Will The Live Rock Survive?

[Manny’s Reef]

Hi everyone. I'm in a slight bind here and I wanted to request your opinion on here before I contact the shipper.

I placed an order from GulfLiveRock for their premo deco rock. We scheduled delivery for today. However, I just got off the phone with Southwest Cargo who informed me that the shipment will be in at 5:35 pm and they close at 5:30 pm. They are not willing to wait 5 minutes so I can pickup the shipment. I understand why as flights are constantly delayed. They say that the soonest I can pick up the shipment would be at 5 am the next day. The airport is in Boise where night temperatures are currently falling to around 25-30 degrees. Am I going to get 100% dead rock if I accept the cargo tomorrow?

I'm certain that the shipper is going to say the rock will be fine. He has an interest in saying so. But I know you all here are more honest and don't have an interest in him selling me the rock. So will the rock be ok or am I better off having him hang onto the shipment until I can get better weather out here?

I don't mind waiting. I'm in no rush. And the SW customer service rep informed me that there is only one flight that comes in from Tampa and it always arrives at 5:30 pm. So in reality, I cannot receive a shipment same day.

In advance, I appreciate your input. Thanks.

 

[rtparty]

As you your self said the plane arrives after the close of business. Not to mention, it takes time to unload the plane. So you never could have gotten it the same day! The fact remains you ordered in the middle of winter in sub freezing weather.

This is totally false. If the vendor offers to ship this time of year (where the majority of the conuntry is cold), then they take the responsibility to ship it properly. It should have been triple bagged at a minimum with enough heat packs to last a night. The vendor is responsible as well. Don't offer live stock shipping this time of year if you are are a stand up business. Especially if the OP let them know the box(es) would be sitting overnight.

This is complete failure on their part and I always tell people to never buy this time of year. A good vendor would have packaged it properly though with the warning that sending it a cold place could mean total death. As the buyer, I would take the chance as well hoping the company I was dealing with was competent enough to package it properly.

 

[Manny’s Reef]

As you your self said the plane arrives after the close of business. Not to mention, it takes time to unload the plane. So you never could have gotten it the same day! The fact remains you ordered in the middle of winter in sub freezing weather.

To everyone else, let me make it clear what the process of ordering live rock was like. I submitted an order online. A week later I heard from seller asking what day I could pickup from airport. I gave him the date and he said he would send same day. He gave me cargo info. and when i contacted SW, i was informed i couldn't pickup until next day. So don't be confused with above comments implying you can somehow choose the time of day for the rock to be delievered.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

imo id be upset and request compensation and satisfaction! You are a customer where you expect to get what you pay for, and that is understood in any business. if you went to mc. don and they made you a big mac but they were trying to pass off old dirty burgers for the big mac and you paid big mac price and all the ingredients were old dying and falling off the burger, would you eat it and be happy ?

if it were my business and i could not offer what i was selling, for the price i am asking, i would not attempt to sell something until i could fulfill my end of the sale.
JMO not hating on anyone or anyone way i just read the posts and thats my response to it thanks, sorry you missed out on all our seal life you should see the 100$ worth of mangrove seed pods that float around here gorgonians off the seawall all kinds of stuff is in the gulf. please keep supporting GulfLiveRock it is 1 of the best our state has you saw the potential just imagine if you recieved what you paid for.. peace

 

[LRT]

Hey Buddy I wouldnt sweat it too much honestly. I made a total rookie move letting mine sit at airport for 12 hours in 115 degree weather. Yes I lost alot of life and took few weeks to get cycled and cleaned up.
Thats being said I'm still finding tons of life after a year of cure in my system.
I just pulled a cpl rocks out of my reservoir and 2 days later already have fluorescent orange polyps popping up. Sat in res for 1 yr under 1x24 watt daylight cfl lol

Highly reccomend Dan with Gulfliverock. You won't find anything like the rock And well worth the effort IMO.

 

[laverda]

Not sure what you’re after. Perhaps a participation trophy. If so here you go . Otherwise, everyone else has meaningful contributions to make so I’m just going to ignore your commentary for now and focus on the actual substance.
To everyone else, let me make it clear what the process of ordering live rock was like. I submitted an order online. A week later I heard from seller asking what day I could pickup from airport. I gave him the date and he said he would send same day. He gave me cargo info. and when i contacted SW, i was informed i couldn't pickup until next day. So don't be confused with above comments implying you can somehow choose the time of day for the rock to be delievered.

My intention was not to pass you off. I am sorry. Your Rock will be fine S I stated in my first post.

 

[Manny’s Reef]

I am sorry to hear he only used a single bag. For the amount of money you paid I would be calling him and complaining.

He's been a stellar guy to talk to on the phone. I'm sure he would be willing to at least hear me out.

 

[Manny’s Reef]

Have to say from this thread, I wish I lived in an area where they deliver to, sounds amazing rock, the only mistake the seller has made for me was not double bagging it (I would use tubs if this was my business).

I'll post a video for sure. The stuff looks incredible. There is a large gorgonian that has puffed up nicely on one of the rocks. Sad about the hitchhikers but will remain hopeful for the rest of it.

 

[Manny’s Reef]

Your rock will be fine, imo.
The rock I got in the early 90's smelled horrible but when put in tank the life it still had was so much better than most I have seen in todays market.
It was only wrapped in wet newspaper.
The die off in the tank made a very strong biofilter as its as natural as it gets.
Keep is update.

I'll for sure keep you updated. As of this morning, the smell was much better and a large gorgonian puffed up nicely.

 

[LRT]

He's been a stellar guy to talk to on the phone. I'm sure he would be willing to at least hear me out.

Agreed. From what I gather from Dan at Gulfliverock.com. Hes pretty much a 1 man mom and pop shop show. Answers the phone for order, goes and dives for your order, lets you customize sizes to boot, heads to airport and ships your order and follows up with shipping info.
Not really sure what all the fuss is about. They've been shipping rock from the ocean in bags covered with paper towels since shipping ocean rock was invented.
And shipping delays happen especially right now.

That being said you will be super happy with your order im sure. I ordered 200lbs. About to order another 100lbs and simply will not order any other rock other than Dan's rock from here on out.

 

[Manny’s Reef]

Hey Buddy I wouldnt sweat it too much honestly. I made a total rookie move letting mine sit at airport for 12 hours in 115 degree weather. Yes I lost alot of life and took few weeks to get cycled and cleaned up.
Thats being said I'm still finding tons of life after a year of cure in my system.
I just pulled a cpl rocks out of my reservoir and 2 days later already have fluorescent orange polyps popping up. Sat in res for 1 yr under 1x24 watt daylight cfl lol

Highly reccomend Dan with Gulfliverock. You won't find anything like the rock And well worth the effort IMO.

That stuff looks amazing! And truth be told, thats what my rock looks like too. All the clams are closed up and probably dead but as far as color, its very similar. Thanks for giving me hope. I've enjoyed the attention Dan has given me and he seems like a reasonable man. I'm gonna test ammonia as soon as I get home and see how bad the die off is. I'll reach out to him depending on results.

I hope people don't get the wrong impression about the post. It is in no way shape or form a complaint. It was a request for help and advice regarding the fact that I was told I could not pick up my order the day it landed. Anyhow, thanks for your input and those lovely pictures.

 

[LRT]

That stuff looks amazing! And truth be told, thats what my rock looks like too. All the clams are closed up and probably dead but as far as color, its very similar. Thanks for giving me hope. I've enjoyed the attention Dan has given me and he seems like a reasonable man. I'm gonna test ammonia as soon as I get home and see how bad the die off is. I'll reach out to him depending on results.

I hope people don't get the wrong impression about the post. It is in no way shape or form a complaint. It was a request for help and advice regarding the fact that I was told I could not pick up my order the day it landed. Anyhow, thanks for your input and those lovely pictures.

99% of my clams and inverts survived. If you can't pull them off and the are snug to rock they should be just fine
Definetely watch them but should start opening up when rock settles and params adjust.

 

[Manny’s Reef]

Agreed. From what I gather from Dan at Gulfliverock.com. Hes pretty much a 1 man mom and pop shop show. Answers the phone for order, goes and dives for your order, lets you customize sizes to boot, heads to airport and ships your order and follows up with shipping info.
Not really sure what all the fuss is about. They've been shipping rock from the ocean in bags covered with paper towels since shipping ocean rock was invented.
And shipping delays happen especially right now.

That being said you will be super happy with your order im sure. I ordered 200lbs. About to order another 100lbs and simply will not order any other rock other than Dan's rock from here on out.

This is very good feedback. I've got two brothers who are looking into getting into the hobby. I planned on getting about 200 lbs of live rock and holding it in a saltwater bin for them until they get up and running. It may stay there for a year. But I figured it would help them out immensely.

 

[Manny’s Reef]

This is totally false. If the vendor offers to ship this time of year (where the majority of the conuntry is cold), then they take the responsibility to ship it properly. It should have been triple bagged at a minimum with enough heat packs to last a night. The vendor is responsible as well. Don't offer live stock shipping this time of year if you are are a stand up business. Especially if the OP let them know the box(es) would be sitting overnight.

This is complete failure on their part and I always tell people to never buy this time of year. A good vendor would have packaged it properly though with the warning that sending it a cold place could mean total death. As the buyer, I would take the chance as well hoping the company I was dealing with was competent enough to package it properly.

Hey I appreciate your feedback. Just to clarify, I didn't know that it was going to sit overnight. I paid for same day shipping. It arrived. It just happened to arrive after the cargo department closed so that is why it had to sit overnight.
To be clear, Dan has been great to work with. I'm going to try to assess the situation better before I reach out to him requesting a solution. The issue may not be that bad according to all the responses above.

 

[LRT]

This is very good feedback. I've got two brothers who are looking into getting into the hobby. I planned on getting about 200 lbs of live rock and holding it in a saltwater bin for them until they get up and running. It may stay there for a year. But I figured it would help them out immensely.

Yessir mine sits in 2x65 gallon reservoirs and like I said very minimal 24 watt daylight cfl lighting just up until last week so thats what you can expect.

That being said ive taken this rock in emergencies and made quarantine tanks with no cycle whatsoever.
You doing that would set your brother up nice for when he's ready to roll

 

[Manny’s Reef]

imo id be upset and request compensation and satisfaction! You are a customer where you expect to get what you pay for, and that is understood in any business. if you went to mc. don and they made you a big mac but they were trying to pass off old dirty burgers for the big mac and you paid big mac price and all the ingredients were old dying and falling off the burger, would you eat it and be happy ?

if it were my business and i could not offer what i was selling, for the price i am asking, i would not attempt to sell something until i could fulfill my end of the sale.
JMO not hating on anyone or anyone way i just read the posts and thats my response to it thanks, sorry you missed out on all our seal life you should see the 100$ worth of mangrove seed pods that float around here gorgonians off the seawall all kinds of stuff is in the gulf. please keep supporting GulfLiveRock it is 1 of the best our state has you saw the potential just imagine if you recieved what you paid for.. peace

In that case, I look forward to getting more reef rock from Florida. Thanks for the input.

 

[missourimud]

Not to hijack but I’m in a similar, maybe worse situation. I ordered from gulf last week and got a confirmation they shipped Monday. I ordered just 10lbs for $70. Looking at history on FedEx it sat in Florida till Wednesday night. Apparently it got delivered today, but I won’t be able to check it for an hour yet. I was just planning on seeding my tank that’s 6 weeks running. With only dry rock. I have as of yet not received any email back whatsoever.

 

[Manny’s Reef]

Not to hijack but I’m in a similar, maybe worse situation. I ordered from gulf last week and got a confirmation they shipped Monday. I ordered just 10lbs for $70. Looking at history on FedEx it sat in Florida till Wednesday night. Apparently it got delivered today, but I won’t be able to check it for an hour yet. I was just planning on seeding my tank that’s 6 weeks running. With only dry rock. I have as of yet not received any email back whatsoever.

Did he not contact you? I had to initiate contact on my end and even then, I emailed him twice before he responded. I chose the same day shipping option for this exact reason. I didn't want the box sitting in the cold.
Give him a call. He seems reasonable over the phone.

 

[rtparty]

Hey I appreciate your feedback. Just to clarify, I didn't know that it was going to sit overnight. I paid for same day shipping. It arrived. It just happened to arrive after the cargo department closed so that is why it had to sit overnight.
To be clear, Dan has been great to work with. I'm going to try to assess the situation better before I reach out to him requesting a solution. The issue may not be that bad according to all the responses above.

The rock will be fine. Boat rock would sit wrapped in wet cardboard for 6+ weeks and make it just fine. Just took longer to cure and cycle this way.

Defintely reach out to Dan though and let him know what happened. Not even in the spirit of looking for something as much as just letting him know the single bag ripped. That way he knows he should probably double bag at a minimum.

I am in the early stages of an upgrade to a 250g peninsula and have decided to go with ocean rock from KP. Might go with Gulf Live Rock. We will see when the time comes. Watching threads like yours help me out immensely and it really helps seeing how each business handles the one off situations that arise.

 

[missourimud]

So I got home from work, opened my bag (single) it is not nearly a smelly as I was expecting. Going to bucket cycle it as my tank is already up and running. 5 approx 2 lb rocks. Shame it took so long cause the life was awesome, I’m sure lots of good stuff will survive though. Prolly no critters though. FedEx is the reason mine was held up they let it sit 3 days before it moved so not gulfs fault.
I have a cheap filter running on it and a heater, should that be enough or should I put a light on it, seems kinda pointless.

 

[Manny’s Reef]

So I got home from work, opened my bag (single) it is not nearly a smelly as I was expecting. Going to bucket cycle it as my tank is already up and running. 5 approx 2 lb rocks. Shame it took so long cause the life was awesome, I’m sure lots of good stuff will survive though. Prolly no critters though. FedEx is the reason mine was held up they let it sit 3 days before it moved so not gulfs fault.
I have a cheap filter running on it and a heater, should that be enough or should I put a light on it, seems kinda pointless.

Look at the pictures above. Someone posted rock he has in a bin. He has lights on it and it looks full of life.