Thoughts on Dr. Reef

[RWhitt907]

I was wondering how the QT fish were from Dr. Reef. I'm trying to get a Midas Blenny and Royal Gramma, I just want to make sure the general consensus is that they're healthy fish upon arrival. I know he only does 2 weeks of QT and that has me skeptical.

 

[mrpontiac80]

I was wondering how the QT fish were from Dr. Reef. I'm trying to get a Midas Blenny and Royal Gramma, I just want to make sure the general consensus is that they're healthy fish upon arrival. I know he only does 2 weeks of QT and that has me skeptical.

I’ve never used his service and I’ve seen both positive and negative reviews over time. The only thing I know for sure is that he was removed from HumbleFish’s approved vendors list.

 

[SpyC]

I have not had great experiences. Others on here have not had any issues. my issues were fish were poorly bagged resulting in leaks and fish getting stuck in corners. Their policy shifted from refund or store credit to store credit or shipping out new fish. With how my last batch went, I'm not ordering fish from them again.

 

[RWhitt907]

I’ve never used his service and I’ve seen both positive and negative reviews over time. The only thing I know for sure is that he was removed from HumbleFish’s approved vendors

Humble fish has that posted here on r2r?

 

[mrpontiac80]

Humble fish has that posted here on r2r?

His list? He does not. Visit humble.fish website to see his list

 

[RWhitt907]

His list? He does not. Visit humble.fish website to see his list

Will do. Thanks for the heads up

 

[OrionN]

Humble Fish used to be active on R2R but now he has a website.

 

[mrpontiac80]

Will do. Thanks for the heads up

For what it’s worth… I highly recommend Jeff at Fish Hotel!

 

[RWhitt907]

For what it’s worth… I highly recommend Jeff at Fish Hotel!

They seem to be the most popular. Only 3 fish in stock right now

 

[SpyC]

They seem to be the most popular. Only 3 fish in stock right now

I thinknyou can request fish

 

[Z Burn's Reefing]

My personal experience with Dr. Reef hasn't been great. The current DOA policy isn't attractive, because you're basically stuck with store credit and having to just reorder again and again, which has been frustrating because every order I've done has had issues...I had a recent order with a leaking bag, ended up losing everything, and have ordered some CUC and 1/3 were DOA on arrival or many empty shells.

 

[JoJosReef]

I've gotten 11 fish shipped from Mike. He has been quick to deal with DOAs and work with me on achieving success with more difficult fish (e.g., leopard wrasses). I would buy from him again, understanding that shipping fish across country is risky. Results below:

1. Tailspot blenny - DOA - body shape normal, i.e., not skinny or unhealthy looking, but clearly died in transit and was decomposing; replaced and reached a deal on shipping
2. Exquisite firefish - Alive - body shape normal, still alive and thriving
3. Tailspot blenny - Alive - body shape normal, stressed and showing stress spots, which is normal; still alive and eating my gorgonian polyps :angry-face:
4. High Fin Red Banded goby - Alive - body shape normal, appeared normal and healthy for ~ 1day, then went under the big rocks and never seen again
--> Also got fire shrimp, fighting conch and trochus snails in that order. Fire shrimp was alive and well until dying during a tank move and mistake on my part; fighting conch is still vacuuming
5. Yasha shrimp goby - Alive, but appeared very stressed, somewhat thin - paired with my candy cane pistol shrimp and is still alive and thriving
6. Court Jester Goby - Alive on arrival, but died after one day; two were sent in the same bag and one clearly died early in transit and fouled the bag water; had to do an expedited acclimation, and death appeared to be due to ammonia; asked for credit because I wanted a yellow wrasse
7. Leopard Wrasse Blue Star - Alive on arrival, but clearly injured; Mouth was bent sideways; body appeared healthy; did not survive acclimation; undoubtedly fatal injury from trying to dive in the bag; discussed with Mike and accorded to try shipment again with two different methods: 1) shipping with sand in the bag and 2) shipping with blacked out bags to reduce stress
8. Leopard Wrasse Blue Star (shipped in blacked out bag) - DOA - body shape normal
9. Leopard Wrasse Blue Star (shipped in bag with sand) - Alive - Body shape normal - behavior erratic - moved straight to a "landing pad" tank with rocks and sand, once buried in sand, eventually came out and began eating after a few days. Still alive and thriving
10. Yellow wrasse (H. chrysus) (shipped in blacked out bag) - Alive - body shape normal - rehomed
11. Yellow wrasse (H. chrysus) (shipped in bag with sand) - Alive - body shape normal - still alive and thriving

My assessment of Dr. Reef's operation is that the fish are healthy when shipped. Some errors in shipment could avoid fish losses, e.g., putting two fish in one bag (no idea if accident or on purpose). Speaking with Mike ahead of time about sensitive fish like sand sleeping wrasses would be beneficial in order to organize shipment in bags with sand.

As a side-note, there are reports of Dr. Reef's operation sending the wrong fish, particularly wrasses, either by accident or incorrectly IDing the wrasse. For some such as fairies, may be a good idea to contact Dr. Reef ahead of time to ensure that the right wrasse is sent--they often look very similar when female or beginning transition to males.

 

[RWhitt907]

My personal experience with Dr. Reef hasn't been great. The current DOA policy isn't attractive, because you're basically stuck with store credit and having to just reorder again and again, which has been frustrating because every order I've done has had issues...I had a recent order with a leaking bag, ended up losing everything, and have ordered some CUC and 1/3 were DOA on arrival or many empty shells.

Yeah shipping over and over again isn't ideal as I live in Alaska and it makes things super time sensitive for about 7 months out of the year, not to mention it's pretty expensive to ship anything up here.

 

[mrpontiac80]

They seem to be the most popular. Only 3 fish in stock right now

Sent a direct message to you.

 

[Lionfish hunter]

I was wondering how the QT fish were from Dr. Reef. I'm trying to get a Midas Blenny and Royal Gramma, I just want to make sure the general consensus is that they're healthy fish upon arrival. I know he only does 2 weeks of QT and that has me skeptical.

I got 2 straight mandarin gobies that were the wrong sex from him and a dead urchin and starfish. That being said. The fish were parasite free, and he replaced the fish over and over agin without complaint. Replaced the inverts with no complaint. He probably lost money on me with all the overnight shipping replacement fish and inverts. Humblefish and others may have a problem with him. But if you talk to him, he is very confident his fish are parasite free, and he seems genuine about it. I have received fish full of parasites from other venders that refused to replace them. He is not like that, and his prices are so reasonable for qt fish.

 

[homer1475]

While I have not directly ordered from them, from what I have read on these forums from those that have.....

Most receive the wrong fish, which then your stuck with. DOA policy has recently changed which is not very customer friendly. Many, many shipping issues, and many dead fish. It also seems to take a very long time to source the fish sometimes.

 

[wzf106]

I ordered twice from Dr Reef, 6 fish in total. No issue either times. Did have to wait a bit for shipping but wansnt in too much of a rush. All fish alive expect for a firefish, which died a few months later, dont know why. I also had 2 wrasses jump out but was my fault for not securing the lid.

 

[Big E]

They seem to be the most popular. Only 3 fish in stock right now

I've been researching FisHotel and apparently you can get most of what you want. He does massive orders direct from the region source........you order what you want and put down a small down payment.

I'm sure he'll also do request orders but you probably have to be patient.

 

[Liam's tank]

I was wondering how the QT fish were from Dr. Reef. I'm trying to get a Midas Blenny and Royal Gramma, I just want to make sure the general consensus is that they're healthy fish upon arrival. I know he only does 2 weeks of QT and that has me skeptical.

Check out tsmaquatics.com, I've gotten all of my fish from them, and all are healthy and thriving. They quarantine for 30 days and can order in what you want.

 

[brandon429]

Thoughts on Dr. Reef:

He addresses the publics demand to be completely lazy in prepping their own fish by taking steps lazy people will never take, and since the job is such a big deal to prep thousands of fish, statistically some get by without ideal preps but those who contaminate their system with skip-prep frags and cuc and corals like to be 100% sure Dr. Reef is blamed for both their original laziness plus the follow up biosecurity breaks.

In other words, it's someone else's fault even though the disease forum shows all lazies how to be their own dr Reef free of charge.

The fix: buy from Dr. Reef, ditch the laziness, qt all your items anyway he'll give you the best chance on no incoming disease of any source you can get

All preppers have get-throughs

The key is, take responsibility vs pin it on others.

@Dr. Reef I'm glad I don't have to sell anything to the masses it allows me unfettered evaluation of human traits. You do a great job man. I've seen thousands of reviews from your fish and I still direct people to your site routinely in chat work.

Perpetually skirting from start, middle to finish all the required preps every reefers knows are required for disease success is the reason for a few poor reviews among thousands of good ones.

You took care of thousands of lazy skip preppers who didn't qt a single thing after buying your fish and luckily, they evaluated you positively. You must've sold them very strong fish to live in a system with infected corals rocks and cuc from pet stores around the US


You're spoiling them so far beyond rotten they've no way to comprehend it.