USA coral companies that ship to Canada ?

[Tyson]

Hey everyone is there any coral companies that ship to Canada live goods?
it's just heart breaking to see all the "cherry corals" they have down there and not getting my hands on any.

what's a good alternate.

[Aquattro]

No, you'd need a CITES permit, and it's just to much hassle for retail.

[fencer]

The exporter must have a CITES not the importer

[Veng68]

This is just like Americans missing out on Cherry stuff that Japanese & Europeans get the we never see.

It does not make sense for US retailers to try to sell corals to Canadian customers. Too much hassle with paperwork and even if you did get one to do the paper work...... I think cites costs like $200 (or something like that) per shipment.

Cheers,
Vic [veng68]

[Tyson]

can you drive down and get some? what's that like comeing over the border on your own.

[Veng68]

can you drive down and get some? what's that like comeing over the border on your own.

I wouldn't try it.

Not only is it illegal (unless you have the paperwork) but the border guards are not trained to inspect the corals. These corals must go to a major port of entry for inspection...... most likely Calgary Airport.

You have to get it shipped to the border (who knows how long that will be) and then you have to get down to the US (4-5 hours from Calgary)....... then you hope that the shipment is on time for you to pick up. If everything does not sink....... you may be in for a box of death because they have been in the box for 30+ hours before you can get them home (if you get across the border).

Also if you get caught at the border....... impound car........ corals go to some public aquarium (or die because they don't know what to do with them)..... and a fine of some sort.

Cheers,
Vic [veng68]

[Veng68]

The exporter must have a CITES not the importer

I think he ment that importer must have the paper work from the exporter.

Cheers,
Vic [veng68]

[Tyson]

that's a whole lot of no no's, thanks.
what's a good canadian coral retailer?.

[fkshiu]

Check Canreef's sponsor's section, there are several who are regular contributors to Canreef.

Personally I've ordered from wickedfrags.com and can vouch for both quality and excellent customer service.

[rocketlily]

Also take a look at Snappy's www.coralmaster.com

Great service and great corals.

[Tyson]

thanks guys.

[fencer]

Red Coral has been bringing nice stuff lately.....

[corpusse]

Much of the "rare" "cherry picked" corals in american is first in canada before re-export :)

[Canuckgod420]

I recently purchased a coral and 2 fish from liveaquaria and had them send it to Bellingham where my wife went and picked it up. At the border they asked what she had, she told them, and they asked if it was for retail.....she said no and they sent her on her way.
Didnt seem like much of a hassle.

[fkshiu]

I recently purchased a coral and 2 fish from liveaquaria and had them send it to Bellingham where my wife went and picked it up. At the border they asked what she had, she told them, and they asked if it was for retail.....she said no and they sent her on her way.
Didnt seem like much of a hassle.


The customs inspector made a mistake and you were fortunate. In his head he was probably only thinking about his D&T limit (each port of entry has policy on how much overage they'll let slide by without charging duties & taxes) rather than specific importation restrictions such as CITES. He should have referred you to secondary and called in the AgCan guy for further inspection.

It's a real crap shoot at the border with stuff that inspectors don't normally see. Other than the wide discretion individual inspectors are given there's the simple fact that it's hard to be aware of every importation restriction on every item that is declared. Sometimes you'll get through no problem, sometimes you won't.

Back in the 90s when I worked at YVR there were many times that I had to refer stuff back to secondary because I just didn't know what to do with it. And this is only when I had the luxury of a short line-up. When it was really busy our priority was simply to clear the terminal ASAP and anything other than drugs/terrorists was just booted out.

[fencer]

When I did shipping most of the CITES stuff was cleared out of LA. I did have some sea weed impounded by Customs in Canada. They thought it would be an environmental hazard causing growth in the lake if it got loose. I tried to explain it was marine. But it took a Supervisor at Ag Can to release the shipment with apologies, I got the shipment 2 day late and kentuky fried.

[Tyson]

are CITES just for each shipment or can you have one for a year for one thing like fish ect..?

[Aquattro]

are CITES just for each shipment or can you have one for a year for one thing like fish ect..?

per items shipped

[Tyson]

has anyone noticed how much they rack up shipping cost on items shipping from the states?

It's how they make there money.

[Aquattro]

Personally, I've never had to order anything from the US, so no.

[Tyson]

[QUOTE=Aquattro;339115]Personally, I've never had to order anything from the US, so no.[/QUOTe

Will i just order a coral/frag tank from an online tank store and shipping was $110 just for reg UPS ground from Tennessee to Calgary. And they will not let you use your own UPS acct to ship.

[Veng68]

has anyone noticed how much they rack up shipping cost on items shipping from the states?

It's how they make there money.
Once you cross the border....... that's international shipping.

Since they are using UPS be prepared for $35 brokerage fees not to mention the 7% GST tacked on to the value of your order (thanks revenue canada).

Cheers,
Vic [veng68]

[Tyson]

Don't try and get anything from the states right now the exchange rate jump like 4-5cents.