I've read some nightmarish stories about AquaSD on here, mixed in with some positive ones. And with the recent sales, I decided to try my luck as they were pretty local meaning I had cheaper (and safer) shipping options, which were a good chunk of the complaints people had, and I saw some good pieces on the site.
I had to separate orders, a second one about two weeks after the first since I had a pretty positive experience with the first. I will break it down into the Good, the Mixed and the Bad.
The Good
Honestly, most things were on the "good" side of things.
First and foremost, their prices are very reasonable; but this is with the understood expectations that a lot of these corals are collected from the wild, and often fragged from larger colonies with not too long of a time to heal. I believe they make the distinction of some corals that were tank raised with the "aquacultured" tag which is appreciated. As long as you set that as your expectation, you probably will not be disappointed especially with the selection and prices.
I did read some bad reviews about the frags being infested with pests, so I made sure to avoid SPS and Zoas (which are the ones that typically carry the most pests), and made sure to dip all my corals. I have not had any pests hitchhike on my LPS as a result, but LPS rarely carry pests in general so your mileage may vary with other corals.
The customer service was spot on as well, as they were reasonably fast with replies, and included freebie corals with both my purchase. One was a zoa I was VERY careful with dipping and scrubbing, and another an Acan Echinata i think which were both not amazing pieces, but I'm sure would color up well.
A bonus point for the customer service was the fact that they messed up with one of my coral order, where the hammer I ordered was not inventory for whatever reason, and they offered to replace it before the order shipped out. They were generous enough to allow me to pick a frag that was just around $10 more expensive since I could not get the exact specimen I ordered. A not unreasonable request from me, but kudos on them for honoring it without any second word.
The Mixed
I think depending on the point of view, some others might put these into the "bad" category but I do understand some of these business decisions and I know what I pay for so these are "mixed" for me.
First and foremost, the names and pictures on the site.
The names are just random buzzwords attached to random corals to generate clicks and buys, and not even industry standard names at that. But I understand because that is how they get to sell these coral, and often times these are not aquacultured so you really can't claim that a coral is the one that is going around the hobby as they were most likely collected from the wild.
A bit more problematic are the pictures on the website, which I assume are a bit altered, which is a whole ethics question on its own. But with the sheer volume of corals that they have, I know they can't have multiple pictures of all coral in different lighting. One of my hammers look a bit off from the picture provided, but I am hoping it will color up in time.
The last thing is the packaging. The box itself and the temperature control I have little issue about, but I do think their way of bagging is inferior to other vendors that use things like pill bottles, as they are less susceptible to leaks. I did notice a bit of a leak with the first shipment, and with the second, the plastic collar around the plug of the euphyllia came off which came with a bit of flesh damage with the sharp skeleton. But overall not the worst.
Just as an addendum, one of the gonioporas is looking a bit shriveled and weak but I chalk it up to it being a wild colony that was fragged not too long before the shipment. That is definitely a bit or a red flag, but to be expected for the price and business model.
The Bad
Honestly, I haven't had anything bad with my experience with AquaSD.
Maybe the fact that they missed the mark with one of my coral not being available, but they made it up to me even before the shipment, so I can mark it as a good.
Conclusion
In the end, I am satifised with my experience with AquaSD and will definitely order more when the opportunity arises.
I had to separate orders, a second one about two weeks after the first since I had a pretty positive experience with the first. I will break it down into the Good, the Mixed and the Bad.
The Good
Honestly, most things were on the "good" side of things.
First and foremost, their prices are very reasonable; but this is with the understood expectations that a lot of these corals are collected from the wild, and often fragged from larger colonies with not too long of a time to heal. I believe they make the distinction of some corals that were tank raised with the "aquacultured" tag which is appreciated. As long as you set that as your expectation, you probably will not be disappointed especially with the selection and prices.
I did read some bad reviews about the frags being infested with pests, so I made sure to avoid SPS and Zoas (which are the ones that typically carry the most pests), and made sure to dip all my corals. I have not had any pests hitchhike on my LPS as a result, but LPS rarely carry pests in general so your mileage may vary with other corals.
The customer service was spot on as well, as they were reasonably fast with replies, and included freebie corals with both my purchase. One was a zoa I was VERY careful with dipping and scrubbing, and another an Acan Echinata i think which were both not amazing pieces, but I'm sure would color up well.
A bonus point for the customer service was the fact that they messed up with one of my coral order, where the hammer I ordered was not inventory for whatever reason, and they offered to replace it before the order shipped out. They were generous enough to allow me to pick a frag that was just around $10 more expensive since I could not get the exact specimen I ordered. A not unreasonable request from me, but kudos on them for honoring it without any second word.
The Mixed
I think depending on the point of view, some others might put these into the "bad" category but I do understand some of these business decisions and I know what I pay for so these are "mixed" for me.
First and foremost, the names and pictures on the site.
The names are just random buzzwords attached to random corals to generate clicks and buys, and not even industry standard names at that. But I understand because that is how they get to sell these coral, and often times these are not aquacultured so you really can't claim that a coral is the one that is going around the hobby as they were most likely collected from the wild.
A bit more problematic are the pictures on the website, which I assume are a bit altered, which is a whole ethics question on its own. But with the sheer volume of corals that they have, I know they can't have multiple pictures of all coral in different lighting. One of my hammers look a bit off from the picture provided, but I am hoping it will color up in time.
The last thing is the packaging. The box itself and the temperature control I have little issue about, but I do think their way of bagging is inferior to other vendors that use things like pill bottles, as they are less susceptible to leaks. I did notice a bit of a leak with the first shipment, and with the second, the plastic collar around the plug of the euphyllia came off which came with a bit of flesh damage with the sharp skeleton. But overall not the worst.
Just as an addendum, one of the gonioporas is looking a bit shriveled and weak but I chalk it up to it being a wild colony that was fragged not too long before the shipment. That is definitely a bit or a red flag, but to be expected for the price and business model.
The Bad
Honestly, I haven't had anything bad with my experience with AquaSD.
Maybe the fact that they missed the mark with one of my coral not being available, but they made it up to me even before the shipment, so I can mark it as a good.
Conclusion
In the end, I am satifised with my experience with AquaSD and will definitely order more when the opportunity arises.
