Sending killifish and eggs around Australia
The following information on shipping killifish and their eggs is what I have found to work well when transporting killifish and their eggs (or dwarf cichlids or blue eyes) around Australia. I have had consistent survival rates of over 95 per cent.
Australia Post will never accept a box labelled “live fish” (note that fish are not defined as dangerous goods). It is also important to ensure that the parcel goes by Express Post so that the parcel is received the next business day (that is, do not post on a Friday). NEVER post to Tasmania or Western Australia which both have very stringent quarantine laws and could get the recipient into serious trouble.
Ideas for Shipping Killifish
a) Send only young healthy fish – people do not appreciate receiving sick or old fish especially if they have paid for them.
b) Starve the fish for 48 hours before sending them. Most fish losses in transport occur through ammonia poisoning through the build up of fish waste.
c) Use the same water as the aquarium from whom the fish were taken.
d) Add the minimum possible quantity of water to the polythene bag (get the bags from your LFS) – judge it by the size of the fish. An inch of water in the bottom of the bag will usually be enough. The more air in the bag, the more oxygen for the fish to breathe. Add a good squirt of Aqua-safe (or whatever you use) and a couple of ammogon chips for good measure.
e) Tie the top of the bag securely but the bag should not be absolutely rigid. Your friends will be travelling on a plane and the air in the bag will expand and if there is no slack, the bag bursts. Also cello tape the bottom corners of the bag so that the fish don’t get caught in a corner and drown. Some LFS now have nifty bags with no corners on them.
f) Wrap the bag inside a couple of sheets of newspaper and put it into another bag and seal that bag. Repeat that process. Then wrap the final bag in a couple of sheets of newspaper. So you end up with three layers of newspaper and two bags enclosing the bag containing the fish. This helps keep the fish “warmish” and in the dark and also protects against the actual fish bag bursting and water leaking out.
g) Buy one of those cardboard posting boxes from Australia Post and use a garbage bag as an insider liner (to stop any leaks). Place the bags in the box and add newspaper as needed to ensure that the bags are tightly positioned in the box.
h) Include a note giving details of the water conditions (pH, hardness) that your fish are used to. The receiver should want to match the conditions. Also make certain that the receiver knows what each bag contains. I usually tie different coloured ribbons to each bag and include the legend in the attached note.
i) Seal the box and send it off. Let the intended recipient know that the parcel is on its way.
Shipping killi eggs
a) Ron Bowman developed a procedure for shipping rainbowfish eggs in vials and bottles and claims excellent survival rates. I have not had luck with this method.
b) I have used two methods for shipping eggs. The first method is to drop the wet spawning mop into a fish bag and triple bag it. The second method is to pick the eggs and put them onto a small container containing damp peat and then triple bag that.
c) Put the bags of eggs in those protective bubble bags you can get from the post office (those ones where you can sit at night and pop each of those plastic bubbles).
d) Put in an express post bag or box and send express post. It is very advisable not to label the bags “fresh eggs”
e) Include a note giving details of the water conditions (pH, hardness) that the parents are used to. The receiver should want to match the conditions. Also make certain that the receiver knows what each bag contains. I usually tie different coloured ribbons to each bag and include the legend in the attached note.
f) Let the intended recipient know that the parcel is on its way.
[This is extracted from an article in a Killifish newsletter that I used to publish]
Re: Sending killifish and eggs around Australia
Live fish can be sent to WA (providing they are on the allowable list) via Australian Air Express. The fish need to be inspected by QT at the airport before AaE can release them to you. The best way to do this is to ring the QT inspector in advance and advise him/her that you are expecting a shipment and on what flight. I have found the QT inspectors to be a really helpful bunch and will make sure they are there as the shipment arrives so they can inspect it asap to prevent the fish from spending too much time outside in the cold. Australian Air Express can give you the mobile number of the QT inspector on duty at the time your expecting the shipment to arrive, so its always a good idea to confirm the details with them and get this before ringing the QT.
Also another good idea when sending fish etc to WA is to make sure they are labelled clearly with the common name of the fish, and the exact name of the species. If the inspector is ever in doubt as to what they are they won't be released.
Another good idea when sending to WA is to include a disposable heat pack to deal with the cold (should it be cold), and request they be sent on a same day flight. IME its best not to send fish on a Friday to ensure they don't get stuck in transit somewhere over the weekend.
I tend to ship betta's on a fairly regular basis from interstate and have very rarely run into problems.
Fastway
Fastway Couriers will accept live fish, labelled as such. They tend to do o'nite delivery for 'red tag' places, and 2-3 days for the outlying areas.
Unfortunate thing is that you have to buy a booklet of stickers, but if you are really nice, you can buy one-offs (reds are about $8 each)
I am too wimpy to use Express Post
Curious - is it hard to get specimen jars? they seem like a simple thing to ship eggs in, and have an easy area for labelling etc. Should be fairly watertight too, if you ship in tankwater.
Re: Fastway
I'm going to give fastway a go when my current supply of express post envelopes run out. From what I can see it is actually cheaper than express post when the item gets bulky (as fish tend to do). Anything larger than a satchel of fish ends up costing a heap as it is based on the volume rather than weight.
Example: A 30cmx30cmx20cm box is 0.18 cubic metres. That costs $22.70 Melb-> sydney via express post and $10 via fastway.
I've never used tham so I can't vouch for service but price looks good. As for buying a booklet of tags, I seem to be sending quite a few packages these days, especially when I send them to the wrong place .
Re: Fastway
Fastway sounds like a bargain, id be interested in getting some killies if courier/postage costs are only $10 , how would they go in summer though
Re: Fastway
I tend to avoid extremes of temperature but if you post at 5:30pm, they arrive around 10am the next morning you miss the hottest part of the day anyway.
I use express post sachels ATM which are $9.5. You can fit in two bags with a few pairs of the smaller species in each bag. I'd rather use a box to allow more air in the bags and packing around them though.
Probably cheaper for you than the stress of getting the kids in the car and driving all the way to my place!
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(reds are about $8 each)
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, the last time i went out to collect fish , 2 weeks later i got a fine in the mail $130
for 6km over a 50km speed limit ,
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