Problems with mail order frags.

BigPhatReefer

BigPhatReefer

New member
Hi,

I bought some SPS coral frags on ebay, they had arrived at lunch time and i got them into the tank around 9pm. I acclimatised them for about 2.5 hours,
adding drips of water intially (for about 2 hours) and then small cup fulls every five minutes or so.
The water they came in was a little brown and there was a distinct "low tide" smell coming from them but they
had colour and looked happy enough. This was all done with the lights switched off.

When i've checked on them this morning (about 8 hours later) they appear to have lost all most all of their tissue.

Some still have patches of "flesh" but most are completely bone white. The lights had been off over night so i'm realy confused as to what
can have happened for 5 / 6 Corals to have lost all their colour / flesh so quickly.

Is it possible that Phosphate or some other issue could wipe them out this fast??

The guys feedback is spotless so i'm assuming its something i've done incorrectly.

My water parameter are:

SAL = 1.025
Ph 8.4
A = 0
No2 = 0
No3 = trace
Po = ?? Not sure as dont have kit.
ALK = 8.7 DKH
Cal = 400
MAG = ?

330 Litre.
Led & T5.
Deltec Skimmer.
Fluval ext filter.
 

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They were in the bags and acclimating for WAY too long. There's a good reason why people pay extra for morning arrival with frags shipments. Unfortunately, you just experienced it.
 
BigPhatReefer said:
Mmmm... Good point.

Wonder how they get round that when shipping things from reefs somewhere back to USA/Europe.
Click to expand...

For the US at least, most of them are next day air shipments to LAX (large LA airport) from there they are either quickly transported to or picked up by wholesalers, most of the m,ajor ones are in the LA area and near the airport. Sometimes shipments are repacked with fresh water at or very nearby LAX and sent to another US destination.
 
Yeah, I never acclimate SPS like that, and they were in the bags way too long. With all my SPS, I just do a quick temp acclimate, dip and dunk. Ideally dip and QT, but not everyone has an ideal set-up. Kudos for you for the tone of your post. A lot of people would have come on here bashing the seller!
 
They could have been in the bag to long, even tho I have not had issues with getting frags at work early in the day and not being able to deal with them until I got home later. Some other things that could have been the cause, fresh cut frags handled poorly by the seller, them getting hot or cold in transit come to mind.
 
I wish I could offer some explanation. I wanted to add that I am only able to buy my corals online and have had well over a 95% success rate with the dozens and dozens and dozens of corals I have bought over the years. That said, I avoid most of the ebay type sellers and stick with well know companies like, Live Aquaria, Pacific East Aquaculture, etc. These companies also offer no questions asked guarantees . Sorry for your problems. Ask for a refund and then order with confidence from the companies I mentioned.
 
rovster said:
Yeah, I never acclimate SPS like that, and they were in the bags way too long. With all my SPS, I just do a quick temp acclimate, dip and dunk. Ideally dip and QT, but not everyone has an ideal set-up. Kudos for you for the tone of your post. A lot of people would have come on here bashing the seller!
Click to expand...

+1 this way never fails
 
I match temp, dip, and put them in the tank.

I'm new to sps, but learned the same principal dealing with wild caught cichlids coming from all over. The most important thing was getting the fish into CLEAN water ASAP!
 
temp for 15 to 20 min.
2 1\2 cups of tank water (pending volume of water in bag) set 5 min apart.
dip
into tank....45 min tops. and that is almost all corals....i have had more sensitive sps rtn on me , but almost everything is great given good water conditions.
 
I always have UPS or FedEx hold for pick up so that I can pick the package up first thing in the am. As soon as I get home they get the plug removed, dipped, and put in the tank. I don't even bother with temp acclimation. I've had 10 sticks shipped now and using this method all had polyps out again within an hour of going in the tank. No die offs. Had too many die on me when I let the mail carrier deliver.
 
Yeah I think you can chalk this one up to your mistakes (no offense at all).. I've bought frags from a few mail order places and recently have been using reefpets on eBay with excellent success.

In the future you really should only receive frags when you are home and ready to acclimate them ASAP. Keeping them in the bag that long is not ideal and it makes your chance of keeping them alive slimmer than if you picked them up ASAP.. I usually will pick them up at FedEx ( I can pick them up at 830 vs the earliest10 am they arrive on the truck.. It's been as long as 3-4 Pm a few times) they also and they are in my tank within an hour after I get the box.

Frags are nothing like fish when it comes to acclimation them, most if not all feel the the long drip is not necessary with sps especially after what they have already been thru getting to you. You want them temp Acclimated, dipped and in the tank as fast as you can imo to have the best chance of them living and reducing as much stress as possible.. qt is a personal choice and is always going to be better than not the imo..

You mentioned nutrient levels? Do you have any other sps in the tank? If your tank is not sps ready this could have happened with frags you bought at the store and had in your tank in under an hour fwiw, so making sure it's ready is key to save the coral and your $..
 
Ok... Thanks for that every one.

So basically in future get them in ASAP! (Take the day off work to)

By "dipped" are we talking about iodine or something else?
 
How did the frags look when you first got them? Was the water already cloudy? Was the shipping box insulated? I have done very similar to what you did many of times and never lost a piece like you did. I long acclimate all my stuff and it works for me. There is a good chance these frags were on there way out before they even got to you and the RTN had nothing to do with how you acclimated them.

I have 27 pieces in my tank I mail order and had shipped to my work. They sat at my desk until I went home. I did a 2 hour acclimation then put in my tank. No problem at all. I would have 28 pieces, put a nippy rusty angle picked at a millie until it RTNed on me.
 
I always try and get the parameters of where they are coming from to see if I need to acclimate longer, with that longer time frame only being an extra 10 minutes.

As others, I temp acclimate (float bag) for 10 minutes, cut the bag and let water equilibrate for another 5-7 minutes, open bag pull out frag dip in a bowl of tank water with coral dip swishing the frag for a few minutes, then into the tank on a frag rack.

Total time from the time I open the package to on the frag rack is no more than 25-30 minutes.
 
I just take them out of the bag, sit them on top of the tank for about 5 mins, allows the acro's to slime up and pop them in.

Never lost one, colour intact and polyp extn in a matter of mins
 
BigPhatReefer said:
Ok... Thanks for that every one.

So basically in future get them in ASAP! (Take the day off work to)

By "dipped" are we talking about iodine or something else?
Click to expand...

Most SPS people here are using a couple difference Bayer Insecticide products. I'm not sure if they're available in the UK or if there is a UK equivalent...
 
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