Thoughts on online coral purchases

[GammaYankee]

Hi everyone. I am new to the hobby and just started to add corals to my 25 gallon AIO tank. I recently received a shipment of 3 torches and 5 hammers from a reputable online seller.
One of the torches arrived with brown jelly, which was covered under the DOA policy. A day later, the two other torches and two hammers started developing brown jelly. Up to today, out of the 8 euphyllias I ordered, all torches are gone and the two other hammers are most likely goners. That 5 out of 8 corals I purchased dead within two days... That's quite some money wasted.

I contacted the seller, and obviously, none of the 4 euphyllias that showed signs of BJD a day later is covered under DOA. The seller was supportive and tried to guide me through the dipping/treatment process. However, I am super upset. Even though I know the dead on "ARRIVAL" is set like this for a reason... Maybe I just had bad luck this time...

Want to know the opinions on online coral purchases from more experienced reefers. I personally will lean heavily toward purchasing from other local hobbyists. But should online coral purchases be avoided?

 

[andrewjjones1212]

Hammers and torches I’ve found to be the hardest to ship, so not surprised. How old is your tank?

Still a big fan of purchasing online however.

 

[spike]

Euphyllia are difficult coral to ship. That is one of the reasons I do not deal much with Euphyllia. If you do not mind me asking, how where they in the bag? Where they loose, wrapped inplastic, hung upside down? When we take Euphillia to shows I hang it upside down with ecoskeleton wedged into a piece of styrofoam.

 

[Jdadams]

I’ve ordered tons of frags from folks on reef2reef, some from Instagram who are very reputable and top shelf aquatics. Never had any issues unless they were of my own fault. Just always have coral dip for anything new and for euphyllia I’d recommend looking up kung fu corals for his KFC coral dip. His stuff just about brings them back from the dead and he has tons of feedback and pics to prove it. Hope you have better luck next time!

 

[GammaYankee]

Hammers and torches I’ve found to be the hardest to ship, so not surprised. How old is your tank?

Still a big fan of purchasing online however.

My tank is about 5 months old. And I already have couple torches living happily inside the tank.

 

[GammaYankee]

Euphyllia are difficult coral to ship. That is one of the reasons I do not deal much with Euphyllia. If you do not mind me asking, how where they in the bag? Where they loose, wrapped inplastic, hung upside down? When we take Euphillia to shows I hang it upside down with ecoskeleton wedged into a piece of styrofoam.

The euphyllias are wrapped in plastic, but not hung upside down with a piece of foam. It wasn't super well packed, but not too sloppy either.

 

[GammaYankee]

I’ve ordered tons of frags from folks on reef2reef, some from Instagram who are very reputable and top shelf aquatics. Never had any issues unless they were of my own fault. Just always have coral dip for anything new and for euphyllia I’d recommend looking up kung fu corals for his KFC coral dip. His stuff just about brings them back from the dead and he has tons of feedback and pics to prove it. Hope you have better luck next time!

I have dipped them and added them to a QT.
I will check the KFC coral dip, thanks for the recommendation.

 

[andrewjjones1212]

I’d say the ones cover under DOA are just that, and the ones that didn’t make it later are just the unfortunate risk of having torches and hammers shipped. Again I find they are the most stressed corals of those you can ship.

 

[hzheng33]

my opinion is that it's better off buying euphyllia from hobbyists since most of the euphyllias that you see online are wild and have not truly adapted to the home aquaria environment. furthermore, shipping of fleshy corals is very stressful and often led to damage of the tissues regardless of how careful the vendor ships them. in a sense, the corals may not have BJD while at the farm but due to the stress factor(s) that took place between transit.

 

[GammaYankee]

my opinion is that it's better off buying euphyllia from hobbyists since most of the euphyllias that you see online are wild and have not truly adapted to the home aquaria environment. furthermore, shipping of fleshy corals is very stressful and often led to damage of the tissues regardless of how careful the vendor ships them. in a sense, the corals may not have BJD while at the farm but due to the stress factor(s) that took place between transit.

Lesson learnt, in a hard way... Thanks Hui.

 

[DiefsReef]

Hi everyone. I am new to the hobby and just started to add corals to my 25 gallon AIO tank. I recently received a shipment of 3 torches and 5 hammers from a reputable online seller.
One of the torches arrived with brown jelly, which was covered under the DOA policy. A day later, the two other torches and two hammers started developing brown jelly. Up to today, out of the 8 euphyllias I ordered, all torches are gone and the two other hammers are most likely goners. That 5 out of 8 corals I purchased dead within two days... That's quite some money wasted.

I contacted the seller, and obviously, none of the 4 euphyllias that showed signs of BJD a day later is covered under DOA. The seller was supportive and tried to guide me through the dipping/treatment process. However, I am super upset. Even though I know the dead on "ARRIVAL" is set like this for a reason... Maybe I just had bad luck this time...

Want to know the opinions on online coral purchases from more experienced reefers. I personally will lean heavily toward purchasing from other local hobbyists. But should online coral purchases be avoided?

Sorry to hear this happened to you. I find Torches are the hardest to get settled in.

Below is the link for KFC's process, but I follow the steps discussed by AquaBiomics on R2R. An observation I've had is you may need to perform these steps again after introducing new fish or coral to the system.
I had issues with several torch losses. I followed the steps outlined by AquaBiomics and all my issues were resolved. No issues for several months until I introduced some new fish that were qt'd but with no antibiotics during the qt. After 2 - 3 weeks I started seeing issues with a torch again. I lost the entire 3 head colony within 2 days. Now I am dosing cipro again and have seen no other Euphyllia effected so far.
Hope this helps!

The KFC Dip - A game changer in keeping healthy Euphyllia

Version: 1.1 (Updated 8/20/22) Please check this link for the latest version as the version included in the med kit but be outdated: https://kungfucorals.com/blogs/news/the-kfc-dip-a-game-changer-in-keeping-healthy-euphyllia PRE-WASH and POST WASH:!! Make sure to pre-wash corals before going...

kungfucorals.com

Experimenting with in-tank antibiotic treatments for Brown Jelly Disease

Brown Jelly Disease (BJD) is an issue many reefers have run into. Like most coral diseases, the pathogen causing BJD has not been conclusively determined. Here I will share some observations and test results supporting the idea that its caused by...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[GammaYankee]

Sorry to hear this happened to you. I find Torches are the hardest to get settled in.

Below is the link for KFC's process, but I follow the steps discussed by AquaBiomics on R2R. An observation I've had is you may need to perform these steps again after introducing new fish or coral to the system.
I had issues with several torch losses. I followed the steps outlined by AquaBiomics and all my issues were resolved. No issues for several months until I introduced some new fish that were qt'd but with no antibiotics during the qt. After 2 - 3 weeks I started seeing issues with a torch again. I lost the entire 3 head colony within 2 days. Now I am dosing cipro again and have seen no other Euphyllia effected so far.
Hope this helps!

The KFC Dip - A game changer in keeping healthy Euphyllia

Version: 1.1 (Updated 8/20/22) Please check this link for the latest version as the version included in the med kit but be outdated: https://kungfucorals.com/blogs/news/the-kfc-dip-a-game-changer-in-keeping-healthy-euphyllia PRE-WASH and POST WASH:!! Make sure to pre-wash corals before going...

kungfucorals.com

Experimenting with in-tank antibiotic treatments for Brown Jelly Disease

Brown Jelly Disease (BJD) is an issue many reefers have run into. Like most coral diseases, the pathogen causing BJD has not been conclusively determined. Here I will share some observations and test results supporting the idea that its caused by...

www.reef2reef.com

Wow, this is really useful! I may treat my whole QT with ciprofloxacin. BTW, how did you get your hands on these antibiotics?

 

[Jdadams]

Wow, this is really useful! I may treat my whole QT with ciprofloxacin. BTW, how did you get your hands on these antibiotics?

MIDLAND VET SERVICES Aqua-Mox Forte Amoxicillin Fish Antibiotic, 100 count - Chewy.com

Buy Midland Vet Services Aqua-Mox Forte Amoxicillin Fish Antibiotic, 100 count at Chewy.com. FREE shipping and the BEST customer service!

www.chewy.com

MIDLAND VET SERVICES Aqua-Cipro Forte Ciprofloxacin Fish Antibiotic, 30 count - Chewy.com

Buy Midland Vet Services Aqua-Cipro Forte Ciprofloxacin Fish Antibiotic, 30 count at Chewy.com. FREE shipping and the BEST customer service!

www.chewy.com

 

[Jdadams]

With the cipro you will need to dose at night and water change next day and repeat daily. Light breaks down cipro.

 

[Jdadams]

Kung fu corals also sells this as a kit if you interested in following his method in the future.

KFC Med Kit

SHIPPING: Please note that we only ship out twice a week.. Usually tues and wed. If you need it soon, please contact us via Instagram @kungfucorals to make other arrangements. The Full Kit includes everything you need to make about 48 gallons of dip water. -Brightwell Restor 500ml-Brightwell...

kungfucorals.com

 

[DiefsReef]

Wow, this is really useful! I may treat my whole QT with ciprofloxacin. BTW, how did you get your hands on these antibiotics?

I purchased through Chewy linked above. If you can get a vet to give you a script you can get a great deal on generic but i dont know anyone that has been able to find a vet to give one.

 

[GammaYankee]

I purchased through Chewy linked above. If you can get a vet to give you a script you can get a great deal on generic but i dont know anyone that has been able to find a vet to give one.

I saw those Aqua-Mox products. Just felt like it was more or less like a rip-off, charging extra to help you get around the prescription. Anyways, I bought some on Chewy as well...

The KFC dip kit is also quite expensive, but that's more understandable, considering all the experiments they did.

 

[ActiveAngel]

Outside of dipping, and corals prone to shipping issues, i still avoid online coral purchases. I like to see the tanks that i get coral from, so that i know what pests to expect (if any) during QT.

The exception would be for a rare coral, not to be confused with expensive coral. (Some rare corals are ultra cheap, and many expensive corals are common.)

Otherwise, keeping local also helps support LFS and hobbyists.

 

[gill]

I would buy euphylia locally.