Frozen Live Rock

[fyrefysh]

So, quick question for you all. I won't get in to any details about this so I don't flame the company first before taking care of business.

Anyways, I ordered Fiji "premium" live rock from a place online a few weeks ago. After placing the order, I received confirmation that the order had been received (this was on a Saturday). Monday came along and I waited for a tracking number . . . nothing. Tuesday morning, I sent an email inquiring about my purchase and expected a reply by the afternoon . . . nothing. Wednesday I desperately tried to find a phone number for the company but was unsuccessful and was still waiting for an email reply . . . nothing. Wednesday morning I sent a "firm" email and expected a reply . . . nothing. Thursday, came home from work in the snow only to discover a box sitting on the porch. Guess what? It was my live rock which had been sitting on the porch for the last 4 1/2 hours in ~ 28 (f) temperatures with a nice tear right down the corner. The tear was so big, that I could look at the live rock within the box.

So . . . my question is, is this a bad thing? I have been letting the rock "cure" in my aquarium for the last three weeks and the skimmer has been going nuts since the day I put the rock in. Please let me know your thoughts and thank you in advance.

 

[Tang Salad]

That sounds very bad. If the LR actually froze, then there'd be some major die-off. It'd essentially be really dirty base rock, although some bacteria might survive the freeze.

 

[Mattmcf]

i would assume that if the rock got that cold you should not expect any life to survive. Everything on the rock is tropical and is most likely dead. Your skimmer is "going nuts" because of all of the die off. I would demand a refund and just keep the current rock as base and seed it with new live rock. If you took pics you could use those as leverage with the company. Good luck.

 

[fyrefysh]

Thanks, I was very certain that this was the answer, but I needed backup confirmation. I do seem to be getting a full refund. When I did finally call the company (after finding their phone number on the UPS slip), the guy said that this shouldn't be a problem for the rock and that the heat is "much worse". I don't know about that, I think that both extremes are just as bad and am sorry that I ever bought rock from them.

 

[seapug]

The company bungled your order. Ask for a refund and tell them you will share your experiences in the vendor feedback forum here where hundreds of thousands of people visit each day. Mistakes happen, but it's up to them if what you post will be positive or negative.

 

[plyr58]

What company?

 

[ryan_paskadi]

Bacteria can withstand freezing tropical species or not. So its not all dead.

 

[fyrefysh]

I was able to get a FULL refund and so therefore I will not discuss who the company is in this thread; however, I may contact them to tell them that I will leave a full writeup of what happened on the vendor feedback forum. I think that this is only fair to them and this community.

 

[sdheath]

Glad to hear they took care of it. All companies make mistakes; what separates the good from bad is how they handle it when something goes wrong.

 

[rbursek]

If you got a tracking time would you have been home to recieve it? If not it is not there fault about the weather,IMO, and the UPS trucks are not heated in back, so it could possibly feeze on the truck.

 

[fyrefysh]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12403135#post12403135 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rbursek
If you got a tracking time would you have been home to recieve it? If not it is not there fault about the weather,IMO, and the UPS trucks are not heated in back, so it could possibly feeze on the truck.

Yes, I would have been there to receive it, that's why I wanted a tracking number. I'm not sure about feezing but I'm sure that it is likely that it could have froze on the truck, but unlikely, they do keep the doors closed on them around here in the cold (most of the time).