bring back fish from overseas

[jc85]

Anyone have experience bring in from Hongkong? Any idea if the shops there will pack the fish for us to bring back Singapore.

JC

[mopiko]

hi bro

you going to HK? seems like not many LFS there know how to pack it to bring back to sin. what you can do is do the steps as per what the bros recommend in this thread.

cheers

[iskay]

the shop put the spotfin lionfish in a double-layered plastic bag, and i further place this double-layered plastic bag inside another plastic bag. The lionfish was only 3" then. Now it has grown to 4". Somehow bringing the live fish back home from abroad is a challenge. I also brought back a majestic. Iskay, may I ask what fish you have brought back home ( i am curious )

Hi bro, mentioned in my previous post. Brought in a Helfrichi from HKG. Was so tempted because of the super low prize but was not tip top condition. Didn't ask the LFS whether they can help me pack. As I said, I used a vacuum flask. The fish died a few days later. Not sure why, maybe it was unhealthy to begin with.

If you intend to bring in. It's all at your own risk. If you label as live animal, it'll surely attract attention. If you don't, it might get thrown around by the ground crew.

[BFG]

No harm telling the lfs that you need to pack them for long haul travel.

[MAG]

No harm telling the lfs that you need to pack them for long haul travel.

Hi guys. Well i have seeing/heard feedback from friends that brought back fishes from overseas and i personnaly tried them (hong kong + taipei) and all i can say is dont bother.

It will be too stressful for the fish + us because we got to go to the lfs to buy than most probably back to hotel than to airport before it goes into the plane. Once reach sin we got to collect our bag-pass custom-take taxi-home. Thru out all this process can you imagine the amount of movement in the bag where we put our fishes.

Once reach home than we have to quarantine the fishes-de stress period and if we are lucky than they will survive.(provided you have the qurantine tank ready too)Dont forget we still have to unpack our own bag after tour of duty/holiday.

I would rather pay abit more and buy the fishes in sin.

But for corals is different story. Shall share my experience next time. Just got back from taipei and went to the street where most aquariums located-not so happening compare to hong kong.

Cheers

[alcatraz01]

Hi Bro, I do agree about the process and troublesome and stress to the fish. How I did was

(1) go to the Aquarium shop, bought the fish (2) straight to hotel, put the bag of live fish in luggage to be check-in (3) and immediate to airport ( at Jakarta ). Then it is a challenge, depending on the custom officer ~ if he/she want to let you pass ( so I will buy not more than 2 live fish, as I travel regularly to Indonesia ). Flight is 1.5 hour. I still have the spotfin lionfish and majestic that I brought in from Jakarta.

As for HK, I had brought in live fish only once ( many years ago )and that was before the 100ml liquid in airline was imposed. Cos I wanted to spent my remaining HK$ instead of bringing back the small amount HK$ and the fish is not so expensive. At that time time, I hand-carry the bag of live fish.

Just to share some experience, the thrill of bringing live fish from abroad.

[jc85]

Bro, may I know where in Jakarta is the marine shop? Being to Jakarta many times and nvr know there is any good marine shop.

Cheers

JC

[MAG]

Bro, may I know where in Jakarta is the marine shop? Being to Jakarta many times and nvr know there is any good marine shop.

Cheers

JC

Hi well personally i never being to any lfs in jkt but i was given few streets name eg Jl Dr Muwardi Raya + JlMakaliwe Raya + Jl A M Sangaji + Jl Mahakam + Jl Sumenep(behing Mandarin Hotel)

On the safe side check with hotel 1st before going.

Cheers

[yikai]

if you plan properly, it is possible.

make sure you don't leave too long a gap period between packing at LFS to boarding the plane. if it's a transitioning flight that requires more than 1 flight, i think better not.

maybe after checking out of the hotel, take a cab to the LFS, pack it, and go to the airport straight. don't bring it back after buying. leave it at the shop first.

request for them to pack in more air to water ratio. long flights are ok provided we giv more air and not so much water. alot of water for long flights is a mistake many people make.

next, once at the airport, check in and when reach singapore, check out, bring home and drip acclimate. should be fine.

the fishes we import from LFS suffer way way more than this. capture from ocean, kept in holding facility for days often unfed, long long flight to singapore in very little water, in LFS shop where they go through NO acclimation, then back into our homes. if you frequently unpack fish shipments from philippines shipment, you will see that fishes like six line wrasse, gobies etc are all packed in tiny plastic bags about the size of your palm with very little water. just enough to cover the fish. this is the proper way to pack and not flood it with water. if you want to be safe, go for oversized plastic bag with alot of water. but make sure there is alot of air too. remember. more air to water ratio.

if you buy from LFS in other country, the fish has already been through all this and is already healthy enough to buy and what's a little flight back to singapore?

[jc85]

Just to update. Manage to bring back a few nanofishes from HK, all survived and already feeding pellets. The shop packed them into a stylofoam box for me.

Cheers

JC