Shipping Costs

[OceanicCorals-Ian-]

Good luck with AC. Make sure that you clarify with AC that the shipment is live tropical fish. Their policy for livestock is arrival within 3 days before they will even consider offering you compensation should a shipment go bad and only then they will compensate the freight and not the contents.

I have had bad experiences using AC and have lost thousands of dollars in one particular order.

I don't deal with them unless I have to.

:P

[Aquatic Addictions]

your best bet is westjet. As long as they are informed it is live and make sure you have it on a non stop flight with heat packs and a good styro you should be very happy.

[Myka]

I will also suggest West Jet. Another idea is to send the box to Edmonton instead of Calgary if that is feasible for you. You will be able to get a direct flight (no transfers means less chance of losing it!!), and the flight may be slightly cheaper. At least the airport is on the south end of Edmonton, and not difficult to get to from Calgary.

[mr.wilson]

Originally Posted by Myka

I will also suggest West Jet. Another idea is to send the box to Edmonton instead of Calgary if that is feasible for you. You will be able to get a direct flight (no transfers means less chance of losing it!!), and the flight may be slightly cheaper. At least the airport is on the south end of Edmonton, and not difficult to get to from Calgary.

I agreed. Direct flights are much more reliable. I used to pick up all of my US shipments in Buffalo even though my warehouse was 5 minutes from Toronto International airport. It was cheaper and faster with fewer losses.

Shipping fish within Canada isn't cost effective. I can get a box from Asia or Africa for the less money than shipping across Canada. There are all kinds of extraneous charges they add on, so one box can cost $100 in some cases. Air Canada is a nightmare. You have to keep in contact with them throughout the shipment or they will screw it up somehow. Get it on an early flight because cargo gets bumped for passenger luggage even if it's perishable. Cargo rates are higher than passenger rates, but they figure it's better to deal with a $5000 cargo claim than one angry traveler's overnight bag.

They have a "warm room", but it sits on the tarmac for hours some times. Boxes fall off of luggage carts and get stepped on and thrown around. I had one shipment from overseas where I caught one of the AC employees opening the boxes. He told me "he wanted to show his friend how they ship fish".

Do some research on how to unpack the fish. It isn't a simple matter of floating or dripping. You need to lower the Ph in the tank, adjust temp and use ammonia neutralizing chemicals. You also need to do all this in the dark or the fish go into shock. I assume the shipper is using oxygen and shipping chemicals (clean water, meds & ammonia neutralizer).

You have to get the fish out of the shipping water quickly. Ammonia is less toxic at a low Ph and the shipping water will be about 6.8 when you get them due to Co2 from the fish. The fish are also in a state of rest where their metabolism is slow so they are not breathing quickly. Once you move the bags around, expose them to light, and open the bags (expelling Co2 and introducing o2), the Ph goes up and the ammonia turns toxic as the fish start breathing it through their gills rapidly. The temperature will likely be 70 F in the shipping bags, so have some ice on hand to add to your tank water to lower it accordingly. Floating the bags is the worst thing you can do, especially if you open them.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by mr.wilson

I agreed. Direct flights are much more reliable. I used to pick up all of my US shipments in Buffalo even though my warehouse was 5 minutes from Toronto International airport. It was cheaper and faster with fewer losses.

Shipping fish within Canada isn't cost effective. I can get a box from Asia or Africa for the less money than shipping across Canada. There are all kinds of extraneous charges they add on, so one box can cost $100 in some cases. Air Canada is a nightmare. You have to keep in contact with them throughout the shipment or they will screw it up somehow. Get it on an early flight because cargo gets bumped for passenger luggage even if it's perishable. Cargo rates are higher than passenger rates, but they figure it's better to deal with a $5000 cargo claim than one angry traveler's overnight bag.

They have a "warm room", but it sits on the tarmac for hours some times. Boxes fall off of luggage carts and get stepped on and thrown around. I had one shipment from overseas where I caught one of the AC employees opening the boxes. He told me "he wanted to show his friend how they ship fish".

Do some research on how to unpack the fish. It isn't a simple matter of floating or dripping. You need to lower the Ph in the tank, adjust temp and use ammonia neutralizing chemicals. You also need to do all this in the dark or the fish go into shock. I assume the shipper is using oxygen and shipping chemicals (clean water, meds & ammonia neutralizer).

You have to get the fish out of the shipping water quickly. Ammonia is less toxic at a low Ph and the shipping water will be about 6.8 when you get them due to Co2 from the fish. The fish are also in a state of rest where their metabolism is slow so they are not breathing quickly. Once you move the bags around, expose them to light, and open the bags (expelling Co2 and introducing o2), the Ph goes up and the ammonia turns toxic as the fish start breathing it through their gills rapidly. The temperature will likely be 70 F in the shipping bags, so have some ice on hand to add to your tank water to lower it accordingly. Floating the bags is the worst thing you can do, especially if you open them.

Thanks but I know how to acclimate fish. I have had good success with slowly drip acclimating them over a 4 or 6 hr period and these were fish directly from Bali.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by Myka

I will also suggest West Jet. Another idea is to send the box to Edmonton instead of Calgary if that is feasible for you. You will be able to get a direct flight (no transfers means less chance of losing it!!), and the flight may be slightly cheaper. At least the airport is on the south end of Edmonton, and not difficult to get to from Calgary.

Calgary is the major airport in Alberta. No international flights fly directly to Edmonton they all stop at Calgary 1st. Calgary is 2.5hrs from me so although the drive is possible I really dont want to make it if I dont have to, Edmonton is 5 hours North.