Livestock Ordering Question from tampbaysaltwater.com

[Eb0la11]

Hey guys, Im thinking about buying some live rock and live sand from Tampabaysaltwater.com and am wondering if anyone has experience with them?

I am planning on getting probably 30 lbs of live sand and then 30 lbs to max of 50 lbs of live rock.

The website says this would take 3 to 4 "boxes" and there is an 8 dollar charge per box.

So I'm looking at around $230 for the order. Now this is USD so closer to 280 is what Im expecting it to come to.

So what I want to know is what can I expect to pay for shipping and handeling and are there any other fees associated with the order? Lastly, is it best to just pick up the box at the airport or should I get it delivered right to my house? (Im not sure if right to my house is an option)

[marie]

I could be wrong but I believe they no longer ship to Canada

[KennyKen]

well if it works out to be cheaper than $6/lb i would be interested in 100lbs....if we get a better deal?

[Eb0la11]

I could be wrong but I believe they no longer ship to Canada

I feel like their website has changed since the last time Ive visited it and yet their shipping choices still includes Canadian provinces. So I think they still do ship to Canada but I could be wrong.

[fkshiu]

untamed's tank is full of TBS rock but he had his shipped to Washington State and dealt with customs on his own.

[lastlight]

In his thread for the new dry rock he mentions that it is still possible somehow for Canadians to get his rock. Check there and ask him directly.

[howdy20012002]

you have to have CITES to bring in LR.
there are fairly hefty costs involved (few hundred bucks)
I would be surprises if they did ship without CITES.
and even if they do, it could still be stopped by Canadian Customs.
just a heads up
Neal

just noticed this on the website on the shipping page

International Shipments

We are no longer shipping internationally, as the permitting process can take more than six months and the costs have become prohibitive.

[Leah]

I would look into buying locally or even J&L less headache and have it sent by bus and
always try to pick stuff up in person, if its an option less time for it to sit and wait or get lost. Borders are not fun to deal with, IMO. Good luck!! Let us know how it turns out.

[Myka]

I could be wrong but I believe they no longer ship to Canada

I think they quit shipping to Canada a few years ago.

PS I will ship you some of my live rock. I have about 100 lbs for sale. ;) I'm sure you can find some locally though.

[Eb0la11]

Dangit, I just want some straight out of the ocean. I have a good portion of LR/BR already to start my system, maybe 3/5 of what I need and this was going to seed what I have already so I got some cool stuff in my tank. Hmmmm I might investigate more. Thanks guys.

[fkshiu]

Talk to untamed. He'll let you know all you need since he actually got a bunch of TBS across the border legally.

[lastlight]

From my post on RC:

quote:Originally posted by lastlight
Can you ship dry rock to Canada?



Sure can, this rock has it's own special US Customs description as the rock was submitted to them, analyzed and classified by the US Government.

This is not considered coral, as ALL other rock is that is in the Industry. So very easy to ship without any customs, or US Fish and Wildlife permit.

Also I have shipped aquacultured rock to Canada, VIA a US airport many times.
Nobody has ever encountered any problems at the border, just declare it, pay some tax as the Canadians have there own designation for cultured rock. It is taxed and recognized as 'limestone' by them. Ask here in RC there are a few of your countrymen who have done it.

Richard TBS

[Eb0la11]

So the process would be to ship it near the border, go pick it up and drive it back? That's doable, but is it possible to just ship it straight to Calgary's airport?

[lastlight]

I think you'd have to go with your first option there.

Be prepared for a ton of cool things and maybe some things that you might not want. That rock is off the hook in both directions lol.

[Myka]

Sure can, this rock has it's own special US Customs description as the rock was submitted to them, analyzed and classified by the US Government.

This is not considered coral, as ALL other rock is that is in the Industry. So very easy to ship without any customs, or US Fish and Wildlife permit.

Also I have shipped aquacultured rock to Canada, VIA a US airport many times.
Nobody has ever encountered any problems at the border, just declare it, pay some tax as the Canadians have there own designation for cultured rock. It is taxed and recognized as 'limestone' by them. Ask here in RC there are a few of your countrymen who have done it.

Richard TBS

Hey that's pretty cool. Sounds like they can ship it right to the Canadian airport. As long as you make sure they don't use a courier you won't get brokerage charges, so you should just get the 5% GST at the border. I wonder if that's the case, or if there actually are some type of "brokerage" type fees or something. Very interesting.

On another point, you say you want rock directly from the ocean? I think you're nuts! :p Sure you might get some cool hitch hikers, but you also usually get bad hitch hikers. IMO, for the cost of it, I'd rather just buy good old cured rock from another reefer. :D

[marie]

...

On another point, you say you want rock directly from the ocean? I think you're nuts! :p Sure you might get some cool hitch hikers, but you also usually get bad hitch hikers. IMO, for the cost of it, I'd rather just buy good old cured rock from another reefer. :D

There is no such thing as bad hitchhikers :razz: . I like just about anything that comes in...except for majanos

[Eb0la11]

Yeah, Im a newbie reefer so I want to experience some of the bad things for my self. Worst case scenario I buy a new 40 dollar fish and it gets killed by some mantis reef that I eventually would need to figure out how to get out of my tank lol

[Myka]

Or a whole myriad algae species, or eunicid worms (they are usually caught by previous reefers when you buy "used" rock), predacious crabs, or weird stuff we don't even know what it is but it's bad, or aiptasia, or majanos, or hydroids. Or, or, or. If course a lot of this stuff, well all of it really, could be found in "used" rock too, but at least you get to look at the rock first and see for yourself whether there are pests. The reefer would know if there were predatory critters in the rock if they've had it for a few years.

Plus "used" rock is cheaper.

I will never bother myself with buying uncured, FOB (fresh off the boat haha) rock again. Pain in the @$$.

I used to have an obsession about trying the TBS rock too. It was really going to cost a lot once it arrived and all bills were paid. I'm glad I didn't do it, but I still wonder a bit. In the end though...I don't like hitch hikers. I want a tank full of corals so that you don't even see the rock. All I want the rock to do is make pretty shapes and process the nitrate.

Ok, this sounds like I'm getting all worked up over it. I'm actually kinda laughing right now...anyway I don't actually care what you decide to do, but if you're like me and money isn't an overly abundant source, I wouldn't spend that much on it! If you do though, be sure to report back with pictures!!! :D

There is no such thing as bad hitchhikers :razz: . I like just about anything that comes in...except for majanos

You just went to the "Insane" category of my CanReef Personality Filing System. Hey, better than some of the other categories!! ;)

[marie]

...



You just went to the "Insane" category of my CanReef Personality Filing System. Hey, better than some of the other categories!! ;)

:lol: , My husband placed me in the same category. He thought I had truly lost it when I was trying to train my clown fish not to eat a little mantis shrimp that I found in a shipment of live rock. :lol:

*edit*I also have a sundial snail living in my quarantine tank that I have to find tasty zoos for, I even kept zoanthid eating nudibranches as well for a long time before they just disappeared one day

Oh and I still have the red bugs on my acros :D

[untamed]

It sounds like Richard has made some progress with the CDN government since I purchased my stuff. That is great news for reefs because I am pretty sure that most of the rock we see for sale in Canada has been plucked from a reef somewhere in the world.

Edit: Hmm...it seems that he is just able to ship his dry rock directly to Canada. Live rock still has to be personally carried across the border and I worry that there may still be problems there.

Even three years ago, cross border shipping wasn't possible so I picked the rock up in Seattle. I'm not sure that bringing it across was legal at the time, but I certainly made no attempt to hide what I was doing. I declared it all and they got their taxes.

I do like my aquacultured TBS rock. If you are going for shape and porosity, then it might not be for you....but if you like critters then you can't find anything fresher. I had some problems with ciranolids that I easily defeated. I had 6 mantis and I'm very disappointed that they did not seem to survive more than 1 year in the main display. The mantis that are likely present in TBS rock are not a threat to fish. Hermit crabs should feel afraid.