First off, I want to say Algae Barn has by far the best customer service you could ask for. Prompt with answering questions and really do try their best to make your experience the best it could be.
The batch I ordered was a simple 5280, nothing different than normal, but unfortunately it was mishandled in shipping and the bag came half-empty. I poured the remains into the tank after contacting them and they quickly sent a replacement without question.
The second time, once again packaged perfectly with no busted seals at this time. Inspected the bag and it was rather disappointing. I know someone else made a thread a few weeks back regarding this issue, but there were a few that provided positive feedback on the size and I thought I'd go ahead and purchase it anyway since I know I needed some for the tank. That being said, the quality of the pods aren't where it was a year ago. I purchased a good handful of times last year and you could visually inspect the bag and see how many large pods there are in the bag. This time around, I couldn't see much at all and I am even curious if they survived in the tank or not as its been a few weeks usually I see the pods crawling behind the magnet or frag racks by now. I did take a small sample of water and put it under a scope so I know they are at least there to begin with.
Maybe it was just that isolated bag, but I'm kind of on the fence about ordering until they can keep up with demands and I can see larger pods like before. Customer service is perfect though, so I can't complain there, but customers need honest feedback about products and its just not what it was last year.
The batch I ordered was a simple 5280, nothing different than normal, but unfortunately it was mishandled in shipping and the bag came half-empty. I poured the remains into the tank after contacting them and they quickly sent a replacement without question.
The second time, once again packaged perfectly with no busted seals at this time. Inspected the bag and it was rather disappointing. I know someone else made a thread a few weeks back regarding this issue, but there were a few that provided positive feedback on the size and I thought I'd go ahead and purchase it anyway since I know I needed some for the tank. That being said, the quality of the pods aren't where it was a year ago. I purchased a good handful of times last year and you could visually inspect the bag and see how many large pods there are in the bag. This time around, I couldn't see much at all and I am even curious if they survived in the tank or not as its been a few weeks usually I see the pods crawling behind the magnet or frag racks by now. I did take a small sample of water and put it under a scope so I know they are at least there to begin with.
Maybe it was just that isolated bag, but I'm kind of on the fence about ordering until they can keep up with demands and I can see larger pods like before. Customer service is perfect though, so I can't complain there, but customers need honest feedback about products and its just not what it was last year.