Can I rely on Dr. Reef alone for quarantine?

[think2100]

I’ve read several glowing reviews of Dr. Reef’s Quarantined Fish. Having read their quarantine practice prior to shipment, it’s clear that I can come nowhere close to what they do to assure that the animals are healthy. I can only afford a very small quarantine tank. What are your opinions on just relying on Dr. Reef’s protocol and foregoing a second quarantine in my little tank?

 

[lapin]

Trust them
Feed your fish some live food
All will be just fine.

 

[rtparty]

I’ve gotten 98% of my fish from him over the last 3-4 years and all have come in perfectly healthy as far as I can tell. No Brook, no velvet, no ich that I’ve seen, nothing.

 

[exnisstech]

You'll get mixed reviews. He's very popular here and many people here love the Dr. On another site he isn't liked much at all. I have no opinion because I won't buy from him but I have my own reasons that has nothing to do with his quarantine protocol because I know nothing about that.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I've not had any sick fish from Dr Reef. A couple of DOA, a female tank raise mandarin that disappeared day 2 (maybe mantis food), and a damsel that died a day later.

But all that transitioned into the tank have shown no disease evidence, and I personally would not do extra isolating or QT unless there is a very special case..

 

[rcpiv93]

I had a very poor experience with Dr. Reef. I had some DOAs as well as some that died shortly after introduction. The sizes of the fish provided were also a disappointment, some tiny, others way too big. And of course, when I needed a refund, the only option was a credit which I used on inverts instead of additional fish.

 

[ReefGeezer]

I buy from Dr, Reef. All I have received are healthy, but some are a little skinny. Make sure you pay attention to the size you order, otherwise you'll get something much smaller than you thought. I always put the desired fish size in the comments field. It helps... I think.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I do not have the space or means to QT. In a lifetime of fish keeping, I have never QT'd.
I think it is very important, but I don't have the space or patience.

Now that there are QT vendors like Dr. Reef, I use them in place of home QT. But I also rarely purchase fish.

There are no guarantees, but it is certainly a safe hedge.

 

[UnnamedReef]

Ordered several times from Dr. Reef with only a DOA shrimp which was refunded with store credit on one occasion. Everything else healthy and disease free, I absolutely trust their livestock.

 

[Largeangels]

My opinion is that I would always QT and observe/treat any fish I get from anyone before it goes into any of my tanks. I have no experience with Dr Reef so I can't say either way about his quality. Your chances will be better from someone who quarantines and treat, but no one can guarantee it.

 

[Genvid]

Put your trust in Dr. Reef and forget about quarantine. All my fish were purchased from him; just this week, another order of mine—consisting of eight fish—arrived. Follow his acclimation protocol, and simply enjoy your fish. The customer support is superb.

 

[mfinn]

I've made 5 orders (25 fish) from Dr Reef and had one doa, which was replaced with no issue.
I will only order fish from Dr. Reef.

 

[oakcityreefer]

I haven't received any fish yet but I have two orders with a total of nine fish in quarantine. So I can only speak to the customer service I've received so far. I ordered a Royal Gramma, Watchmen Goby, and a pistol shrimp from him just to test things out. At the time I had an order for two Banggai Cardinals in with my LFS. The LFS jerked me around for two weeks. So I emailed Dr Reef and asked if I could add two Cardinals to my order. The next morning I got an updated email saying the Cardinals were acquired and in quarantine. So as long as I dont have any issues with these orders I plan on getting all my fish from the Dr. Its worth it to save buying the equipment and medication to do it yourself.

 

[Terry Le]

No

 

[NanoSteam]

I'll know soon, my fish made it out of QT and are scheduled to ship Tuesday. Fingers crossed my first order goes well.

 

[logibear]

I have gotten all of my fish from them and been pretty pleased. Had a few DOA and the refund/replacement process was very easy.

Only issue I did have was I got a foxface and it came in real thin and didn’t make it a week. Too far out for anything to be done so it is what it is but kind of feel that they shouldn’t send out fish that are not well nourished. I’d still likely buy from them again though.

 

[petcellar]

+1 for dr reef
With live animals thete will always occ be problems no matter what.
But my personal experience has been superb.
All my fish are from dr reef.

I've gotten to the place where honestly I dont buy from anyone else.

 

[jonelder68]

Highly recommend observation period regardless. Some flukes seem to be passing through prazipro treatments. I currently just lost multiple fish from it recently.

 

[Gone Reefin’]

Knock on wood, I have a protocol that is working. Everything I get from Dr. Reef goes through 28 days of hypo. I believe he uses copper/prazi and perhaps some other measures. Hypo may be overkill, but I feel I have it down to a science.

I want to clarify, nothing I have received from him has any sign of illness, just a prophylactic measure. I mean, if something can make it through copper, prazi, and hypo, it was God’s will!

 

[jonelder68]

Knock on wood, I have a protocol that is working. Everything I get from Dr. Reef goes through 28 days of hypo. I believe he uses copper/prazi and perhaps some other measures. Hypo may be overkill, but I feel I have it down to a science.

I want to clarify, nothing I have received from him has any sign of illness, just a prophylactic measure. I mean, if something can make it through copper, prazi, and hypo, it was God’s will!

I’ll be adopting the hypo on next orders. Flukes is no joke!