Bringing back marine fishes bought during holiday !

[CookieCrunch]

Hi all experienced reefers !

I have a question that needs your input and experience .

If I would to go on a holiday and found some fishes that I am interested in having in my tank, what are the procedure to bring them back ? If I were to handcarry them, must they be packed in like special boxes for customs ? Do I have to go through the part where I have things to declare ?

Please share your full experience and details on how do I bring them back ! Thank you !

P.S. I'll be going to phuket, any recommendations on marine stores ? Where I could purchase fishes ! Thanks !

[tang_sohal]

Straightfoward. You cant hand carry them as you cant bring more them 100ml onboard plane.

[tang_sohal]

You may want to read up on this link under live fish. http://www.ava.gov.sg/Legislation/ListOfLegislation/index.htm#animals

[SubzeroLT]

You can bring in non-CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) species without a permit. http://www.cites.org/eng/disc/species.php

I understand that CITES species & bringing in larger quantities need a permit, which i'm not familiar with.

This is what I know for bringing things in without permit. i.e. (non-CITES species & without permit)

- Fish. Max 30 pieces packed in not more than 3 litres of water per person per trip

- Corals & invertebrates. 5 pieces of not more than 5kg in total weight per person per trip

Best to pack in a Styrofoam box & checked in (no hand carry). Sealed with tape & big clear red sign that says " FRAGILE!!. LIVE FISH"

Using a separate box instead of putting in your luggage reduces the risk of it being thrown around & mis-handled.

If you are within the above AVA guidelines, no need to declare at the customs area.

[CookieCrunch]

Alright ! Thanks guys ! appreciate your replies !

[calvin f.h]

I think best is pack into lugguage and cargo into flight.. My point of view is if u put live fish they might not let u check in and u might have problem boarding flight. Yes, ava allow some marine fish (check with ava on fish spices if it is control fishes) into singapore.

But thailand might not allow live fishes into the flight. So pack into lugguage and cargo in. No point put fragile, from my experiences they still throw. When u reach red channel is good is declare that u have live fish showing email from ava to them that it is allow under ava rule into singapore

my wife use to bring fishes in for me when she go for trip. She said that.

[CookieCrunch]

I think best is pack into lugguage and cargo into flight.. My point of view is if u put live fish they might not let u check in and u might have problem boarding flight. Yes, ava allow some marine fish (check with ava on fish spices if it is control fishes) into singapore.

But thailand might not allow live fishes into the flight. So pack into lugguage and cargo in. No point put fragile, from my experiences they still throw. When u reach red channel is good is declare that u have live fish showing email from ava to them that it is allow under ava rule into singapore

my wife use to bring fishes in for me when she go for trip. She said that.

Alright . Thanks for the advise !

[calvin f.h]

Bro No problem

[noboni85]

I bring b4 live fish from Bangkok but they wont let me bring in the live fish.. sad..

[oceania]

Via flight is tough. Only way is to luggage. Shld you be back on water tpt, though rarely, fish farm guy once told me you need about 7L per big fish. Soft corals can be brought in but not LPS or SPS.

[Snoopyhamburger]

Straightfoward. You cant hand carry them as you cant bring more them 100ml onboard plane.

Dude how are people gunna bring the bag back?

The oxygen only lasts 8 hours ._.

[calvin f.h]

My wife get the fish shop people to pack the fish in a small bag, a small bag even in the lugguage whichever position the fish is still on the water. Advisable to collect the fish before u fly. The fish shop person will pack the fish for her in a box cover with sponge so the fish dont roll abt in the box. The oxyen is enough at least 12 hr for the fish. It depend on the fish itself too, if fish is timid might die. As for mine, so far nv die but my fish look dizzy (stone stone) hahaha.. if the fish shop person is experience enough yr fish will safetly land singapore

[solasido]

Bringing in fish/coral to SG rule on AVA is just one side of the coin ie. from SG gov side.

Still got to check originating country fish/coral export rule.

E.g. If bring fish out from Indonesia, need to get a quarantine pass letter first that cost about US$30 or so else the flight cannot bring out from the country.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[pcw]

I've brought fishes from Bangkok and from taiwan. All small livestock though. Just put inside a small mineral water bottle, insulate with Styrofoam and pack inside check-in luggage

[CookieCrunch]

Wouldn't it keep shaking in the bottle ??

[LittleBurger]

The only issue would be temperature. It's cold up there.

Best is to pack in styrofoam box. Sometimes it depends yr livestock is hardy to survive the ride.

I tried before taiwan to singapore twice, abt 6hrs flight

1 occasion packed on morning of departure, only 1 red scooter mandarin didn't survive.

1 occasion is pre packed the nite before, 3sps, 2 kaput.

[pcw]

Probably depends on the livestock I guess. But don't fishes get pushed around quite a bit by the current in their natural environment? It is a must to insulate or else confirm too cold. If you're using a bottle, must make sure that you don't fill all the way to the brim and squeeze the bottle a little before closing it up. The pressure is lower at higher altitudes and not doing that could potentially rupture the bottle. Left with frozen fish like that haha