How do you insulate your boxes?

[Mugwump]

Just getting an idea of different materials everyone uses, etc....

[LizStreithorst]

Another case of not being able to choose enough answers.  I voted fish box, because that's what I use.  But I fill in gaps with Styro peanuts.  I wish I knew where to buy 1/2" styro insulation for fish boxes.  The blue stuff from Lowes which is the same as the pink stuff from Home Depot, that comes in 4X8' sheets is the only stuff I know about.

[Mugwump]

LOL..well I figured if I put too many, there would have to be multiple choices for each person...just better to put a few, and have folks explain....everyone, and every fish need different methods of doing all this, but it'll be food for thought if all chime in with respective ways that they do it..

Besides, I didn't know what everyone's been doing, so I couldn't anticipate all the variances..

[P4Angels]

Jon like you I have limited experience with shipping fish and hope to learn a few things from others experiences..

[BallAquatics]

I've tried various types, but my favorite and the type I've used for the past couple of years is the 1-in x 4-ft x 8-ft Expanded Polystyrene Insulated Sheathing from Lowes.  At $8 a sheet I can make up lots of boxes and charge reduced shipping.  I like the 1" thick much better than 3/4" or thinner.  Better insulation properties and much more rigid...  makes for a very sturdy box when complete.

http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=15358-46086-451156&langId=-1&storeId=10151&productId=3365576&catalogId=10051&cmRelshp=req&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1



If you are going to cut much of this, a drywall square is also very handy to have around.....



Dennis

[Mugwump]

Is that a 'flat rate' box ??....what type of insulation are you using with these??

[Frank The Plumber]

http://www.aquaboards.com/showthread.php?69741-How-to-ship-fish-when-it-s-frigging-FREEZING-out&highlight=cold+winter+shipping
http://lotsoffish.net/Shipping-Facts.html

This is actually a very good way to pack and prep a box. Despite all of the Terrible Ted and all of the vernacular this method is still vulnerable to several factors. It has had about an 85% success rate for my shipping under 32F. I may modify this to use the 1" foam with the foil liner that was shown. I would put some air holes in the foam if I tried that because the packs eat a lot of O2.

[Mugwump]

Yep, I've seen Pete's thread....good stuff....still would like anyone elses ideas too...more the merrier..

[BallAquatics]

Is that a 'flat rate' box ??....what type of insulation are you using with these??

That particular box is not a Flat Rate, but it is a Priority box and I do use Flat Rate boxes at times.  My favorites are the Priority Regional Rate boxes.  The insulation is what was listed above from Lowes, 1-in x 4-ft x 8-ft Expanded Polystyrene Insulated Sheathing.  You can line a lot of boxes with a 4'x8' sheet of foam.

Here's the Lowes link... http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=15358-46086-451156&langId=-1&storeId=10151&productId=3365576&catalogId=10051&cmRelshp=req&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1

Here's the link to shipping on my other site...  http://www.danionins.com/articles/shippingpart1.html

Dennis

[Frank The Plumber]

I like the little cradle.

[Mugwump]

Thanx, Dennis and Frank....good stuff....

[Barb]

I have never shipped fish but I have received many boxes via mail, UPS and FedEx.  Most were successful, usually styro box with heat pack, or not, and some type of soft cushioning.  But I can report what NOT to do.  I got a box of almost cooked angel babies.  They were in a bag, inside a styro box, the heat pack was wrapped in newspaper and placed right next to the bag of fish.  The bag leaked, the newspaper got soaked, the hot wet paper then overheated the whole box and the fish were in very bad shape.  Some died, others I saved.  The heat packs taped to the lid of the box always work well with plenty of stuff between it and the bag(s) of fish.
Barb

[BallAquatics]

I like the little cradle.

Thanks Frank.  I've found it works very well in small boxes.  In larger boxes, I normally tape the heat pack to a large piece of cardboard and then place it accordingly, (type fish, weather,etc.). 

Dennis

[BillT]

In the past I have used styrofoam boxes (inside cardboard boxes) to ship fish to and from labs. The fish were in polyethylene bags (about 1/3 water, 2/3 O₂). Heaters were used when necessary, now with an extra bag of water between the fish and heater (for thermal inertia and to keep the fish away from the hot heaters). They has worked well (fish can stay alive in the bags for a week) but it is expensive.

Having received a couple of fish shipments from Dennis now I must say I am impressed with his methods (which I believe are well described on his Danionin website) and the results. The fish were in the 60's (˚F).
The advantages I see to his method include:
? cheap insulation (boxes are expensive)
? since he uses breather bags with a small volume of water so the package sent is smaller and lighter and therefore less expensive to send
? less fish sloshing around in the bag (not much water movement in a breather bag with no air bubble in it).

Although I have access to free boxes from people I know receiving many of these in deliveries, I am assembling materials for sending fish using this method.

An additional thing I have been concerned about is the exposure of fish to low air pressure in their bags when they get flow around in the unpressurized cargo bay of an airplane during the shipping process. There is the potential in a low pressure situation for gas supersaturation to occur. This can cause bubbles of air to form in the tissues of causing tissue damage and possibly death. It is most often the result of air getting into a pump impeller or cold highly oxygenated water being heated up to temperatures where it can not hold as much gas in solution. I used to inflate the fish bag with air, tie it off very snugly and jam it into the styrofoam box (heavily taped) with a lot of peanuts so that it would not be able to expand at lower pressures at high altitude. On the receiving end, I have not seen any evidence of this problem except possibly when receiving some Danionella fish that were in breather bags. These are very tiny fish about a mm across and maybe 1.5 cm long. These are the only fish I have received in breather bags which I had any significant problems with. Other similarly packed fish in the same shipment did OK. Breather bags are more stretchy than regular bags and could therefore be more affected by the reduced pressure in the airplane.