Want to ship corals to a friend a few states over but hate getting hit with those outrageous overnight shipping fees? Why not ship the corals without water? Wait…what did I just say? Doesn’t seem to make any sense does it? Well, surprisingly, many hobbyists have been successfully dry shipping corals for years. Just toss a coral in a bag, tie it up, and ship it off. The corals usually make the trip just fine, and some coral keepers have reported that, with the exception of floating the bag for a few minutes, they don’t even have to acclimate them. How is all of this possible? The coral’s naturally occurring mucous protects it against temperature issues and keeps the important portions moist during the trip. Additionally, water from the shipping container usually gets fouled up pretty quickly, which only causes more problems for the coral, so dry shipping keeps the toxins from building up and harming the coral.
