Heatpacks

[Peter Finke]

Shipping Parosphromenus fish with post parcels is a big theme here in Europe. During winter time the temperatures fall well down below the limit which is compatible with the licorice gouramis. Using a styropor-box does not suffice. Within some hours especially during the nights the temperatures inside are equal to those outside.

But there is a resource helping in this situation: heatpacks. Professional traders of tropical fish know how to handle them. But amateurs mostly don’t. We have little experience with it but we need them. There are many friends of these fish who are unable to fetch them personally from a breeder, and in principle Parosphromenus can be shipped withou problems for s few days in very small containers.

If there is somebody able to help us with a detailed description how heatpacks are to be handled, we would be grateful indeed. How are they used, how many to use, how long is the time they work efficiently, is there a risk of overdimensioning/overheating?

[Mark Denaro]

There are a couple of keys to remember with heat packs.

First, they need air to work. I usually use a styrofoam box inside a cardboard box. I don’t tape the styro and when I tape the cardboard I only tape it so that it stays closed. I don’t tape all the seams because we need to get some air exchange into the box. If the heat pack doesn’t have enough air, it will stop working. There’s nothing worse than receiving a cold box only to have the heat pack reactivate and heat up after the box is opened. This also affects the number of heat packs to use. More is frequently not better. In small boxes, one heat pack is sufficient. If you use too many, they may run out of air and stop working. If you’re shipping large boxes, like those that wholesalers or exporters use, you may need to use additional heat packs.

Second, if the heat pack gets wet it won’t work. While the logic may be to put the heat pack on the bottom of the box because heat rises, this is not a good idea. It should be in the top of the box to decrease the chance that it gets wet and also because there is likely to be more space and hence more air at the top of the box.

I like to use a couple of pages from a newspaper to line the box and wrap over the fish and then place the heat pack on top of the newspaper. Many heat packs have an adnesive on one side that will allow you to attach them to the top of the box. That will keep them in place. Alternatively, you can tape them to the inside of the box lid. If you’re taping them to the lid, just tape around the edges. If you tape across the actual heat pack you will limit the airflow and you don’t want to do that. Alternatively, you can wrap the heat pack in a piece of newspaper and lay it on top of the fish bags.
Mark

[Peter Finke]

Thank you Mark for that very good instructions description! The main points have become very clear.

[Anonymous]

A good instruction! Another important moment is to check that the heatpack give the heat as promise, a lot of old heatpack don’t give the heat as promise, so I let always the heatpack stay in the room for one og two hours before i use it in the box

[Peter Finke]

Svein, certainly a valuable supplement.
I am always unsure when seeing these heatpacks. Could they become too hot? Will they loose their heating power too early? Will they get colder continously or at a certain point all of a sudden? I think it need not to fix a definite temperature if they keep things well between 17 and 27 degrees Celsius (better lower than hotter). We would need them especially in winter in oder to avoid the influence of the often freezy temperatures outside. But I am entirely unclear about how dependant they work from the outside temperatures. Of course, styropor boxes are used within cardbord boxes and we must observe that airflow could be passing nevertheless. But sometimes there are outside temperatures of – say – eight degrees Celsius on the positive scale, and sometimes there are eight degrees below the frost line. I cannot understand how the same heatpack could be able to equalize that difference. It seems to me to be a risky play and no secure way of measuring or dimensioning possible.
Or am I wrong?

[Anonymous]

Peter: I have about 60 shippings with heatpacks and all went well. The important issue is that the shipping won’t last for more days than the heatpack can give heat. My heatpack normally give heat for 24 hours, but I think you can get heatpacks for 48 and 60 hours. I think the shipping cannot last out of these hours in winter, the styropor boxes will soon be cold (bad english)

My heatpack had a brutto temperature of 50 degree C and netto 30 d.C. The receiver measure the temperature and normally the water temperature hold from 20-25 d C
I use very small styropor boxes; 40 x 25 x 25 cm should be ok for 4 or 5 P
I have no problem sending fish in Norway, but I think sending abroad could go wrong because of the shipping period
Hope you understand this
Svein

[Peter Finke]

Dear Svein, thank you for your informations. I do not understand what you mean by brutto and netto temperature. It’s quite a difference …
Commercial senders in Germany use heatpacks equally to your usage quite successfully and without (severe) losses. But within Germany’s borders only. As you say: Sending fish across the European borders could be risky because of time. Mostly this needs three, four or more days (and nights). Especially during winter time this is not advisable. That’s a problem: At present, we have some six or eight breeders here in our country with many young fish of five or six species, but there are more interested friends outside of the country’s borders than inside…
Horst Linke told me of a new material better than styropor, but he obviously has not yet the details of the manufacturer. I think, shipping Paro’s is in Europe predominantly a matter of temperature. It’s no matter of space at all and nearly no matter of oxygen. But getting too cold could be desastruous. We had that problem here with our first sendings in October: An unprecedented sharp decline of temperature killed many fish. But even if you restrict yourself to the summer half of the year: A shipping that extends more than two or three days could always include a temperature-risk. The heatpacks could certainly minimize the problem, but their proper use needs experience.

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