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Beware "Spooky Mantis Mountain" REINJURED LEFT KNEE


aviator300

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Yeah my blood would be boiling too! Looking at their refund policy, they do state that shipping costs are not refunded, which sucks. But if you follow their requirements to the tee, you should be able to get credit for livestock. Maybe you could give them a call and ask them to take a picture of another mantis before it ships and email you the pic. That way, you'll know that they didn't ship you a dead manits from the get go.

 

I often wonder about how shops may send dead or dying livestock to customers and then just blame it on UPS.......

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I doubt bluezoo sent you an already dead mantis. They are a pretty good company. I have ordered from them many times and they have always given store credit for DOA's or anything that dies within 7 days as long as you have pictures for proof. This is their policy. Most places give store credit except LA/DD.

 

Both my mantis shrimp came from them. I ordered a purple spot and they sent a peacock by mistake... then sent me the purple spot once I told them of the error. I ended up with two mantis for the price of one so that was nice. Both arrived healthy.

 

Sorry yours didn't make it :( Sometimes luck just isn't on our side.

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I'm done. cant afford more shipping, besides, what if the next one is also dead. I've been reading tons of bad reviews on Blue Zoo today for the same thing. One gal received a dead fish and took advantage of the store credit and paid the 2nd shipping and that one arrived dead also.

 

Blue Zoo has more than a few complaint cases opened in 2014 with the California Better Business Bureau and they are not recommended. I agree that you and others have had good experiences with them but many others have not and it's how they provide customer service to those "have nots" that shows the true colors of the company.

 

In my case, the animal had only been packed for less than 16hrs before it arrived but was stiff, cold, and already smelled of decay. The water it came in had a spgr of 1.020, a salt concentration of 27, and an Ammonia level of 1.0, Upon opening, the water had a temp of 73.2 F .

 

As you said in your post, "sometimes luck just isn't on our side" but i feel that luck has little to do with it. If these animals are properly selected, examined, and prepared for shipping, luck should not come into play. If a company like this is not able to reliably ship healthy live animals (as evidenced by the complaints), then maybe they should not sell them at all. I just dont think that we should have to rely on "good luck" to receive healthy livestock.

 

I think that a lot of us tend to accept poor customer service policies like Blue Zoos DOA policy in the aquarium trade that we would never accept in other aspects of our daily lives.. Unfortunately, I cannot afford to pay a second shipping charge to use Blue Zoos store credit and even if i could, They are out of stock on my Mantis species..

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I have ordered from them numerous times and get no more dead fish than I do from Live Aquaria. Fish do die in shipping though, from any venor regardless if they were healthy or shipped correctly. They have personally called me a few times when weather conditions were not favorable to change shipping dates or do hold for pickup so it wouldn't be on the truck. I have also gotten a few orders from them in the middle of winter without much problem.

 

What makes you think it wasn't healthy? was it damaged in any way? Was it packed poorly? 73 degrees does not seem absurd for shipping. I have gotten things in the 60's. As the temp drops, O2 rises and pH drops which protects fish from ammonia poisoning. Lower temps help reduce stress as well as they become lethargic. A slow decline isn't that bad but a quick spike is harmful. The lower temp is normal for shipping, it isn't just blue zoo and I would say LA packs the best followed by blue zoo. Reefs2go packs awful. PEA packs well but their styrofoam is cutout so it has air leaks so I would rank them below bluezoo and LA.

 

I can not think of one vendor that refunds shipping charges. I don't think they could stay in business if they did. I agree it is a shame they only offer store credit, it is the one reason that keeps me from ordering more often from them. If I ordered 4 fish and 1 died, who wants to play $40 for 1 fish again? It's crappy for sure. I would talk to them about how you can't replace your order. Maybe they will bend the rules for you. Tell them you can't keep fish with a mantis and there is no telling when bluezoo will have a mantis again so the credit is useless to you. Be calm and try to be convincing to get a refund instead of store credit.

 

I can tell you that KP aquatics has mantis shrimp and they will give you store credit OR refund your money (not shipping though ofc) if you would rather purchase a mantis from a company that will directly refund you. LA as well. I would hate to see you give up so soon :( They are worth all the frustration.

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While I agree that you shouldn't give up, I can't imagine how disappointing and discouraging it is to receive a dead something in the mail. I'm lucky, in 3 months I've only lost one coral.

 

If you really can't afford another go at a mantis shrimp, I hope you'll consider taking the tank in a different direction. Or continue making the tank the best mantis home it can be and try again in a few weeks or months.

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KP Aquatics also has shrimp, see if there's anything you like. Stinks you lost it though. Being an invert though, they are more sensitive so it just didn't make it. Hopefully they'll make good for you.

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Thanks for all the encouragement everyone. I just hate it when something like this happens and i guess i just need a few days to calm down. We all know that we spend too much money on this hobby and how much time and energy goes into a project like this.

 

I was terribly disappointed today after spending tons of time and money on this project only to have the Mantis arrive dead and then at about 5pm, my wife gets home from work and says something like "I told you to stop wasting so much money on this hobby and look what happens now when you dont listen to me". She means well and loves me dearly but just doesn't support my reefkeeping at all.

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As you may know, The Mantis (G. Smithii) i ordered was DOA when it arrived last Tuesday. I was pretty bummed out for a couple days but then i got going on ordering another one from Blue Zoo aquatics as a replacement.

 

Well, a lot of things have happened over the last week and i'll tell Y'all about it tomorrow but i've got to get some sleep tonight.

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Dropping hints then not telling us anything evilz I tells ya.

 

I love your scape BTW. How thick is the I/D that PVC pipe? i need to make a bigger cave for Judy soon.

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Dropping hints then not telling us anything evilz I tells ya.

 

I love your scape BTW. How thick is the I/D that PVC pipe? i need to make a bigger cave for Judy soon.

+1 on the no info... hahah

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Here goes but may sound like a soap opera.

 

After Mr Barlow arrived dead I talked with Blue Zoo Aquatics about a replacement but all they initially told me was to send them pics and then they would research to see if i'd qualify for a "store credit" but they don't pay for shipping or give any refunds. I was really upset and angry and besides, they didn't have any other Smithii's to ship and didn't know when they would. I then read horror stories of other folks who had similar experiences with Blue Zoo but then, things started changing for the better.

 

I called and e-mailed numerous times and finally reached Josh Gonzalez in the information services dept at Blue Zoo. He talked to me and read the incident report i had filed about my dead Mantis and advised me he would try to help and he would get back to me.

 

During this time i continued to search for another G. Smithii without luck. I even thought about ordering an N. Wennerae from Tampa Bay Saltwater but decided to wait to hear the "bad news" from Josh at Blue Zoo.

 

Last Friday Josh contacted me and said he had arranged to have another G. Smithii shipped to me free of charge but said it could be weeks before they had another one in stock. I had mixed emotions about this because i was happy about the totally free new mantis but i wanted it last week and not several weeks down the road. I just said ^#*% and decided to wait.

 

Yesterday evening i get a phone call from someone i didn't know from Blue Zoo who advised me that they just shipped a G.Smithii to me FedEx and it would be here by 10:30 am this morning. I was a bit skeptical due to the fact that the rep didn't know much about the order and just said his computer generated the phone call to me in response to the original Mantis order that just kept revolving from last week. He said he couldn't confirm with anyone if in fact anything was really shipped but I figured it was for real after i got an e-mail notification from FedEx with tracking.

 

Well, my Mantis (Clarence) arrived this morning in great condition and was added to the tank after acclimating In addition to Josh Gonzalez at Blue Zoo, i also want to thank Israel Osuna who is the livestock manager there. Israel took it upon himself to search for and find another G. Smithii for me way sooner than expected.

 

I guess i owe a lot to Blue Zoo Aquatics for demonstrating some of the best customer service i've seen and will order from them again.

 

Important FYI. I was told the only reason they shipped me another mantis free of charge was that i took the time to TEST the water that the dead mantis came in which showed it was in fact unsafe and possibly the cause of death.

 

Now, on to the homecoming and pics

 

Clarence was drip acclimated for 90min and then added to the tank. I've read other threads where the mantis goes straight to the back of the tank and cowers in the rockwork for sometimes days or weeks but not Clarence. He went straight for a Nassarius snail and dragged it into the U shaped tunnel i built for him and started banging away (how cool is this). Anyway, he sticks his little head out of the tunnel and looks to see if i'm watching then goes back inside and bangs away some more. He is really interactive.

He is about 2 1/4 inches long right now...

 

I want to kind of leave him alone right now and not take any pics but i will within a day or two. I'm also happy to answer any questions Y'all might have..

 

Oh, BTW the inside diameter of the pipe is 3/4"

 

Acclimating

http://s513.photobucket.com/user/fsuggs50/media/b303d8bb-d688-461d-8ef3-7041a1c8f1df_zps22ce40b1.jpg.html'>b303d8bb-d688-461d-8ef3-7041a1c8f1df_zps

In acclimation box

http://s513.photobucket.com/user/fsuggs50/media/20141028_111445_zps4bb4320a.jpg.html'>20141028_111445_zps4bb4320a.jpg

 

 

 

 

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Good tale.

 

Nice looking specimen.

 

I think I will be bumping Judy up to 1 or 1.5 inch pipe. I've already noticed her having to exit her den to turn around.

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I thought about doing 1" pipe but i've been reading anything i can get my hands on about these animals and it seems they like very snug burrows. Dr Caldwell says a burrow should be no wider than 1.5 times the animals width and have 2 exits. He goes on to say that if the burrow is too wide, they may just fill it with rocks and rubble to make it narrower.

 

What are you feeding Judy?

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They def like narrow burrows. I gave ivy a bigger one since she needs growing room so she filled it with sand :)

 

I am so glad they were able to find another smithii for you. That is great!

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I feed Judy lrs reef frenzy but she isn't picky. I watched her snatch cobalt aquatics omni flake food it of the water column one day. I feed her on my days off as there are plentiful numbers of crabs and snails in the tank to keep her fed if she needs it.

 

Heck i bet she gets her share of the food i give my wrasse and clown in the tank.

 

 

I got some 1.5 inch abs for Judy. If she fills itwith sand she fills it with sand i have a 40lb bag of the stuff laying around.

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They def like narrow burrows. I gave ivy a bigger one since she needs growing room so she filled it with sand :)

 

I am so glad they were able to find another smithii for you. That is great!

Thanks so much. I'm a bit embarrassed by the way i carried on after the first one came dead but i just lost it when they originally said "we shall see if you qualify for a store credit"

 

It was just so cool when he grabbed the snail as soon as i put him in the tank, went right into the burrow i made for him, and started banging away.

 

Anyway, thanks for following. AVIATOR

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You get very attached very quickly to these awesome inverts. That's why I was sad when Gertie killed her sis but proud of her for growing past her and being more social and accepting food from my hands as she was smaller than her and she persevered. The strongest did survive.

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Woke up this morning and checked Clarence's tank. I found the battered shell of the snail he ate yesterday but i also found something a bit puzzling.

As i said in my last post, i gave Clarence a piece of thawed and rinsed raw shrimp yesterday and he eagerly took it into his den for dinner i thought? This morning i also found that piece of shrimp still intact caught in some of the live rock outside his den. I'm a little confused over why he didn't eat it. Has anyone else out there had an experience like this?

 

Anyway, today i put a cerith snail right in front of his den and waited to take a video (which i haven't figured out yet how to post) of him eating the snail. Well, the little dickens came out of his den, walked right past the cerith, and dragged a fairly large (3/4") Astrea Turbo snail into his den. He's been pounding away on it for a couple hours now.

 

Should i try another piece of shrimp tomorrow or what. I don't want him to grow dependent on only live food?

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Don't feed daily, it'll be wasted, they won't eat. Keep them hungry and they won't be as picky. I feed mine twice a week, if she wonders around the tank then I know she's hungry.

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Well, nothing much happened on the mountain today. Clarence was taking a day off in his den and i could hear occasional clicks but nothing big. I heeded some good advice and didn't offer any food today. I'll wait till i see him wandering around his tank licking his lips and then offer him some shrimp and see if he eats it this time.

 

I think i'll do a full battery of water testing tomorrow just to see where we're at on day 4 on Spooky Mountain. Maybe i'll celebrate Halloween by telling the trick or treaters to retrieve their candy from the bottom of his tank. Only kidding parents.

 

Once Clarence gets familiar with his new home and decides to get out of the house and socialize more, i'll take pics and i also plan on doing a video of him eating shrimp off the barbie but for now, thats all and i'll catch Y'all later.

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OOOO.... I can't wait to see.

 

HaHa, I haven't even gotten my first SW tank off the ground and I already want a mantis tank and a mangrove tank... Maybe I can combine the two... Hum???

 

I love the tank, can't wait to see another update.

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