When I placed my order with Dr. Reef, I received a discount in exchange for my review (positive or negative) here on Reef2Reef. This is my review:
In order to save some of you time and spare you the details, I'll begin my review where many end theirs. Will I place another order with Dr. Reef? No, I will not.
Overall, I am dissatisfied with my order. However, there are absolutely some positive aspects to my experience. First of all, Dr. Reef was extremely communicative. Before my order, he was quick to answer any of my questions and happily made changes to my order upon my request. This was the highlight of my experience. In addition to strong communication, Dr. Reef lived up to his promise with respect to quarantine. If a fish did not meet health requirements, he did not ship them. My hippo tang and nassarius snails, for example, were held back and I did not receive them. Although a bummer, this is part of why we pay for quarantine services, so I appreciate that.
That brings me to the negatives of my experience. First of all, none of my wrasses survived. It has been a few weeks, and I have not seen the yellow "coris" wrasse nor have I seen the exquisite wrasse. The third died the day after introduction. In addition to these fatalities, the blonde naso tang also passed away. He ate pellets from the start but never showed interest in frozen food. After a couple of days, he started to breathe heavily, and I found him dead the next morning. I would normally suspect cyanide poisoning; however, if he had been in quarantine for weeks prior, this would normally have revealed itself before the fish ever arrived at my doorstep. The final disappointment with the first round of livestock comes with the moorish idol. He had a hankering for SPS coral. I want to stress that this was not the fault of Dr. Reef, just luck of the draw. Nonetheless, it was hard to see him go when I dropped him off at my LFS.
Now, with all of the fatalities, Dr. Reef provided a credit for a second order. This second order is where my disappointments continued. I did not want to add more fish to my tank for fear of further stressing out my existing inhabitants. I was also not allowed to use the credit for dry goods, and, as a result, I had to spend some five hundred dollars on inverts...that's a lot of snails! Unfortunately, the nassarius did not arrive, I was shorted three trochus snails, and the cerith snails were rather small. Worst of all, the two "ultra" crocea clams that I ordered arrived very small (barely 1") and they were by no means ultra. They are run-of-the-mill, dark blue croceas without any color variation or pattern. I just hope they survive.
So, given the pros and the cons, why would I not order from Dr. Reef again? Some of the reasons stem from my own proclivities, completely outside of his control. Through this process, I realized that I am the kind of reefer that would prefer to see the fish before purchase. I am fortunate to have a wonderful LFS (Aquatic Art) just minutes from home, and the value that they provide in terms of knowledge, support, and customer service cannot be beat. Beyond these variables, I was overall disappointed in the quality of the fish for the cost that I paid. Moreover, I am still waiting for a refund on the nassarius snails that never shipped in my second order--I couldn't justify a third order for a $70 credit. All in all, Dr. Reef provides a great service for those that find quarantine invaluable. It just turns out that I am not one of those people. The cons outweigh the pros from my perspective.
In order to save some of you time and spare you the details, I'll begin my review where many end theirs. Will I place another order with Dr. Reef? No, I will not.
Overall, I am dissatisfied with my order. However, there are absolutely some positive aspects to my experience. First of all, Dr. Reef was extremely communicative. Before my order, he was quick to answer any of my questions and happily made changes to my order upon my request. This was the highlight of my experience. In addition to strong communication, Dr. Reef lived up to his promise with respect to quarantine. If a fish did not meet health requirements, he did not ship them. My hippo tang and nassarius snails, for example, were held back and I did not receive them. Although a bummer, this is part of why we pay for quarantine services, so I appreciate that.
That brings me to the negatives of my experience. First of all, none of my wrasses survived. It has been a few weeks, and I have not seen the yellow "coris" wrasse nor have I seen the exquisite wrasse. The third died the day after introduction. In addition to these fatalities, the blonde naso tang also passed away. He ate pellets from the start but never showed interest in frozen food. After a couple of days, he started to breathe heavily, and I found him dead the next morning. I would normally suspect cyanide poisoning; however, if he had been in quarantine for weeks prior, this would normally have revealed itself before the fish ever arrived at my doorstep. The final disappointment with the first round of livestock comes with the moorish idol. He had a hankering for SPS coral. I want to stress that this was not the fault of Dr. Reef, just luck of the draw. Nonetheless, it was hard to see him go when I dropped him off at my LFS.
Now, with all of the fatalities, Dr. Reef provided a credit for a second order. This second order is where my disappointments continued. I did not want to add more fish to my tank for fear of further stressing out my existing inhabitants. I was also not allowed to use the credit for dry goods, and, as a result, I had to spend some five hundred dollars on inverts...that's a lot of snails! Unfortunately, the nassarius did not arrive, I was shorted three trochus snails, and the cerith snails were rather small. Worst of all, the two "ultra" crocea clams that I ordered arrived very small (barely 1") and they were by no means ultra. They are run-of-the-mill, dark blue croceas without any color variation or pattern. I just hope they survive.
So, given the pros and the cons, why would I not order from Dr. Reef again? Some of the reasons stem from my own proclivities, completely outside of his control. Through this process, I realized that I am the kind of reefer that would prefer to see the fish before purchase. I am fortunate to have a wonderful LFS (Aquatic Art) just minutes from home, and the value that they provide in terms of knowledge, support, and customer service cannot be beat. Beyond these variables, I was overall disappointed in the quality of the fish for the cost that I paid. Moreover, I am still waiting for a refund on the nassarius snails that never shipped in my second order--I couldn't justify a third order for a $70 credit. All in all, Dr. Reef provides a great service for those that find quarantine invaluable. It just turns out that I am not one of those people. The cons outweigh the pros from my perspective.
