I once fielded a $400 order (on behalf of a club) in January. It was shipped by Airbourn Express, with heat packs. The shippers on the East Coast were indeed pros.

The best boxes frr shipping are not those loose and really too thin shipping boxes which the shops use. Those steak boxes, o rheavy duty boxes from your pharmacy or a hospital are best. There are also specific rules the US Post Office asks - and really they make a lot of sense.

This library computer will not let me copy and paste, so you are going to have to do the Google Guppylog search for shipping fish. In a few weeks I might begin shipping fish and plants. I actually got away with shipping plants and Moina a month or two ago. We were just lucky to find a window in the weather.

I don't like to use heat packs or ice packs because they increase room for mistakes. Then again some of us find it hard to chew gum and walk at the same time. ;)

Also, take a look (or Google) at/for those Breather Bags marketed by Novalak/ Kordon. One must separate the bags with dry newspaper or cardboard, but one can get a number of fish sent in a small space.

Sometimes taking a box of fish to a major airport post office or taking delivery there can really speed things up and make them safer. We once took delivery on a box of killies at O'Hare Field in Chicago. They had been express mailed from San Diego the previous evening. They were entered, acclimated, ogled, judged and repacked and mailed back within 24 hours!

The trophies that gentleman earned were sent by slower, less expensive mail. ;)