Reply To: Newbe breeding question
No CPD’s yet, I went to my aquarium club meeting last night (New Hampshire Aquarium Society) and one of the old timers there has some that he has been un-successful breeding because of the municipal water he is using. He said he would pass them off to me after the Turkey Day holiday so that I could spawn them for him. I will then get to keep the breeders as well as half of the fry for a while to build up a population. So after a little time I will have to start a new thread or PM you to see about trading some bloodlines.
Shipping fish is very very easy. I usually use US Postal Service Priority mail because of the cost of Express or other carriers (FedEx, UPS). This time of year in these northern latitudes tends to require a heat pack. The heat packs can be purchased for just a couple of dollars from online sources (check Dr. Foster & Smith, etc. or Google fish heat packs and you should come up with some). For a foam box to ship in you can often scrounge them up for little or no money from your LFS (Local Fish Store). If you are only sending a few small fish then ask them for the foam boxes they get their frozen foods sent to them in, these boxes are much smaller than the large bulk boxes they get their fish in. If they don’t have any ask them to set some aside the next time they get them in. LFS’s tend to treat their regular customers very well. I have also used the flat Styrofoam sheets to line a shipping box but that would be better in the summer or of the fish are not going too far. I tend to use the Priority “Flat Rate” boxes since weight does not change the price. It costs around $9 to ship flat rate with delivery confirmation (good if you are selling to online auction winners). The USPS requires you to drop the box off at the counter when it contains liquids. The only want to know that the box will not leak (double bag, and line the box with a trash bag to be sure), and that it does not contain hazardous materials. Sometimes you will get counter help that does not know about sending fish through the mail, the current postal codes that will tell them it IS ok to mail fish are;
Cold animal shipping 609.3.3
Liquids shipping 602.3
And
Packaging 609.3.10
These change regularly but are current as of three weeks ago. This turned into a long post but I hope it is helpful.