My first (and perhaps last) Aqua SD order (1 Viewer)

[frankc]

I got this order on Wednesday, and the results were mixed.

The good:
The order was shipped Tuesday afternoon and arrived at 10am Wednesday morning, so definitely happy with the shipping time.
Three of the corals I ordered were as expected.
The primary inspiration for making this order is they seem to be the only ones who sell what they call Symphyllia wilsoni, but Tidal Gardens says they are now called Australophyllia wilsoni. They are really colorful and cool. Unfortunately I have since learned that some of them live in cooler water, so hopefully this one likes warm water.


Another coral I'm trying for the first time is a St. Thomas mushroom.


Also got a nice red shroom.




The bad:
I ordered a Ricordea yuma that looked like this on the website.

But what I actually got was this.


They only offer an "arrive alive" guarantee, and technically this is alive, but it sure is tiny. I know they can shrink down, but in their picture you can't see the frag plug, and I don't believe there is any way this tiny piece could expand to look like the picture without a year or two of growth first. I sent them this picture, but there response was "While we strive to provide accurate representations of our corals, we understand that size variations can occur." C'mon, man, this is a bit of an extreme "size variation". Then they said "As a gesture of goodwill, we'd like to offer you a better deal on your next order as a way to make up for this experience." There was no explanation of what the better deal might be, so I requested clarification. I will update this thread if I hear back.

 

[frankc]

The ugly:
The order came with a lot of "extras".

This sort of looks like a spaghetti worm, but it lacks any tentacles, so I assume it's not and might be a bad thing.


There was also this worm - kind of nice colors, but not sure if it's a fireworm or what.


There was also this sea spider, which looks pretty cool, but I don't know if they're good, bad, or indifferent.


Then there was these, the stuff nightmares are made of. There were three big ones, about 1/8 to 1/4 inch long, and a few small ones, and now a whole bunch of small ones after a few days in a jar. I'm guessing some type of isopod, and assuming I don't want them in my tank.


The website says all corals are thoroughly inspected and quarantined before sale, so I was not expecting all these critters. I wonder if one of them ate most of the yuma during shipping.

 

[Team Turtle]

Spiders are best kept out in my opinion. Some variety are known to eat zoas and other soft, fleshy corals.

 

[frankc]

Spiders are best kept out in my opinion. Some variety are known to eat zoas and other soft, fleshy corals.

Good to know. I wish I knew/could remember which critters came from which bag - if the spider was with the yuma, that could explain why there wasn't much left, although that seems like a lot for that tiny spider to eat in less than 24 hours.

 

[Team Turtle]

Mushrooms can shrivel up pretty tight when agitated. Give it a quick dip and see what happens in a few days

 

[frankc]

I did hear back from them today. They said I could get another yuma at 50% off, or they could send an acan, goni, or alveapora as a replacement. Didn't say if they'd cover shipping, but at least it's something reasonable.

 

[Daniel92481]

Sorry about your experience. I hope they make it right. If you can still see the yuma and it’s not disintegrating or losing tissue then I would give it some time, maybe a week or two.

 

[frankc]

I forgot to add the latest update - the free goni is contingent on making another order. We'll see...

Meanwhile, today I dipped the wilsoni, and in addition to more of the fire worm-looking worms, found this shrimp which I think is carrying eggs. No idea what kind it is, so it's not going in the tank.

 

[Cody]

What are you dipping with? I just recently ordered some Bayer because the couple jugs I have expired. Always good to have on hand in case you need it.

 

[frankc]

What are you dipping with? I just recently ordered some Bayer because the couple jugs I have expired. Always good to have on hand in case you need it.

I'm currently using Seachem Reef Dip, an iodine-based dip.

 

[Cody]

I'm currently using Seachem Reef Dip, an iodine-based dip.

Are you bringing in a lot of new corals these days? How's your tank doing? Any equipment upgrades lately?

 

[frankc]

Are you bringing in a lot of new corals these days? How's your tank doing? Any equipment upgrades lately?

No, these are the first new corals since the plate coral in August. Since that is doing so well, I am very slowly getting back a tiny bit of confidence that maybe I won't kill everything. Still have a few Acros left, but no growth in a long time. The bird's nest and setosa I got from you a few years ago are doing well. The fish are doing well, although I lost my leopard wrasse recently. The equipment is still all the same.

 

[gregg]

@frankc you looking for a wilsoni??

TCK Aquacultured Wilsoni

Bid on this TCK Aquacultured Wilsoni WYSIWYG coral at TCKcorals.com

tckcorals.com

 

[frankc]

@frankc you looking for a wilsoni??

TCK Aquacultured Wilsoni

Bid on this TCK Aquacultured Wilsoni WYSIWYG coral at TCKcorals.com

tckcorals.com

That's pretty cool. I wonder what "aquacultured" means on a wilsoni - I know a few people have managed to sexually propagate a few types of LPS, but I didn't think they were commercially available yet.

 

[BigRick]

That's pretty cool. I wonder what "aquacultured" means on a wilsoni - I know a few people have managed to sexually propagate a few types of LPS, but I didn't think they were commercially available yet.

Frag them, stress it = more babies, or your can opt for the lunar cycle

 

[frankc]

Finally got this guy out. I think he was living in the rock the red mushroom came on. He is about 1/4" wide. Going to assume it's a gorilla crab given the hairy legs, but not sure. Interestingly, the claw tips do not look black now, but the molted exoskeleton I found a few days ago definitely did have black tips.



There was also a Stomatella snail among the hitchhikers, which is fine with me, I'll put him in the big tank one of these days. That's a lot of hitchhikers from just four small corals.

 

[frankc]

Well, they made good on their offer and then some, so I would buy from them again.

I made a second order, including an Alveapora which I then asked them to credit me for. Not only did they credit me for that coral, but they threw in an extra free frag, so I'm pretty happy.

I got a cool lavender Trachy, a very colorful Lobo, and an Acro that looked more colorful in their picture, but that often happens, and my lights are probably not the same as theirs. The one in the middle is the free one - at first I thought it was a Goni, but now I think it's a Blasto.



This order also came with a lot of "extras". In addition to a bunch of various worms and another sea spider, there was a micro brittle star, which unfortunately didn't make it. There was this really strange critter that when I first saw it. was totally closed up and I thought it was a tiny clam of some sort, Then it opened and legs came out and it started walking around.



Then there is this thing, which at first I wasn't sure was a living creature. Then it opened up some, and I sort of pulled it apart and saw what appeared to be gills and other things, and figure it must have been a baby oyster or clam of some sort, and now I wish I had made more effort to keep it alive and see what it would become.



The tiny mushroom from the first order was actually two very tiny mushrooms, but they're doing well and have grown a little.

 

[paraletho]

The thing in the shell with legs is a brachiopod