Question about online order?

I ordered an online order from Reefs2Go on Sunday. It shipped out Tuesday and was supposed to be here yesterday. Some how the shipment was shipped priority and won't be here till tomorrow. Should I put the livestock in the tank or will everything be sick and dying? We order about 70 snails and crabs, a feather duster, yellow star polyps, 100 Amphipods and copepods, and brittle starfish. Wanted to hear everyones opinions on what we should do!!

Sounds to me like another person with a HUGE credit to Reefs2Go.

My personal opinion (and I qualify that with I don't have a ton of real life experience)....crabs, snails, and pods will likely mostly survive if they didn't get too cold. Star polyps can survive just about anything it seems like....just ask the ones in MY tank. lol. Feather Duster and Brittle star I don't know how hardy they are.

After the temperature thing, I would think the biggest thing is going to be the ammonia build up in those bags. If they packed them like Gabe says with hardly any water and small bags....could mean trouble. If they somehow changed the shipping policies and they are in larger bags with more water (and they didn't freeze) they may have a fighting chance.

I would definitely find a way to quarantine everything rather than risk crashing a display tank if everything dies. Don't know that you'd want to do it with the feather duster and the pods, but seems like you could put everything else in some tank water in a bucket and see what moves and what doesn't and go from there.

That's my thoughts....interested to hear what someone with more experience says though.

There are lots of places that use priority mail for inverts that can tolerate the extra day of shipping. They should charge you about $10-$15 less though for the priority, usually about $20 instead of $30-$35. Check out this web site, http://sealifeinc.net/catalog/index.php?cPath=29 They have more detail about the livestock that they are able to send priority instead of over night. The ones with the snail next to the price are eligible for priority shipping. It is reefs2go though so no telling what you will end up with. Good luck and let us know how it works out.

Edit: I would acclimate everything as usual and add the live ones to your tank and remove anything that didn't survive as needed. I don't think anything you listed will foul up your tank unless you have a whole mass death.

I agree with Ritter. Business as usual unless they show signs of impending death. Don't forget, most of the corals they sell are shipped overseas and spend many days in in containers and go through many different temperature changes before they arrive at the distributor.

A note on corals:
Last summer I picked up a couple of frags in Dallas and then went afterward to do a little shopping. I took a cooler with a thermometer to keep an eye on the temperature. We came out of the mall and I checked on the corals and the temperature was well over 100 degrees. We managed to get the temperature down before we went into the next store. Once again, we came out and the temperature was over 100 degrees. We got them cooled down and then spent the night in Forney before returning home the next day. All of those high dollar corals were as healthy as normal when we arrived home. Corals are a little more hardy than what we give them credit for.

ive had 3 orders with them. the first one i spent 168 dollars and out of all that the only thing that was alive on arrival was 2 green chromis and a blue damsel and an emerald crab, all of which i could have easily gotten for less than 20 dollars.

the other had some deadloss again.


the third i actually got some corals from them, and the frags were TINY TINY.

i wouldnt do buisness with them again.


there is a reason their better business bureau rating is an F... thats all im sayin.

So now that I know Reefs2Go is a pain in the booty where does everyone place there online orders from?

It has been hit or miss for us on Reefs2Go. The bigger fish are usually ok but their smaller fish are horrible. Nice size zoa frags but very plain colors.

http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/index.asp
http://www.saltwaterfish.com/

www.liveaquaria.com is another.

BigBlue wrote:It has been hit or miss for us on Reefs2Go. The bigger fish are usually ok but their smaller fish are horrible. Nice size zoa frags but very plain colors.

http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/index.asp
http://www.saltwaterfish.com/

lol i have 4 different zoa's from reefs to go. i was supposed to have 4 different kinds, i got 3 frags of the same thing, and one different when my order arrived! and all frags were tiny!

Yuma wrote:www.liveaquaria.com is another.

+ 1,000,000.

To be safe , make your orders so they arrive when the temps are stable (like the last few weeks of April or the first few weeks of November). You do live in Texas, ya know ?

Liveaquaria is my favorite. Always well packed in large bags. I've never had any trouble with them ordering any time of year. They heat pack it when it's cold and cool pack it when it's hot.

AquaC Remora Hang-On Protein Skimmer w/ Drain Fitting + Maxi-Jet 1200 Pump
i bought that off marinedepot today hope it works out for me

@ Southernmost:
The dead stuff like equipment is easy! Its anything with fins or the creepy crawlies that you have to be particular with! But I supposed it is just part of it if you are serious about finding unique fish or untainted strains of some fish.

There are a few long threads about Reefs2go in the vendor feedback section on Reefcentral.com. Doesn't seem like very many people are happy with them. There was one post that said they ordered 3 tangs and received 3 different tangs and when they contacted R2G they told the person that they should be happy they received 3 fish. I have not had any order I placed with them even remotely work out.

Ok the order arrived Friday Evening. The yellow star polyps that were buy 1 get 1 free, I guess that means heads (we got on rock with 2 heads for $30). I Brittle Star arrived and seems ok the other DOA. Snails and Crabs for the majority are ok. The rest of the order could not be shipped at this time because they did not meet reefs 2 go standards. Explain to me how out of the other 4 items order only one of those things were alive. How does salt and reefbuilder not meet standards? Also we were supposed to receive an email on Friday from what we were told about items not shipped and a credit or reimbursement have not received it. NEVER AGAIN- Anyone want some credit for Reefs 2 Go? If I ever get it.

Talk to Ritter....I think he still has a few credits.

Has anyone ever order from a place called Vivid Aquariums based out of California? My husband has somehow found their website and wants to order everything! I have never heard of them or even seen them mentioned on any forum around here. Yeah the pictures look great, but after Reefs 2 Go I am a little scared. Why was I blessed with a wonderful man that loves shopping more then me? (Granted it is for fish, tools, and big boy toys, but those are expensive)

I've never ordered from them. I've used Liveaquaria.com, reeftopia.com and sealifeinc.net that I can think of off the top of my head and had good experiences with all 3. I get my supplies from marinedepot.com. There is a vendor feedback forum on reefcentral.com you can search for vidid aquariums and see what comes up.

Thanks ritter! Will do.

I know Dan has ordered from bluezooaquatics.com too, and has spoken very highly of them. Might check them out as well.

Yuma wrote:I know Dan has ordered from bluezooaquatics.com too, and has spoken very highly of them. Might check them out as well.

That's who I was forgetting. I've got a nice order from them too.