Reef Beauties Online Store

[JumboShrimp]

I have quarantined several fish myself, obtained from Reef Beauties (including several Butterfly fish). Not to rub it in, but I read their website thoroughly before ever ordering. When each fish came, I floated the bag in a QT (at 1.018 salinity-- to match how they ship them), and floated the bag for about 20 minutes to temperature acclimate. All new additions were that simple. (I will add, however, that I like to unpack the box and do the acclimation in a highly dimmed room, and let the fish decompress from the stress of being in a dark box for so long). Sorry about your loss; I can understand why you might want to try another vendor, but they are good people and made two of my documented (per their posted policies) concerns 'right' each time without a fuss. Actually with a great customer-service attitude.

 

[W31Olds]

I have ordered from them and would never add a fish to my DT without full QT first. They should not even mention a 3 day sort of QT period and the Hypo they state is not really Hypo. The fish I ordered had Ich after a couple of days so were treated with Copperpower. I lost one the first day and another after a couple of weeks. The rest are doing nicely a year later. If you have old mature fish in a stable system always QT everything including inverts. I'm certain that something was brought in and now you probably are going to need a treatment plan.

 

[Pennywise67]

I have purchased quite a lot of my fish from Reef Beauties ( Tangs, wrasses Fairy and flashers, Tile fish, sea hare etc ...) Never had a problem with them. In fact that's why i order almost exclusively from them. They have called me the day before shipping and told me they weren't shipping something cause they felt it didn't look good.

Larry

 

[ReeferMo]

Hello everyone,

I know everyone is trying hard these days to make a living but this just frustrates me to no end. I dont normally add fish to my setup because the stock i have, ive had for many years. But this year I wanted to add some smaller fish because many of my fish a large. I selected the online store Reef Beauties out of California for these new fish.

I place 3 rather large orders. First order was for a couple Blotched Anithias. One died. They were awesome about the warranty but only offered store credit. Its a hassle but ok. So I ordered replacement fish and some more. Same thing happened only this time they died in shipping because lack of water in the bags. I attributed this to trying to save weight with shipping and voiced this concern. I also said I was having problems with the first dieing after acclimatazation that same night. This shop's communication is email only - no phone calls - but they did listen and offered another warranty. So I placed a third, large, order with them. Same fish die off problem, but this time I simply voiced my frustration and said Im not interested in the warrenty. Ill just eat the money lost and chalk this up to a bad experiece...

What prompts me to post this is now Im loosing some of my VERY old fish to some mystery disease? Is this their falt? I dont know but I've had these fish forever - some are 10yrs plus. It seems linked to me, and this is why I dont have new additions. I should have known better but.... Heck I dont even try to add new coral for this very reason!

Anyway, be careful out there people. You dont know what shops are doing out there, and it seems people push product out the door regardless of condition to pay bills. We end up paying the price but with a "waranty."

PS, fish acclimatization is spot on. An hour in the tank for temp, two hours with slit in bag for salinity, and then into an individeal holding box so other fish can get used to them. They are in the box for 3 days and then they're released at night.

bro don't feel stupid you didn't come to post to bash anyone you just wanted to point out the problem that many pp have with hardships of buying fish that are not cheap, you didn't claim that they were supposed to arrive quarantined or 100 percent safe, if you would actually follow there acclimation guide you would still have the new dieses issue (if it came from them) also their acclimation guide is a recommendation not a must follow and anyone in the hobby will tell you to at least get the fish acclimated a bit with tank water b4 you dump it into the DT so don't feel so sorry your point about a new disease and awareness was noted thanks

 

[exnisstech]

We run hyposalinity (1.018-1.019) and a small amount of copper throughout our fish system to keep things clean while they are onsite.

Unfortunately that level is not hyposalinty but low salinty and they have to know this. I've discussed this here and Jay H has confirmed that low salinty can suppress disease which then becomes active when the fish are placed in normally salinty which is 1.025 in my case.
I've been down that road and introduced velvet. I now only buy fish that are in tanks with coral and or inverts. Fortunate 2 out of 4 lfs keep tanks at 1.024 - 1.025. Personally I think its a ploy to cut cost by saving salt but that's speculation.

EDIT: just reread and this states the obvious.
to keep things clean while they are onsite

 

[ninjamyst]

My order came in this morning. Note that I am in Florida and stupidly ordered a shipment during the coldest day ever....low 40s.

They included two heat pack and all 3 fish were alive and swimming in the bag. I got a copperband butterfly, a pintail fairy wrasse, and a lamarck angel. Both the copperband and pintail are big and fat. Lamarck is smaller than expected. After 30mins bag float, they went straight into an established 20g observation tank that has tons of live rocks and corals. All 3 fish went into hiding. I am a little worried about the pintail because it seems sluggish. But based on just the color and size of the fish, I am impressed. They will remain in the observation tank for 4-6 months to ensure they are eating and healthy before going into my main 200g display.

 

[W31Olds]

Ninja, no offense, but why would you not QT your order? The odds of 3 fish being "Clean" is small and observation for 4-6 months is unnecessary. My Fish from them looked good right out of the Bags until they weren't and I was not at all surprised when the Foxface developed Ich after a couple of days. These on-line retailers run common systems so if isn't Ich it will be Flukes.

 

[ninjamyst]

Ninja, no offense, but why would you not QT your order? The odds of 3 fish being "Clean" is small and observation for 4-6 months is unnecessary. My Fish from them looked good right out of the Bags until they weren't and I was not at all surprised when the Foxface developed Ich after a couple of days. These on-line retailers run common systems so if isn't Ich it will be Flukes.

QT is a controversial topic. Some people do full QT with copper, some do observation only, some just dump new fish into their display. Don't want to start the debate again...

And my post was incorrect. I usually just do observation for 4-6 weeks, not months.

 

[exnisstech]

My order came in this morning. Note that I am in Florida and stupidly ordered a shipment during the coldest day ever....low 40s.

They included two heat pack and all 3 fish were alive and swimming in the bag. I got a copperband butterfly, a pintail fairy wrasse, and a lamarck angel. Both the copperband and pintail are big and fat. Lamarck is smaller than expected. After 30mins bag float, they went straight into an established 20g observation tank that has tons of live rocks and corals. All 3 fish went into hiding. I am a little worried about the pintail because it seems sluggish. But based on just the color and size of the fish, I am impressed. They will remain in the observation tank for 4-6 months to ensure they are eating and healthy before going into my main 200g display.

How large would you estimate the CBB to be? Im not terribly concerned if its eating or not as long as its healthy and not malnourished. I lost both my male and female over the last couple if months to mystery deaths. The male went first a couple of months ago after being in the tank 14 months and my female died last night after 3½ years and I alread miss seeing a CBB working the rocks.

PS Not that it matters but I'm also an observation only person unless I see some symptoms.

 

[smitten with ocean life]

How large would you estimate the CBB to be? Im not terribly concerned if its eating or not as long as its healthy and not malnourished. I lost both my male and female over the last couple if months to mystery deaths. The male went first a couple of months ago after being in the tank 14 months and my female died last night after 3½ years and I alread miss seeing a CBB working the rocks.

PS Not that it matters but I'm also an observation only person unless I see some symptoms.

what a bummer!! i always loved seeing your pair

 

[ninjamyst]

How large would you estimate the CBB to be? Im not terribly concerned if its eating or not as long as its healthy and not malnourished. I lost both my male and female over the last couple if months to mystery deaths. The male went first a couple of months ago after being in the tank 14 months and my female died last night after 3½ years and I alread miss seeing a CBB working the rocks.

PS Not that it matters but I'm also an observation only person unless I see some symptoms.

I wanted a pair too but I read it's hard to distinguish sex so it's a gamble whether I will get a pair and they will actually bond. I chose a medium size copperband and it's definitely a good size, 3+ inches. The copperband is already out and swimming around. I usually don't feed the first day since they rarely eat after shipment. The pintail I don't think will make it overnight....but who knows since wrasse are super shy

 

[exnisstech]

I wanted a pair too but I read it's hard to distinguish sex so it's a gamble whether I will get a pair and they will actually bond. I chose a medium size copperband and it's definitely a good size, 3+ inches. The copperband is already out and swimming around. I usually don't feed the first day since they rarely eat after shipment. The pintail I don't think will make it overnight....but who knows since wrasse are super shy

Not sure if you've seen it or not but I used the article below to learn how to sex them. It's something that has to be done in person tho I think.

RIP

Sexual dimorphism identification of Chelmon rostratus, the Copperband Butterfly,

From the horse mouth, people who successfully pair, breed and raised Copperband Butterflies Jirayuth Ruensirikul, Mavit Assava-aree, Atra Chaimongkol, Sirawan Bunchai, and Khwantana Ongart of Coastal Aquaculture Research Institute and Nakhonsithammarat Coastal Fisheries Research and Development...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[ga2040]

Anthias dont ship well.
To retry the same thing wasnt a wise idea in the first place.
I have had a few orders with them.
All fish were healthy , have a great healthy blue hippo and an emperor from them and yes the only loss was the lyretail anthias .

 

[W31Olds]

QT is a controversial topic. Some people do full QT with copper, some do observation only, some just dump new fish into their display. Don't want to start the debate again...

And my post was incorrect. I usually just do observation for 4-6 weeks, not months.

Qt is only controversial because a few "so called experts" refuse to accept the reality of the supply chain. This Thread is a perfect example of why QT is necessary. The OP had a stable mature system but now that is no longer the case. Your decision to observe in a separate system could work, but the odds of 3 fish all being disease free are probably low. Good luck with your CB. I want one also but am upgrading my system so will have to wait a while.

 

[ninjamyst]

Qt is only controversial because a few "so called experts" refuse to accept the reality of the supply chain. This Thread is a perfect example of why QT is necessary. The OP had a stable mature system but now that is no longer the case. Your decision to observe in a separate system could work, but the odds of 3 fish all being disease free are probably low. Good luck with your CB. I want one also but am upgrading my system so will have to wait a while.

People don't QT for many reasons. I believe it's very important that all hobbyists understand why QT is necessary but at the end of the day, we have to respect other people's decisions on QT or not.

 

[allof fish]

People don't QT for many reasons. I believe it's very important that all hobbyists understand why QT is necessary but at the end of the day, we have to respect other people's decisions on QT or not.

Qt can be difficult for many people. Ex. Not space for qt system, time or knowing how to treat. At minimum an observation tank should be set up can be 10g just to monitor. Fact is most people don’t do full qt and some disease ends up in tank. I’m a huge advocate for uv sterilizers and good food. Even if qt isnt perfect uv usually can “ich”/ fluke manage and you can be okay

 

[W31Olds]

I'm lucky that I have plenty of space in my Basement for QT Tanks. People that cannot Qt should buy pre Qt'd fish. They are more expensive but well worth it as your Tank population grows. I run a large UV Sterilizer and do believe that properly setup, they can help manage pathogens. I agree that it is a personal decision just like the recent discussions about installing GFCI breakers.

 

[awwinterfall]

I had the same issue with their fish. Luckily , I quarantined so it was contained. But I still lost money