Shipping:
UPS and airfreight wrapped in wet paper: We ship our live rock wrapped in wet paper with little in the bottom of the box. All freight charges are being paid on our side for this shipping method.
Airfreight shipped in water: We just added the airfreight option to have the rock shipped in water. You will be be paying the charges to Southwest ($1.25 to $1.50 a pound). This option does not have a minimum of how many pounds you have to order because you are paying the charges at the airport. Southwest will charge a minimum of $60 to $70 if you have 1 lbs or 50 lbs. The water will add an substantial amount of weight. When you order 20 to 25 lbs, the box will weight close to 60 lbs to 70 lbs . We also ship with Delta but they require payment of the freight charges when you drop off the shipment. We will estimate weight and charge you accordingly up front. When you order airfreight, know which airlines accept cargo at your airport. You may have to select another airport further away to receive the rock shipment via Southwest. Also keep in mind that we only ship on Mondays via airfreight because this a 5 hour round trip to drop off the shipment. We drop off the shipment Monday night and it flies out on the first flight in the morning. We sometimes ship on Tuesday because of some of our fish stores schedule. The airbill won’t work until I have dropped off the shipment. Check your status of your airfreight package here:
Air Cargo by Southwest Airlines-Same Day Cargo and Freight
Shipping in Water vs. Shipping in Wet Paper
In Water Airfreight Shipping:
We ship about 20 to 25 lbs in a box which will be 98% covered by rock and the package (21x16x10) weight about 60 to 70 lbs. We pack the rock in multiple layers of plastic bags to prevent leaking. We have found that the rock arrives in almost perfect condition when shipped that way. Maybe only a few corners my show some stressed coralline due to the fact that the rock shifts in transit and may be exposed to the air. Please see pictures below from a customer who had his rock shipped in water via airfreight. The aquacultured live rock basically looks like that when I ship it out.