This may be incredibly dumb?

radiolotek

radiolotek

Member
I have what might be a stupid question but I have no idea of the answer. Please don't chew my head off but I am new to this stuff. People order live sand and have it shipped to their house and I had an idea(my friend actually). Need opinions. What if we just went down to the beach ourselves, swam off-shore(we're dive certified)and scooped our own sand from the ocean bottom. Not the oil soaked stuff by LA but by Valeho(?) where Marine World is or down by Monterey Bay? Does the sand need to be specialized or sifted and such? Like I said I have no idea the thought of getting this stuff ourselves sounds like a blast. I have always had freshwater tanks so help would be great.
 
cayman isl

cayman isl

Member
Probably not good critters in it off the coast for a marine tank. Remember the temperature is much lower in the California waters so those critters may not survive the higher temp. And as mentioned, probably lots of junk and pollution.
I was in Cayman in August and scooped up a half gallon jug full of really nice sand and brought it back for my tank. Not sure if I got any cool critters out of it, but the sand sure is nice!
...*note* - U.S. Customs need not know of this!!
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
...*note* - U.S. Customs need not know of this!!
Dare I ask how you got it thru the airport? LOL
 
scoobydoo

scoobydoo

Active Member
I've heard you must be at least 5 miles offshore to avoid pollutents. Let me know how you did it. I'm going to Aruba in April and am trying to figure out how to get stuff back if its possible.
 
cowfishrule

cowfishrule

Active Member

Originally posted by Beth
Dare I ask how you got it thru the airport? LOL
i got sand back from bermuda w/o customs finding it
its not that hard (god knows what else is getting through customs)
 
cayman isl

cayman isl

Member
It was packed down inside my snorkel bag. They take one look at that mess and waive it right thru!!
The customs form asks if you are bringing back any "snails" ! To my knowledge, there wasn't any of those in there!
They don't ask about "sand"! If they would have said anything I would have just told them to throw it out..... (But then they might have found the 2 pieces of rock I had. very nice coraline growth)
...shhhhhhhh
 
scoobydoo

scoobydoo

Active Member
Last year, coming back from Jamaica, security opens EVERY suitcase and rummages through your dirty clothes. Of course, there is sand everywhere and security was joking about us stealing their sand, BUT it would probably be different if it was actually in a container.
 
cayman isl

cayman isl

Member
They won't punish you, they will just take it away.
You can just play dumb and tell them you didn't know it was restricted. Tell them you saw little glass containers of "authentic Caribbean sand" in the gift shops so assumed it was OK.
I wouldn't try to bring back any livestock though, and as mentioned earlier, no snails!
 
cayman isl

cayman isl

Member

Originally posted by gasguzzler
I know its 2 years in Mexico. Just looked it up. Going to Cozumel tomorrow!
Two years in Jail!!
Wow!
...for taking sand from Mexico? I was in Puerto Vallarta last July and brought back some shells, no sand though! Good thing i didn't if it gets me 2 years in jail!
 
cowfishrule

cowfishrule

Active Member

Originally posted by gasguzzler
I know its 2 years in Mexico. Just looked it up. Going to Cozumel tomorrow!

Billy, have you ever been to a Turkish prison?
 
radiolotek

radiolotek

Member
What about beach sand? Can that be used for a nice looking bace layer for a tank if it is rinsed and cleaned good? Up here in Reno we have Lake Tahoe (The cleanest and clearest lake in the US) and there is some nice lookin sand on them there beaches. :) . I wonder if that would be ok
 
effloresce

effloresce

Member
no beach sand, the beach is the oceans skimmer, all the sun tan lotion, oils, ammonia, and other crap get on the beach sand....
I had snuck back zoos, montis, snails, stars, and crabs from cozumel, put it in my pants when i went trough customs, then into carryon, then pants when we were going through checks in chicago.....easy as pie!
 
jimmy g

jimmy g

Member
I took about 15 LBS of LS from mexico and they say the bag and didnt do anything, just let me though.
At the time i didnt know it was illegal.
 
radiolotek

radiolotek

Member
I meant from a lake not the ocean and not beach persay but nice sand from a local very clean lake. I was implying diving off-shore at the lake and getting some good lookin sand for a base in my new tank. If I wash it good would it be ok to use? Not to sound cheap but I wanna have fun with this. If I should just order a bunch of live sand I will but if I can get some myself especialy if it looks different then I want to to have fun while I am setting up my new tank.
 
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