I have always wanted to keep a bimac but did not have an available cold tank when Zyan raised his and have since dispensed with putting my hand in cold water. However, Joe-Ceph's post of the little male was just too tempting so we spent the weekend getting our small chiller back in working order and attached to the 45 hex. If he outgrows it, then the reef is available with only one critter to displace (it has a chiller) or we can attempt moving the chiller to the tube tank (but I am afraid it may not cool anything larger than the 45 as it is only a 1/10 hp unit). We will have to operate on the sump when the skimmer is shipped and move the chiller pump (sadly the sump pump would not produce enough flow so a second pump was needed. We do have one that might work for both but it is not an exteral unit and this is a "temporary" set up ).
I had Joe-Ceph ship my very first bimac to the FedEx office that is directly across the street (literally) from my office and arranged to leave early. Shipping FROM California is great since he could deliver it to FedEx by 5:00 CA time and it arrived and was available by noon GA time. I waited until 2:00 so that I would not have to return to work and have to rush the acclimation and then my new little friend came home. Should anyone else need a way to pay for shipping from another origination, FedEx has an excellent set up that will allow you to establish an account, assign a credit card and give authority to ship by a third party without giving administrative rights. All the shipping paperwork can easily be done on-line, including printing the label. There are a few glitches in the software but it was still a great way to accomplish this without COD charges.
Joe-Ceph shipped him in a round cooler he happened upon for a great used price and it was ideal for octopus transport. There was shed in the water but no smell. My test strips were pretty useless (they had arrived already exposed to moisture and I have not replaced them) but I could at least compare the PH between the shipping water and the tank water. The bag water arrived at 67.5 degrees and the aquarium (using the same thermometer) is running at 69 (my chiller actually reads 71). Salinity was low but the same as the tank (1.022 SG) and I will raise it over the next week. The PH was the main parameter that needed serious matching and because the animal showed no stress (exept in the initial stages where he wanted to stretch his arms ) I took 3 hours to acclimate and then fed him a crab and waited until he ate it before releasing him.
I had Joe-Ceph ship my very first bimac to the FedEx office that is directly across the street (literally) from my office and arranged to leave early. Shipping FROM California is great since he could deliver it to FedEx by 5:00 CA time and it arrived and was available by noon GA time. I waited until 2:00 so that I would not have to return to work and have to rush the acclimation and then my new little friend came home. Should anyone else need a way to pay for shipping from another origination, FedEx has an excellent set up that will allow you to establish an account, assign a credit card and give authority to ship by a third party without giving administrative rights. All the shipping paperwork can easily be done on-line, including printing the label. There are a few glitches in the software but it was still a great way to accomplish this without COD charges.
Joe-Ceph shipped him in a round cooler he happened upon for a great used price and it was ideal for octopus transport. There was shed in the water but no smell. My test strips were pretty useless (they had arrived already exposed to moisture and I have not replaced them) but I could at least compare the PH between the shipping water and the tank water. The bag water arrived at 67.5 degrees and the aquarium (using the same thermometer) is running at 69 (my chiller actually reads 71). Salinity was low but the same as the tank (1.022 SG) and I will raise it over the next week. The PH was the main parameter that needed serious matching and because the animal showed no stress (exept in the initial stages where he wanted to stretch his arms ) I took 3 hours to acclimate and then fed him a crab and waited until he ate it before releasing him.