Bringing corals on the plain?

[Brian]

I may be headed to CA for a business trip soon and was thinking it'd be a great chance to get ahold of some of the stuff I'm seeing come out of the LFS over there but what's the deal with bringing them back with me? Can I do it as a carry on with a cooler or do you think I'll be stuck checking it instead???

 

[Greg Hiller]

Brian,

I brought some stuff with me when I visited Cincinnati last summer. Many of the airlines will FREAK when you tell them you want to bring live corals on. I went on Delta, and you should check with the carrier you plan to fly with to see if things are different. If you try to check a cooler with corals they will REALLY freak.

Best method. Say nothing, and bring them as carry on. Tell the x-ray security guys exactly what they are and let them look at it, they will say 'cool, live corals' and allow you to got through. If they X-ray them it will not kill them.

The funny thing about all this is that I now ship corals via Delta Dash all the time, and they go on the same plane that everyone else goes on, but it is a long process to become a verified shipper (security checks, site inspections, etc., etc.).

 

[Chris A.]

I`ve brought fish in from Germany in my carry on bag and they even X-rayed them and started laughing that they where still alive. thought that in the US you don`t have to go threw customs?I mean you get checked but not like you where coming from over seas.

 

[Mr. Slippery]

On that show Airline thats on A $ E or TLC a guy had a fish in a bag and they would not let him on with it. I felt so bad. I"m sure they consider them live animals and that's why they'd give you a hard time. I think it's probably just a way for them to make more money by you having to pay extra charges to have them stowed.

 

[t1771]

I brought a few aneomes home from Florida once..however I didn't tell the airline what it was, i put them into a white foam cooler. If the pet store or whereever packs them in pure oxygen they should be all set.

 

[JBendel]

I brought 20 pounds of live rock as carry on in my garment bag (SFO to Boston) when I moved my tank coast to coast. Security didn't care or didn't notice.

Don't know if you are going into the Bay Area or not, but I saw Greg Hiller's coral advertised at Aquatic Gallery in Milpitas (a nice store), and I understand there is very good hard coral place in San Leandro.

With Coral ... I think carry on is the way to go, ... checked bags can get subjected to cold temperatures.

Regards,

J.B.

 

[Piscevore]

I'm heading out to California in a few weeks and I am going to test the theory with some small sps frags. Wish me luck I'll post my results :0

 

[ScottM]

Don't know if you are going into the Bay Area or not, but I saw Greg Hiller's coral advertised at Aquatic Gallery in Milpitas (a nice store)

greg hiller coral at a west coast store?

 

[mrw64]

Carry-on

I have brought frags back in a small cooler from Dallas and Portland , OR as a carry-on. Didn't even mention anything and no problem with security.

 

[JBendel]

Scott,

I 'm sure Greg can give the details, but in Aquatic Gallery in Milpitas ... in one of the tanks ... there was a sign that said "Greg Hiller Cultured Corals" ... or something to that effect ... about a dozen SPS's.

There's another guy in Milpitas or North San Jose that sells out of his house that sells Greg's stuff. (at least if it's the same guy I think he is)

http://www.exoticreefs.us/er_frags.htm

 

[Rays]

I work for the TSA, people bring parrots, cats, and small dogs through as carry on luggage, it is not an issue with the TSA. The less said to the airlines the better.

 

[Cliff Tishler]

Usually if there is an issue it is with the Department of Agriculture and not so much the airlines. Since you're not going through customs it's probably not a real issue.