How to bring coral without water.

[chefrt]

Soon I will be going holiday, so I plan to buy some coral to bring back,
It is possible to bring the coral without any saltwater, I mean the coral will be wrap with wet tissue (the tissue will be soaked with saltwater). I plan this because new regulation don’t aloud to bring liquid into a plane, so much more safe to bring those coral with wet tissue and put in airtight plastic container.

One of the coral that in my plan is zoanthid, and I want to know what other coral it is safe with this method.

Thank you.

 

[InsaneClownFish]

How long is your plane ride?

 

[xJake]

It should be fine as long as your plane ride isn't too long.

 

[chefrt]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12701383#post12701383 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by InsaneClownFish
How long is your plane ride?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12701394#post12701394 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by xJake
It should be fine as long as your plane ride isn't too long.

The flight about 2h15m, total journey about from the place were I stay to my house about 6 hours. That included pick up coral from the lfs, travel to airport, check-in, check-out and travel to my house.

 

[sassafrass]

You might inquire , as to the legality of what you are planing to
do I don't know if you are crossing any borders but it is something to consider.
Regards , Lee

 

[InsaneClownFish]

I'm no expert on this, but my gut tells me for that duration you should be fine. I do know that corals in the wild can be exposed to air for periods of time due to natural tidal patterns.

I would recommend getting some more advice if you plan on bringing anything that you might think would qualify as a more sensitive specimen.

 

[Tang Salad]

Zoanthids would be fine for several/many hours in wet paper towel/tissue. What other corals would you be getting? Many can travel this well without any problem.

Just remember the temperature has to remain proper.

 

[chefrt]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12701504#post12701504 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sassafrass
You might inquire , as to the legality of what you are planing to
do I don't know if you are crossing any borders but it is something to consider.
Regards , Lee

I have been check with authority, yes I can bring some coral for my self for a small quantity, but not SPS totally not allowed.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12701600#post12701600 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tang Salad
Zoanthids would be fine for several/many hours in wet paper towel/tissue. What other corals would you be getting? Many can travel this well without any problem.

Just remember the temperature has to remain proper.

I’m still waiting from expert, I not very sure what other coral that can last with just wet tissue. May be some mushroom.

Any ideas, please.

 

[widmer]

IMO, if for all other reasons you end up being able to bring the coral, you might want to wrap it in cotton-based paper towel, because my absolute guess is that it would contain fewer water-soluble adhesives.

 

[chefrt]

You may be right, how about a cotton wool.

 

[J. Montgomery]

A friend of mine buys corals when he visits CA and brings them back to VA. He bags then and puts them in a cooler. He includes the cooler in his checked baggage.

 

[chefrt]

Yes it a good idea, but just like I said before I only permitted to bring a small quantity, I may be bring like 5 to 6 polyps of zoanthid of different color, 1 or 2 pc different mushroom.

 

[greenbean36191]

I personally don't wrap corals in anything when I dry ship them. It serves no purpose. As long as it's humid in the bag, they're perfectly capable of keeping themselves moist.

 

[chefrt]

That interested, how you do that.
Is this ok, I place the coral in small container or plastic bottle and put some very little saltwater into it just to make the coral moist.

 

[pledosophy]

I was not allowed tobring more then an ounce of water on the plane in my carry on bags but they let me bring 4 corals in normal size bags in my checked baggage.

Of course this may have changed by now, things often do.

 

[widmer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12702404#post12702404 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by greenbean36191
I personally don't wrap corals in anything when I dry ship them. It serves no purpose. As long as it's humid in the bag, they're perfectly capable of keeping themselves moist.

Good point, surprised I didn't see that. If you immediately bag the coral, and the bag is airtight, it shouldn't really take any additional water or any wrap for that matter to keep the coral moist.

On that note, if you do wrap the coral in something, with the assumption that your conditions are going to allow water to evaporate, the local salinity could potentially go through the roof. For instance, if the coral & wet wrap contains a combined 2 tbsp of salt water, and 1 tbsp ends up evaporating, the coral is then soaking in a brine that's got twice the salt concentration as the sea (yikes!).

 

[vsnph]

Whenever I transport corals from the wild, I usually wrap them in damp newspaper. Damp enough as not to peel the newspaper.

After they're covered, you can put it inside a leakproof/sealed container ( Coleman, Styropor) with some ice cubes( 4 to 6 pieces in a small container)(also covered with newspaper) inside as not to get hot inside the container. I usually do this as the nearest marine body of water in my area is 4 hours drive.

 

[Tang Salad]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12702404#post12702404 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by greenbean36191
I personally don't wrap corals in anything when I dry ship them. It serves no purpose.

Depending on what they're packed in, it can serve a very good purpose: to cushion the coral from bumps and bangs and also to keep the flesh from abrading against the container.

 

[ackee]

Loosely folded paper towel sheets wet with SW, plus a few drops of ammonia neutralizer, at top and bottom of tightly sealed plastic food-type container. Moist paper towels cushion coral, but do not wrap it. Usually good for at least 24 hours.

 

[seapug]

ziplock bags with just enough water to keep it damp work great. Air is the enemy, so if you suck the air out of the bags so they are almost vacuum-packed it'll keep them from rolling around and can be easily packed and transported. Works great for SPS corals as well.