trofius

Sorroz raises some good points, and having received some of his handy work he knows what he is on about!! To date I have only found Virgin here in Rockhampton will inspect boxes before they are accepted, I beleive AAE might have many many years ago, but I know most of the guys there by first name now. And have sent many boxes..So maybe they trust me.. Perth Quaranteen allways seem happy with my shipments, and both virgin and AAE have never rejected a shipment. You could take a dummy package to teh freight company and ask them if what I have done is Ok , and would it pass if in any doubt. You dont want to be rejected its a pain packaging it up once, let alone twice.. most boxes will be rejected due to a lack of absorbant material in the bottom of the box (news paper is not good enough, you get get proper stuff by the roll, either chemical or material absobancy), not double bagged or goosenecked.. Yes AAE will do over the counter cash payments ( here anyways) virgin will only do accounts..

This was an article i did on another forum. Procedure for sending fish airfreight. Part 1 This simple task is confronting, and daunting to many aquarists. I guess there are things which can go wrong, but with a little planning and understanding these will be minimized or eliminated. Below I have hopefully captured clearly what is required to ensure the safe and healthy arrival of the fish, and to satisfy various regulations enforced by airlines and quarantine. To start with, this is the internet; we are all buying and selling fish , usually at considerable expense. There is a huge amount of trust and responsibility required by both parties. So be pleasant, and helpful do what ever it takes to instill a sense of calm in the other party, don’t ignore them, constant, and thorough communication, and upfront dealings are best. Once the dealings have been finalized I organize my fish and time so that things will happen as planned. Once a deal is made it is usually 2 weeks before I ship, this allows me time to organize what is needed, to prepare the fish, allow for the cash transfer, and to sort out flight details as time allows for both parties. Shipping fish can be done with two companies in Australia, Australian air express and Virgin freight. Many people have different experiences with both, I will only use AAE. So ok you have fish to sell, they are of course in tip top condition and ready for a small amount of stress. To prepare my fish for freighting, I maintain my weekly water change schedule, usually done on a weekend. I also add another water change 2 days prior to shipping, this ensures there are no wastes in the water, and it is fresh as possible. I don’t change the water the day before incase it effects the fish adversely, two days gives you a chance to watch them. I also cut back the feeds, 4 days prior once a day, 2 days prior they are fasted. I also suck the crap off the bottom so they don’t eat that, and you can see that their wastes are lessening. I let the receiver know the water conditions at time of sale, and the day I ship, I tell them what I am feeing them. I tell them what day, they are being sent and approximate flight times. I sms the con note number to them once they are booked in and paid for at the airfreight place. If shipping to Perth there is also quarantine issue to deal with, no plant or dirt material in the bags, fish need to be disease free, healthy, clear bags are preferred. If these conditions are not met they could be destroyed, and I feel that is the freighters problem, a full refund, or a new shipment should be arranged. Procedure for sending fish airfreight. Part 2 You will need: which should be done days or weeks earlier. An airfreight approved seafood box. Suitable Bags, rounded bottoms are best Quality rubber bands, not old recycled ones Absorbent material, for the bottom of the box, newspaper or a proper absorbent material is preferred. Oxygen, I use industrial stuff as medical grade is very expensive and you need a very expensive regulator to go with the special bottle. A few buckets, jugs and containers are handy. Packing tap to seal the box. Clearly printed labels that show who the receiver and sender are. Usually the box will also have a large plastic waterproof liner that encompasses the inner contents. Set yourself up the day before, ready to go. In these pics I am bagging up 33 3-4cm duboisi fry into 20cm bags To send from Rockhampton to Melbourne, estimated journey time 8-14 hours. I used 6 bags, 5-6 fish per bag. Todays the day. Usually this happens at some crazy hour of the day, like 6am for me. Getting up that early is not right, but makes catching all the fish out really easy. I have the nets ready to go, I walk into the fish room switch on the room light, scoop all the fish into bucket, with tank water….Less stress for them they wake up they are in a bucket. No chasing them all over for ages. Once they are in the bucket check the numbers, and condition again. Bagging them up I place the bag in a container that supports the bag. I uses a jug to add water from the bucket to the bag, the bag only needs to be filled ¼ - 1/3 with water the rest is air or oxygen. Ensure the fish are covered adequately. When you have the water in the first bag I add the fish from the bucket I find it easier to use my wet hands to catch and transfer the fish. I then add the air / oxygen to the first bag. Twist the neck of the bag so they are inflated, but not too tight,( that pressure is being applied to the fish aswell.) I then attach the first rubber band. I use a smaller rubber band first to seal the bag. Then I add the second bigger stronger rubber band, while applying this rubber band I goose neck the bag, ie it folds over and finish attaching the rubber band, that’s the inner bag done. first tie goose necked To ship fish the airlines require you have them double bagged. You can place the bags inside each other to start with, or I find it easier to bag up some fish first and then slide that bag inside the second, I use a plastic straw down the side to let the air out of the second bag as the first inflated bag slides inside. Tie off the second outer bag as with the first. Note you need to ensure that the finished bag is not too tall for the box you have!! Space out the fish evenly, this is part of the preparation, not too many in the bag, less big fish, maybe more smaller fish. And work out how many bags / boxes will be required. Place all the bags into the shipping box, as you go. Ensure they are packaged securely; and check the bags again for leaks and stressed fish, prior to sealing up the box, add paper or empty air filled bags to support them in the box if there is space. Don’t assume they will be treated gently. Attach the lid, and secure properly with packing tape, I go over the top and then all around the lid / box join, to ensure it is water tight. Attach the pre printed label clearly displaying the sender and recipient details. Take to airport and check them in. get con note, pay freight, sms details to recipient. Follow it up and ensure safe arrival and a happy customer, get as much feed back as possible ie were any bags deflated, dead fish etc If there are any deaths I request a picture within several hours of the dead fish tail cut off, if more than one, than all in the same shot.