Corals on Plane

[xxxbadfishxxx]

well tommorow im going to visit a friend in maryland and will be taking southwest from Albany to BWI. I will place the corals in ziploc bags with half water, then into a six pack cooler. Should i tell them whats in the cooler? if they ask, will it be a problem? can cooler go through x-ray?

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[bheron]

Hmmm. thats an interesting one. I think you have to tell them its live goods. but who knows what they'll do to it if you tell tem that. SHouldnt be a long flight. Can you pack them into a small container and then keep that in a duffel bag or something?

 

[xxxbadfishxxx]

i guess i can place the cooler in my carryon, but what about the x-ray? I guess its ok since we go through them. i just dont want to be breaking any laws. I wil bring a frag of zoos, xenia, gsp, and shrooms.

 

[rememberme]

Hmm I think you would have to declare if you have livestock on you. Hide them in your suitcase!

 

[coralfarmer84]

just flew home yesterday from florida to ohio and had live fish and coral in my carry on. Everything is doing great and they got x-rayed. I don't think you'll have a problem, this isn't the first time i've done this.

 

[xxxbadfishxxx]

coralfarmer, did you tell them you had it on you?

 

[scrmbld33]

call the airline

 

[wnutz]

ive been doing this for the past year without a problem they even looked in the bag and didnt say anything and no i didnt tell them.

 

[coralfarmer84]

no i didn't tell them that i had them on me because they were all wrapped in lil individual styrofoam containers and triple bagged so it would have been a pain to show each individual fish and coral to the inspector so i just let them go threw the x-ray machine. no problems here i'm a firm believer in the "don't ask, don't tell" procedure so if they don't ask shhhhhhhhh

 

[egdevilboy]

I did a carry on with 2 pieces of liverock and some zoanthids.

I didnt trust the baggage handlers enough. But security didnt say a word.


Btw, the rrocks and zoas are doing great. Just fragged um two days ago.

 

[coralfarmer84]

i wouldn't trust the bag handlers either.... i carried on the fish but bought a korralin calcium reactor and stored it in my bag. Of course it would arrive smashed somehow(even thou it was packed correctly), now i get to wait and see if the airport is gonna get me a new one. jerks

 

[TippyToeX]

I've done them as carry on many times. Fish and corals. I keep them packed in a backpack. They go though x-ray no problem. I've only had one person at x-ray ask what they were. I was honest and allowed to move on.

Stuff them in overhead and it's as simple as that. I think having them in a back pack has kept the airline staff from asking what was in there. Rather then a box or cooler that says "Live animals"

 

[catdoc]

I've brought corals/fish back on the plane with me twice. Both times, I had a small styro cooler to pack them in and had a bottle of extra saltwater (just in case of a leak). I sent both boxes through x-ray and they asked both times what it was but didn't ask me to open the box. I got a raised eyebrow and that was all.

 

[thehedge]

Last time I brought corals through, TSA had to check the bags...one of them gave me a funny look and said that they are just rocks, the other guy, who obviously was a reefer, started up a conversation on reef tanks with me for at least 10 minutes, haha.

 

[Poisson Voyageur]

what about from one country to another? Has anybody tried that? I'm wondering a lot as I cannot find much in Turkey and wouldn't mind bringing cool stuff from Europe or the States?

 

[glxtrix]

done the florida to georgia trip twice with fish, both went thu xrays, both times asked what i had, both times they looked at me weird, and both times they let me go. Dont ask them or call, cuz they will say no, but the security check people will have no clue.

 

[xxxbadfishxxx]

thanks guys, i just got back from my trip, i didnt say anything, and they didnt ask. I had them in one of those soft six pack coolers inside my carry on.

thanks again,

Jeff

 

[MAreefer1]

if I was to go down to Florida, and buy coral from the stores down there, would it make the 4-6 hour or so trip back up to MA?

 

[Tunguska]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6506816#post6506816 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MAreefer1
if I was to go down to Florida, and buy coral from the stores down there, would it make the 4-6 hour or so trip back up to MA?

Yes.