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First time buying Corals online(Rastas)


AlanStanwyk

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Just ordered some zoas online, just curious about others' experiences with shipping/receiving corals through the mail? They normally make it just fine, or do you sometimes get DOA?

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almost always fine...no worries.

Nice. I take it youve ordered online plenty? Also, is a "mat" of zoas one organism, in other words if one polyp starts to die, will the others be affected? I purchased a small colony and am wondering what others do if just part of the coral arrives DOA? cut it off or just let it be and melt away?

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danthenewreefman
Nice. I take it youve ordered online plenty? Also, is a "mat" of zoas one organism, in other words if one polyp starts to die, will the others be affected? I purchased a small colony and am wondering what others do if just part of the coral arrives DOA? cut it off or just let it be and melt away?

 

each colony would probably all be dead or all be alive. zoanthid are indestructable (aside from notorious expensive melters)

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jeff@zina.com
They normally make it just fine, or do you sometimes get DOA?

I no longer get DOAs. I also stopped ordering from those sites that send DOAs. :)

 

Zoas will normally survive or not as a colony, but a single polyp could be cut off the mat if you needed to. If any polyps don't open in a day or two, contact the place you bought them from and request help/replacement. Reputable sellers will be a big help.

 

Jeff

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Mostly it'd depend on weather conditions, packing, and most importantly shipping. All shipping methods can fail and then you have to deal with the pain in the ass process of getting it corrected. Usually it happens when you order the last one of something so that it can't be replaced if it's dead or you never receive it. Haha Murphy's law really applies.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ive had far better luck with colony's than i have with frags. zoa's are tough, they can usually survive 3 day shipping. just wrap them in a damp paper towel and off they go. rastas have had a history of melting post fragging so i would be more concerned with them having enough time to heal.

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  • 1 month later...

I've always been iffy about ordering coral online the best way IMO is find a good reputable LFS. There may be less selection which is the downside or a long drive. I will probably try ordering some frags first to get used to having corals shipped.

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danthenewreefman

better yet...find out who that LFS get its coral from. In my experience MOST get them from a local wholesaler. Find that person and you won't be ordering online anymore.

 

But a fellow reefer on here is the best source to find those "hot" items for cheap-er-ish sometimes.

 

 

Local wholesalers will generally buy your coral too, at a fair price so you don't have to ship stuff either!

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During hurricane Ike Glenn had sent me some corals thinking it was headed further south. When the hurricane hit us instead the package was in UPSs possession for 8 days in hot weather. Of course all the sps was dead but the zoas he sent survived.

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Ive had far better luck with colony's than i have with frags. zoa's are tough, they can usually survive 3 day shipping. just wrap them in a damp paper towel and off they go. rastas have had a history of melting post fragging so i would be more concerned with them having enough time to heal.

 

That's funny, it's been the opposite for me.

I uniformly have had bad luck purchasing Zoa colonies, frags have done much better for me.

 

Couple quick tips:

Don't drip acclimate, just float for 20 mins then place frag/s in tank at bottom.

Either keep dark the first day or keep shaded at first.

I strongly suggest dipping after float acclimating.

Revive Coral Cleaner would be my first choice for dipping, lugol's iodine would be second choice.

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