Hi all, this is my situation, i bought 4 different zoas from a seller-private on another site. The 2 cheaper zoas, 1 looks like a solid emerald green with a dark skirt and the other is green bay packers are doing good. The 2 other palys are nuke green and purple death, the nuke green had 5 polyps at shipping now has 2 , 3 never opened, the PD had 5 polyps, none ever opened. I paid a good amount for the 2 palys , i got them in 2 days, he rushed them out, he had forgot about my shippment. Do you guys think I should be refunded for my loses ? What i did is ask him for 2 other zoas, since they usually do well with 2-3 day shipping. What cha think ?:worried:
Hello vinnie, I'm sorry to hear about your loss. It's sad to say but this happens every single day of the week. It is an inherit problem which we so seldom hear about as many seem too embarrassed to speak up so I commend you for being open about this.
Yes, you deserve a refund if they perish, but I doubt that you'll get a refund unless they do die. And even then you still might not receive replacements or a refund. Unless you and the seller spoke up front about the issue of polyp loss in transit or polyp retraction ( failure to expand ) or death, and agreed upon a possible resolution, he can merely say, " I guaranteed shipping and live arrival", if they're not expanding, it could be your tank and not my polyps which are the reason for your retracted polyps. The first thing he will think is, "this guy is trying to get over on me and wants more polyp for free". Since the advent of names and high prices, people are guarding these polyps like they are gold. Not everyone is so willing to except a stranger's word who could be running a game on them for more polyps.
To be very honest, polyp retraction is not a reason for polyp replacement. So I would give them more time to acclimate. How long have you had them? Were they dry shipped in wet paper towel or in bagged water? What was the temp in the bag upon arrival? Did you inquire of his lighting, placement and parameters? Do you know how recently were they fragged from the mother colony? How did he attach them to the frag? What was your acclimation and placement process. Did you light acclimate them?
I have said this for years, most of these small frags, it doesn't matter if they are cheap or expensive, common or rare, there is a right way and a wrong way to frag, pack, ship and acclimate. If either is done incorrectly, not only will your polyps not expand, most often they will die.
Your sorry is very very common and I truly hope to come through for you.
Can you list your parameters so maybe someone here can help you with them?
What type of lighting do you have?
Size and age of tank?
Current and type?
Fish?
How long have you had them?
Do you have any other polyps in your tank that are expanding?
Is there any sign of physical decay or degradation?
Don't worry just yet, you still might be able to save them.
Hope to hear from you soon my friend, good luck.
Mucho Reef
