Traveling with frags?

ndz98 · Feb 15, 2016

Mark3 said:
Great, it sounds like all must of worked out OK then.

We'll see. Still have to get bag from baggage claim and drive an hour before I get it to the tank.

Triggreef · Feb 15, 2016

This makes me think of when I was a kid I brought back some of those Florida anole lizards in a jar on the plane. Things were different back then I guess. Lol.

What about a plastic cooler?

ndz98 · Feb 15, 2016

Triggreef said:
This makes me think of when I was a kid I brought back some of those Florida anole lizards in a jar on the plane. Things were different back then I guess. Lol.

What about a plastic cooler?

Lizards in jar. Now that's gotta be something to see on a plane haha. I thought a plastic cooler might have been a little overkill for one frag and I didn't want to have to spend another 15 bucks on a plastic cooler. Also didn't have enough room in the bag.

ithk21620 · Feb 15, 2016

I travel for a living and bring coral back from my trips all the time. There are multiple ways to do it but some of the best I have found are...

Large or multiple items: ask the LFS if they have a box that the corals were shipped to them in, most stores keep these and will either give them to you or sell for cheap. These will be styrofoam boxes within a cardboard box. Fill it with what you want and add a heat pack if you want but for coral I don't normally add one. I typically have them bag the corals without extra air in the bag and also double bag it (closed bag inside another bag so it has two seals). Seal the box and mark it fragile, add contact info incase sticker falls off (name and phone #, never put your home address on luggage!!). Don't mark it "Live Animals" or anything like that because some airlines won't take a box that is marked as such. TSA doesn't care one way or the other but the airline may not except it. I found this out the hard way once after spending $300 or so on frags but that was the only time in 6+ years of doing this that I lost something.

Smaller items: I bought a coffee thermos from WM in the sporting section that had a large mouth. I would then just add the bags of frags to the inside and then put it in checked bag. TSA will check your bag but they typically just check the thermos and then put everything back. I have never lost anything due to TSA.

The best way I have found to bring frags home: **This will work for most corals since they produce a slime coat but I probably wouldn't take the chance with that $500 frag**. I get some paper towel or napkins from the hotel or store and pour the water from the bag onto the paper towel so it's soaked. Then wrap the damp paper towel around the frag and put it back into the bag. Make sure you don't have extra water in the bag. Then you can just bring your frag with you in your carry on bag. This works really well for Zoa's / Palys / Acans and such but I have done it with sps as well without issues. I have never lost a frag doing it this way. I typically wrap them in the paper towel as close to leaving for the airport as I can to minimize the amount of time out of water.

I will see if I can find the article that I read about this method and the study that was done. That is where I originally got the idea and it's actually the only way I bring things back now unless I have a whole box full.

ithk21620 · Feb 15, 2016

Here is the article I talked about
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-11/eb/index.php

ndz98 · Feb 16, 2016

ithk21620 said:
Here is the article I talked about
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-11/eb/index.php

Thank you! I'll be sure to read it. Sounds very interesting.

Pete polyp · Feb 16, 2016

ithk21620 said:
Here is the article I talked about
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-11/eb/index.php

I was gonna say it was borneman, but you found it.

tomfoolery · Feb 16, 2016

Safest way I think would be in a cardboard box / styrofoam like the other guy said and mark it "live animals" and which side is up. And ask the shop you buy from how do they ship the bags, with less air or not.

I work on the ramp loading baggage at Orlando MCO, we will take care of live animals carefully but unmarked and in a bag it's going to get tossed around pretty rough. People send those plastic storage totes through all the time and we generally keep those right side up and they slide well so they don't get thrown, or luggage with 4 wheels. Just some ideas.

On a side note a monkey got out of its cage once and fought a guy in the bin of the plane. He had to knock it out. (Monkey survived and lived a long prosperous life)

AndrewNC · Feb 16, 2016

Let me know how it goes as I goto Florida every month

Reefrookie220 · Feb 16, 2016

I lol'd

tomfoolery said:
On a side note a monkey got out of its cage once and fought a guy in the bin of the plane. He had to knock it out. (Monkey survived and lived a long prosperous life)

TheEngineer · Feb 16, 2016

This is a great discussion topic. I'm always travelling for work and I like to stop in on local shops when I have time. I might try buying some inexpensive frags on my trip to Fort Worth next week and bring them home in wet paper towels to see how they do.

WVReefJunkie · Feb 16, 2016

TSA is not who you have to worry about, the airline company is the one that will give you the problems. I was able to get corals through, but had to throw away a harlquin and common wrasse in the trash. This is also in Florida. I wouldnt risk it.

AndrewNC · Feb 16, 2016

WVReefJunkie said:
TSA is not who you have to worry about, the airline company is the one that will give you the problems. I was able to get corals through, but had to throw away a harlquin and common wrasse in the trash. This is also in Florida. I wouldnt risk it.

That sucks

ithk21620 · Feb 16, 2016

WVReefJunkie said:
TSA is not who you have to worry about, the airline company is the one that will give you the problems. I was able to get corals through, but had to throw away a harlquin and common wrasse in the trash. This is also in Florida. I wouldnt risk it.

Very true, that's why I said above to NOT mark you package "Live Animals" because some airlines won't allow it. If you just Mark your package fragile and what way is up you shouldn't have an issue.

For future reference, if you want to bring fish back you can take them right through security. You will have to take the bags out so they can examine them and see that the fish is alive. They will also test the package for explosives typically but that's just a swab of the box that they put into a machine. This doesn't work for corals since it's hard to prove they are "alive" so they fall victim to the 3-1-1 rule for liquids.

https://apps.tsa.dhs.gov/mytsa/cib_results.aspx?search=live fish

briancarterkc · Feb 16, 2016

FWIW...I started my tank with Tampa Bay Saltwater and they ship their rock and sand bagged in water, and marked "live tropical fish." When they ship, it comes airline freight. So, mine came on a Southwest flight, stowed right next to the luggage. You get the flight number and connections, just like it was a person flying (cost about that much, too). So, as long as you arrive at the airport early, you can probably make it work.