Salt Critters - First Order Impressions

[CalmSeasQuest]

Salt Critters $5 Frag deal convinced me to give them a try. I ordered the following,

Bleeding Heart Acan Frag
Bubbles Acan Frag
Chilled Flame Acan Frag
Colonial spirit Acan Frag
Farmed Neon Green Maze
Farmed Red/Orange Montipora capricornis
Life Savers Zoanthids
Money Shot Chalice Frag
Neon Green Gonipora Frag
Neon Green Saw Breaker Leptastrea Frag
Saw Breaker Leptastrea Frag
Shimpel Acan Frag
Solar Eclipse Zoanthids
Stardust Nebula Acan Frag
Sticky Fingers Acan Frag
The Big Bang Acan Frag
The Homer Acan Frag
Toxic Watermelon Acan Frag
Vagynuh Acan Frag
WYSIWYG Acan #194

The order totaled $125 and qualified for free shipping. It was delivered via UPS Overnight, on time as promised...

Initial Observations,

• They were well packed, each in a thermally sealed bag. None had fallen off their plugs in shipping. No heat packs were used.
• Through acclimation and dip, I observed (10X jewelers loupe) no pests or much in the way of nuisance algae.
• While the Frags were small (as expected at such low price points), they appeared healthy.
• The Frag plugs used tapered shafts that fit in my Blue Glow racks.
• Although they have not fully opened yet, I would say the photos used are representative of the corals.

Although I think the addition of a heat pack would have helped maintain shipping temps in the 70's, All in all I'm impressed, especially at $5 price point. I will likely do business with Salty Critters again.

 

[Dowtish]

Were you surprised at the color represented on the site as opposed to once being placed in your tank?

 

[CalmSeasQuest]

Were you surprised at the color represented on the site as opposed to once being placed in your tank?

Too soon to say, they just went in my FT. I'll give them some time to open and see what they look like under LEDs

 

[mfdrookie516]

I had pretty much the same experience. My bags were noticeably cool, though I didn't test the temp. I had one ric that came in with some white tissue on top, but it began to look ok after about 30 minutes in tank. I was surprised that within about 45 minutes, everything was open. I will say, in response to the question of coloration, that the pics look more like the second picture (didn't quite understand that 2 picture thing) than they did in the first on the site. Either way, I'm happy, as they're all beautiful. I'll most likely order again (not that I have any room now). My lighting is 4x T5HO with one each of blue plus, purple plus, aquablue special, and coral plus.

 

[mfdrookie516]

One pic is under 10K leds and one is under Royal blue leds. We were getting asked all the time what the corals looked like under each so we started listing a pic of each.

That makes sense... and so does the note on there now that you said that. I thought the pics were taken with a combination. Regardless, I am very pleased. Everything looks even better today than it did yesterday, and I'm sure they'll just keep improving.