Vegas
 

I think I'm flying to Vegas in January sometime. This question's probably been asked a million times but am I able to bring any corals back with me? If so, what do I need to do so?

Short answer... no.

Nothing that is CITES protected (i.e. hard corals). Maybe soft corals though?

The actual answer is yes and no, you are allowed to take corals that are frags and such, as in aquaculture but how you prove it is home grown and not ocean grown can be diffucult.

What if I got a letter from the store I purchased it from? I'd only be interested in frags anyways. If I could find a way to prove they were from a store instead of the ocean, could I still take home sps or just soft corals still?

No on the frags, I enquired with the US department of Fish and Wildlife and they are not considered capitive bred, you need a CITES rexport permit for any piece of hard coral (LPS or SPS) frag or not. However, I do believe that you can bring back anything not listed in CITES. You may want to inquire with Canada Customs about crossing the border with non-CITES livestock though.

Rick James is correct 100%.

I'm sure people bring back frags but they are taking a risk in doing so.

I was pretty sure anything aquacultured was ok for movement over the border.Ive heard stories about people haveing a letter and picutre of the mother coral in captivy and being alowed across the border without much hasle. But maybe they are just stories.

re corals in vegas
 

Just came back tonite from vegas. Some things are cheaper there and many others things are cheaper ( 1/2 the price) here in Vancouver. Visited Atlantis and Trop Aquarium. Other places had mostly fresh water and very little if any marine stuff. Great selection of tanks and cabinets at Trop Aquarium on Tropicana Ave. Had some nice stuff but alot of it I can get cheaper local. They do not have a large variety but certainly some things different that I haven't seen here. Most of the places are 3 to 10 miles off the strip.

Doug