I have bought Acans from them in the past and I would do so in the future. No issues. 90% of the acros I received RTN'd on me almost overnight and I would not order those from them again. I have heard that their stock is largely mari-cultured and that is likely why.
Is Aqua SD Safe?
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waterkat
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I have purchased several things from them, always had great luck.
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I have been to their shop many times, even at the old store I never got groped or even propositioned so I don't necessarily agree with this assessment of their "morals."
Business Ethics and quality control area's might need policing but right now they have a sale that I find interesting and suspect that they need our support if they are going to continue being available?
For what it’s worth, this was posted on Reddit just this week regarding the store.
I'll be probably one of the only defenders of them, but I'll caveat it with I shop in store because I'm local.
Here is my thoughts, best prices and decent coral. You have to know going into this that they are an importer, they even sell wholesale to other places. This means a couple of things, but firstly being that they don't have coral that is "tanked" and been in the hobby for awhile unless it is traded in. That means that they are more sensitive than other corals. This is especially true of their acros. I see other people talk all the time about maricultured acros and how they are sensitive when they order them from other places, but will some how have a different expectation of ASD.
Secondly, as one of the first stops from the ocean, you need to be cautious of pests. I think it is incumbent on the hobbyists to do proper dipping protocol. That being said, if you are new to this hobby and buy from them because it is cheaper, you also assume the risks and need to know how to dip and inspect for pests.
Lastly, as a "chop shop", they are probably the worst for having them hold an order. They have too much inventory going through that it will get lost in the shuffle. This leads into two parts of the complaints, firstly not getting a WYSIWYG item and secondly quality control. Even as a local, if I order on a weekend and can't pick it up right away, it is likely lost in the shuffle.
The too long didn't read is they are good if you know what you are doing. I'll concede and say their photos are edited, but there are worse perpetrators out there and they need to work on quality control.
Here is my thoughts, best prices and decent coral. You have to know going into this that they are an importer, they even sell wholesale to other places. This means a couple of things, but firstly being that they don't have coral that is "tanked" and been in the hobby for awhile unless it is traded in. That means that they are more sensitive than other corals. This is especially true of their acros. I see other people talk all the time about maricultured acros and how they are sensitive when they order them from other places, but will some how have a different expectation of ASD.
Secondly, as one of the first stops from the ocean, you need to be cautious of pests. I think it is incumbent on the hobbyists to do proper dipping protocol. That being said, if you are new to this hobby and buy from them because it is cheaper, you also assume the risks and need to know how to dip and inspect for pests.
Lastly, as a "chop shop", they are probably the worst for having them hold an order. They have too much inventory going through that it will get lost in the shuffle. This leads into two parts of the complaints, firstly not getting a WYSIWYG item and secondly quality control. Even as a local, if I order on a weekend and can't pick it up right away, it is likely lost in the shuffle.
The too long didn't read is they are good if you know what you are doing. I'll concede and say their photos are edited, but there are worse perpetrators out there and they need to work on quality control.
Weird stretch, I'm not sure I get it. Groping is the only unethical thing people do? Is lying to elderly people and talking them out of their money cool? I'd never do business with this place, you all can roll through diceI have been to their shop many times, even at the old store I never got groped or even propositioned so I don't necessarily agree with this assessment of their "morals."
Business Ethics and quality control area's might need policing but right now they have a sale that I find interesting and suspect that they need our support if they are going to continue being available?
He's joking, of course.
VintageReefer
10K Club member
What about extortion? Or bait and switch? Both happened to me. And I bought before they had the requirement for a minimum purchase amount to ship.
I was called and told “we are barely making any money on your order, and you’ll have to buy more to make it worth it for us to pack and ship it” I already had bought the items I wanted and I paid for shipping. And they refused to ship unless I bought more. Then, through the forum, I got them to ship, and they sent all the wrong items, all lower grade and bleached out. Great experience…
Tellie-Vision
Valuable Member
Last point is my biggest complaint towards them, I had like $300+ refunded on my last order bc they waited until the last minute to contact me about a “shipping issue” and I was forced to have them hold it (my job is extremely demanding), and in that time span all the pieces in my order I wanted most disappeared. They did tell me (last minute again) about some of them being refunded but not all, I just got to be unpleasantly surprised later. I really do like buying from them when they’re good, which they had been doing pretty well on my orders for the last few, but this specific instance was a little irritating as the *entire reason I decided to buy from them* was corals I didn’t even get to receive /:
Not going to argue that or other people's experiences either.
I'll say it is the law of averages though, with them being cheaper than other vendors, sometimes you get a gem & sometimes you get a dud. I'm one for five of the last zoas I've ordered actually being even the right color morph, but I get things cheap and don't really complain. Again, being local is a HUGE advantage, and looking at my order history over three years I'm at 132 orders.
I will point out again the acros thing, I already mentioned they are pretty much maricultured or wild, but the one exception is corals that are labeled "monsoon" which is a huge collection company in Australia and does aquaculture some of their corals. I find them to be the healthiest of the types you can get and normally grab something from them when they get a shipment from Monsoon.
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What’s the Difference Between Morality and Ethics? | Britannica
Generally, the terms ethics and morality are used interchangeably, although a few different communities (academic, legal, or religious, for example) will occasionally make a distinction.
www.britannica.com
If there is no difference then there is no beef. Our society has been busy busting down the walls to make everything groovy. I would suggest it stops but it seems like it never does until the end.
This sounds incredibly lazy. Buy from cheats then. That's America babyWhat’s the Difference Between Morality and Ethics? | Britannica
Generally, the terms ethics and morality are used interchangeably, although a few different communities (academic, legal, or religious, for example) will occasionally make a distinction.
If there is no difference then there is no beef. Our society has been busy busting down the walls to make everything groovy. I would suggest it stops but it seems like it never does until the end.
I second @Queen City Corals. They are my LFS and always have good deals and the $14.99 frags are hard to beat. The owners are good people as well.I'm happy with my first order from @Queen City Corals . They had a couple of clams I wanted so I went ahead and added 8 budget frags to get free shipping. The images online were accurate and everything arrived looking good. wysiwyg frags for under $20 is hard to come by.
I've also found some deals at tidal gardens after a flash sale. The sale after the sale I guess it's called.
Reeferbadness
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I live in San Diego and have been to the shop many times over the years ... before they changed locations and to their newer larger location which has a lot more fish/inverts and dry goods. I have noticed the quality of their livestock, especially their fish / invert tanks has gone down over the last few months and their sps was mostly browned out when i went in the back. Perhaps they are just having some issues (as many of us also have from time to time) or it could be a downgrade in their management of their systems. Hopefully things. bounce back as the new shop is pretty amazing and i've picked up many nice corals from these guys - but never had it shipped.
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Been shopping with them 15 years. Overall they have been very good for me. I miss the days of colonies and their $10 frags. As with anyone else, prices have become high and size small.
Its simple. . . . we have choices where to buy and simply dont buy if youre not comfortable.
Its simple. . . . we have choices where to buy and simply dont buy if youre not comfortable.
***BEWARE NEW OWNERS....TIME WILL TELL!"
SD LOCAL here and yes, they use to be pretty good for small frags. Lately not so much...Will the owner just recently sold it to a few of the employees from what I heard. We will see where that goes. Last couple times they have gone downhill, and they don't have their acts together and screwed me over by giving me a completely dead frags and not even some of the items I ordered off Ebay. They then decided to double down when I contacted them to state this is the second time you messed up my order and I let it slide the first time...the response was this.
"While we do have an “all sales final” policy for in-store pickups and a 2-hour DOA window for shipped orders, that doesn’t mean we ignore loyal customers when something goes wrong repeatedly. It seems like you have been patient with us, and your loyalty certainly means a lot to us."
They issued a 25-dollar credit as if that makes up for everything.
Found it insulting to act like it is my fault they can't pick out the corals I bought off of ebay. Then act like you are doing me a favor. It's like I was in your store, and you went to find them in your huge coral farm. I guess I need to hold their hands to make sure they pick out the correct ones for now on. I got home and 2 out of the 8 looked like this (dead). I was also missing corals, and another seemed to be not like the picture I bid on. So my answer is don't buy anything expensive off them. Try Tidal Gardens maybe.
SD LOCAL here and yes, they use to be pretty good for small frags. Lately not so much...Will the owner just recently sold it to a few of the employees from what I heard. We will see where that goes. Last couple times they have gone downhill, and they don't have their acts together and screwed me over by giving me a completely dead frags and not even some of the items I ordered off Ebay. They then decided to double down when I contacted them to state this is the second time you messed up my order and I let it slide the first time...the response was this.
"While we do have an “all sales final” policy for in-store pickups and a 2-hour DOA window for shipped orders, that doesn’t mean we ignore loyal customers when something goes wrong repeatedly. It seems like you have been patient with us, and your loyalty certainly means a lot to us."
They issued a 25-dollar credit as if that makes up for everything.
Found it insulting to act like it is my fault they can't pick out the corals I bought off of ebay. Then act like you are doing me a favor. It's like I was in your store, and you went to find them in your huge coral farm. I guess I need to hold their hands to make sure they pick out the correct ones for now on. I got home and 2 out of the 8 looked like this (dead). I was also missing corals, and another seemed to be not like the picture I bid on. So my answer is don't buy anything expensive off them. Try Tidal Gardens maybe.
Tahoe61
10K Club member
My only experience was dismal at best, it was an on line order.
The internal strife of the company may be contributing to their poor business model.
I have been pretty happy with Vivid, Tidal Gardens and Boom Corals.
The internal strife of the company may be contributing to their poor business model.
I have been pretty happy with Vivid, Tidal Gardens and Boom Corals.
bikerbutter
Active Member
We've had great success with Aqua SD. The packaging was great. Shipping was fast and with tracking. One item i ordered wasn't available so they called me to see if I wanted a substitute or a refund for the item, which I thought was nice. All our corals were in great condition and 13 of 14 items still are great and thriving in our tank. We love Aqua SD and will continue to order from them. I hope you have great luck with your corals regardless of where you get them.
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