it in the
thermos the bag acts like a cushion

I would have to question this method. It would not allow what little oxygen that is going to be in there already, to get to the coral... Instead, why not super glue or rubber band the rock to a piece of styrofoam so that it stays under water the whole time as well as performs as a cushion...Like take and cut the styrofoam an inch smaller than the width of the mouth and lower it down into the water..If done correctly, the coral would still be in the center of the styrofoam and safe from hitting the sides of the container directly...Hmmm don't know, but it sounds good....

 

[ReefLady]

I have a green ricordea I would like to trade, its good size. I want some GSP.

I have a ton of GSP, and would love a green ric ... PM me. The GSP is unmounted though, but I'd give you a really good-sized piece

I've only done a thermos trade once. It actually worked really well. The way I did it was to use the small disposable tupperware containers (RR - the ones I packed your zo's/ric in). I sent Zo's, and buried them in a bunch of shredded plastic with tank water. I've never thermos traded anything delicate like sps - IMO, I'd prefer to overnight those. The idea behind thermos trading is that you can do 2-day USPS priority mail, and IMO, I will only chance that with zo's, 'shrooms, rics, star polyps, etc.

HTH!

 

[fishfreek]

using the shreeded plastic and then putting enough tank water to keep the corals 'damp' is how i have heard many of the 'experts' ship corals. Apparnelty you can get better resutls shipping some corals via this damp method than you can via the underwater method.

Logic is that the damp method causes the corals to clseup and act as if it was low tide and keep all their waste inside. where as when underwater they dump this waste into the shipping water.