biokeeper
Community Member
Just wanted to share my experience with Dr. Reef's after over $1,000 and 6 months wasted. If you don't want to read through my whole experience, I will include a TL;DR at the end, along with some photos of the animals received.
I started as many of you probably have. I heard countless times Dr. Reef recommended as the "go to" vendor for quality pre-quarantined livestock. After seeing the name mentioned so many times over several months, I figured I would choose this vendor to stock my new 150g system.
My first order was placed on October 14th. By November 28th, it was finally ready to be shipped out. It was estimated to arrive on November 30th. UPS informed me of a delay and the arrival was pushed back 1 day. I notified Dr. Reef and they assured me that fish survival rate should be high. I will commend them on their DOA coverage. They said right at the get-go here that they will cover me for anything that may happen to the fish due to the delay. Thankfully they stayed true to their word, as with this first shipment over 70% of the fish were DOA. For whatever reason, they thought it would be a good idea to ship 9 small chromis in 1 bag. They, of course, were all DOA. I also received a diamond goby that was completely decayed within the bag.
First order, done. I didn't put too much blame on Dr. Reef for this order. I thought it was strange that they packaged 9 chromis in one bag and that the diamond goby was so decayed within it's bag. However, I chalked this order's issues up to the shipment delay and moved on.
Thankfully, Dr. Reef was very good with their DOA policy and started to quarantine 9 more chromis for me and a new coral beauty (which passed same day), as well as the diamond goby. Along with these replacements, I added another $500 worth a fish to be quarantined with them and eventually add to my system. This included a copperband, convict tang, tomini tang, yellow tang, and a mandarin.
November 22nd, 2nd order placed (with the DOA replacements). January 12th, the order finally arrives. This time, no shipment delays at all. I immediately noticed with this shipment that the 9 chromis were all individually packed and were a bit larger than the first order, great. The convict tang, coral beauty, and mandarin all seemed to be doing well enough. My diamond goby replacement was yet again fairly decayed in the bag. The copperband had heavy respirations and laying on it's side with some sort of bruising or damage to it's body. The yellow tang (the size of a quarter) had heavy respirations and laying on it's side. Needless to say, the copperband and yellow tang both passed fairly quickly after attempting to acclimate them. The chromis were doing well in their observation tank until I quickly noticed one of them had the dreaded uronema. The uronema didn't really present itself until my timeframe to report any DOA/issues had past (I believe the rule is 3 days?). Within 2 weeks or so, most of the chromis had passed due to the uronema and I decided to euthanize the remaining few.
Yet again, multiple animals arrived in extremely poor condition and several did not survive. Thankfully, again, Dr. Reef were great with their replacement/DOA policies. They put me on board for a copperband, yellow tang, and coral beauty.
January 12th, 3rd order placed. March 21st and the final order is shipped. The copperband this round seems much better than the first. The yellow tang is larger than the first. I did notice the yellow tang seemed a bit "off." It seemed like it had HLLE but I wasn't sure if it was just discoloration due to it being a juvenile captive-bred animal. It's stomach has also seemed very oddly shaped to me, and at this point I wonder if it has some sort of intestinal blockage or parasite.
This 3rd order is pretty much the culmination of my issues. I believe with this 3rd order, one of these fish arrived with ich. To be honest, it may have even come in on the 2nd order as well (on the convict tang). I initially had the 3 fish in an observation tank for a week or two. All of them were eating fairly well and showed no signs of issues. I let my guard down a bit here and decided to go ahead and introduce them to the main display. I trusted the vendor and their quarantine process. In retrospect, I should've done more to observing each animal and carefully inspecting them. Within a week or so, the copperband passed away. He had been eating in the observation tank fairly well. I'm not quite sure what the cause of his death was.
The rest of the inhabitants did fairly well for the next few weeks. I did notice the convict tang flashing on the sand a few times, but nothing too often to where I thought much of it. He also appeared to look fine and had a normal appetite. I then took a close look at the tomini tang and sure enough, I could see signs of ich. Another closer look at the clownfish in my system and I could also see some signs. The yellow tang as well. At this point, I believe 4-6 of my fish are showing the physical signs of ich. So far, none of them have passed and all of them have good appetites. I am now left with a fully stocked 150g system which as ich and have to figure out a management plan moving forward.
In the end, the extra money spent on "pre-quarantined fish"... the 5-6 month process... none of it mattered. A breakout of ich still occurred. Aside from that, I had 26 fish come in dead/die within a week or two of arrival. I expected so much more and put my trust in their process. After seeing so many of these animals come in dead/decayed/poor health, I think I will attempt another vendor in the future. The price I paid wasn't worth this, the time I spent waiting for all of them to come in wasn't worth it.
I hope this experience helps you out a bit and if anything, gives some insight into the process of ordering with Dr. Reef.
TL;DR....
$1,000 of fish ordered
13/33 fish arrived dead/dying
13/33 fish died within first week
7/33 total fish ordered are still alive
Ich introduced to my system via one of these orders
9 chromis dead due to uronema
5-6 months total time spent on the whole process
Best of luck to anyone who chooses Dr. Reef in the future.
I started as many of you probably have. I heard countless times Dr. Reef recommended as the "go to" vendor for quality pre-quarantined livestock. After seeing the name mentioned so many times over several months, I figured I would choose this vendor to stock my new 150g system.
My first order was placed on October 14th. By November 28th, it was finally ready to be shipped out. It was estimated to arrive on November 30th. UPS informed me of a delay and the arrival was pushed back 1 day. I notified Dr. Reef and they assured me that fish survival rate should be high. I will commend them on their DOA coverage. They said right at the get-go here that they will cover me for anything that may happen to the fish due to the delay. Thankfully they stayed true to their word, as with this first shipment over 70% of the fish were DOA. For whatever reason, they thought it would be a good idea to ship 9 small chromis in 1 bag. They, of course, were all DOA. I also received a diamond goby that was completely decayed within the bag.
First order, done. I didn't put too much blame on Dr. Reef for this order. I thought it was strange that they packaged 9 chromis in one bag and that the diamond goby was so decayed within it's bag. However, I chalked this order's issues up to the shipment delay and moved on.
Thankfully, Dr. Reef was very good with their DOA policy and started to quarantine 9 more chromis for me and a new coral beauty (which passed same day), as well as the diamond goby. Along with these replacements, I added another $500 worth a fish to be quarantined with them and eventually add to my system. This included a copperband, convict tang, tomini tang, yellow tang, and a mandarin.
November 22nd, 2nd order placed (with the DOA replacements). January 12th, the order finally arrives. This time, no shipment delays at all. I immediately noticed with this shipment that the 9 chromis were all individually packed and were a bit larger than the first order, great. The convict tang, coral beauty, and mandarin all seemed to be doing well enough. My diamond goby replacement was yet again fairly decayed in the bag. The copperband had heavy respirations and laying on it's side with some sort of bruising or damage to it's body. The yellow tang (the size of a quarter) had heavy respirations and laying on it's side. Needless to say, the copperband and yellow tang both passed fairly quickly after attempting to acclimate them. The chromis were doing well in their observation tank until I quickly noticed one of them had the dreaded uronema. The uronema didn't really present itself until my timeframe to report any DOA/issues had past (I believe the rule is 3 days?). Within 2 weeks or so, most of the chromis had passed due to the uronema and I decided to euthanize the remaining few.
Yet again, multiple animals arrived in extremely poor condition and several did not survive. Thankfully, again, Dr. Reef were great with their replacement/DOA policies. They put me on board for a copperband, yellow tang, and coral beauty.
January 12th, 3rd order placed. March 21st and the final order is shipped. The copperband this round seems much better than the first. The yellow tang is larger than the first. I did notice the yellow tang seemed a bit "off." It seemed like it had HLLE but I wasn't sure if it was just discoloration due to it being a juvenile captive-bred animal. It's stomach has also seemed very oddly shaped to me, and at this point I wonder if it has some sort of intestinal blockage or parasite.
This 3rd order is pretty much the culmination of my issues. I believe with this 3rd order, one of these fish arrived with ich. To be honest, it may have even come in on the 2nd order as well (on the convict tang). I initially had the 3 fish in an observation tank for a week or two. All of them were eating fairly well and showed no signs of issues. I let my guard down a bit here and decided to go ahead and introduce them to the main display. I trusted the vendor and their quarantine process. In retrospect, I should've done more to observing each animal and carefully inspecting them. Within a week or so, the copperband passed away. He had been eating in the observation tank fairly well. I'm not quite sure what the cause of his death was.
The rest of the inhabitants did fairly well for the next few weeks. I did notice the convict tang flashing on the sand a few times, but nothing too often to where I thought much of it. He also appeared to look fine and had a normal appetite. I then took a close look at the tomini tang and sure enough, I could see signs of ich. Another closer look at the clownfish in my system and I could also see some signs. The yellow tang as well. At this point, I believe 4-6 of my fish are showing the physical signs of ich. So far, none of them have passed and all of them have good appetites. I am now left with a fully stocked 150g system which as ich and have to figure out a management plan moving forward.
In the end, the extra money spent on "pre-quarantined fish"... the 5-6 month process... none of it mattered. A breakout of ich still occurred. Aside from that, I had 26 fish come in dead/die within a week or two of arrival. I expected so much more and put my trust in their process. After seeing so many of these animals come in dead/decayed/poor health, I think I will attempt another vendor in the future. The price I paid wasn't worth this, the time I spent waiting for all of them to come in wasn't worth it.
I hope this experience helps you out a bit and if anything, gives some insight into the process of ordering with Dr. Reef.
TL;DR....
$1,000 of fish ordered
13/33 fish arrived dead/dying
13/33 fish died within first week
7/33 total fish ordered are still alive
Ich introduced to my system via one of these orders
9 chromis dead due to uronema
5-6 months total time spent on the whole process
Best of luck to anyone who chooses Dr. Reef in the future.
