After my recent first attempt at shipping and doing alot of reading and questioning, I thought I'd post a short description and photo journal of a DIY shipping box. There are alot of written threads, but few pics. It's not alot of pictures, but you can get the idea, and it helps to actually see what's being described.
First, determine how large of a box you will need. This will be determined by the type and quantity of fish you will be sending, and hence the size and quantity of the bags you will be using. Consider that when you line the box with 1" foam insulation, you will lose 2" from each dimension(LxWxH).
First, cut the pieces of foam for the bottom and top which will be the full inside dimensions of the box. Then you will cut the sides. I like to cut the long sides first if your box is not square. They will be the full length of the box, but for the height you need to subtract the thickness of the bottom and top pieces. Then last you can cut the short sides. These will be the same height as the other sides, but length wise, you need to now subtract the thickness of your other two sides. Now you have the foam liner built.
I then put a piece of soft foam packing material in the bottom(gray in the picture), and then some newspaper(not shown) on top of that. This helps to cushion a little more and the newspaper also will absorb and drips if there is a tiny leak. Some also line the box with plastic but I didn't.
Now you can bag your fish and lay them in the box. For this, I just used bags of water for demonstration purposes. I then covered them with some bubble wrap and newspaper again. Depending on the time of the year, you can attach cool or heat packs to the inside of the lid. For the cool pack, I used a ziplock bag taped to the lid with the pack inside. The bubble wrap and newspaper will also serve as an insulator to keep the pack from coming in direct contact with the bags.
Now you can seal up the box and send. To speed the process, I like to have the box addressed prior to packaging. FWIW, I did not label the box "live fish" but just had fragile all over it. Alot depends on the carrier and the clerk.
And that's it! Being able to ship opens alot of doors if you are interested in raising and selling fish.
First, determine how large of a box you will need. This will be determined by the type and quantity of fish you will be sending, and hence the size and quantity of the bags you will be using. Consider that when you line the box with 1" foam insulation, you will lose 2" from each dimension(LxWxH).
First, cut the pieces of foam for the bottom and top which will be the full inside dimensions of the box. Then you will cut the sides. I like to cut the long sides first if your box is not square. They will be the full length of the box, but for the height you need to subtract the thickness of the bottom and top pieces. Then last you can cut the short sides. These will be the same height as the other sides, but length wise, you need to now subtract the thickness of your other two sides. Now you have the foam liner built.
I then put a piece of soft foam packing material in the bottom(gray in the picture), and then some newspaper(not shown) on top of that. This helps to cushion a little more and the newspaper also will absorb and drips if there is a tiny leak. Some also line the box with plastic but I didn't.
Now you can bag your fish and lay them in the box. For this, I just used bags of water for demonstration purposes. I then covered them with some bubble wrap and newspaper again. Depending on the time of the year, you can attach cool or heat packs to the inside of the lid. For the cool pack, I used a ziplock bag taped to the lid with the pack inside. The bubble wrap and newspaper will also serve as an insulator to keep the pack from coming in direct contact with the bags.
Now you can seal up the box and send. To speed the process, I like to have the box addressed prior to packaging. FWIW, I did not label the box "live fish" but just had fragile all over it. Alot depends on the carrier and the clerk.
And that's it! Being able to ship opens alot of doors if you are interested in raising and selling fish.
