Reply To: Newbe breeding question
Often times the folks on Aquabid are shipping USPS Express for the next day guarantee. This option cost quite a bit more. For priority shippers the rates on Aquabid tend to be $9-15 dollars. This is because some shippers buy their shipping materials (styro, heat packs, etc.) and include those costs in their shipping, pluss maybe some time and effort involved with the shipping. I have never had any loss of fish using priority, if shipping dates are carefully chosen with weather taken into account. I have shipped and recieved fish sent Priority over 2000 miles across the country with no issues. I do understand that some people have encountered shipping problems though so take mine experiance as only one of many.
I used to work for an aquaculture facility in California and we once did an experiment to determine the length of time fish (fathead minnows in this case) can stay healthy in shipping containers. If properly packed and preped for shipping fish can survive for much longer than Priority should take. Before anyone jumps on me for cruelty to fish, we returned to minnows back to the culture containers after 7 days in the shipping container with no significant losses of fish life.
As far as how long it takes for across the country it would depend on the zip code you are shipping from and to, with proximity to shipping hubs being the determining factor. I would say two-three days is probably the norm for the continental USA.