Buying corals online?

[Hunter Lang]

I wanted to know y’all’s opinions on buying corals online? I never have always buy from my local marine store but lately they have just had the “same ol” stuff and nothing interesting or I already have it. I have looked online at some really cool sps and lps but am a little sketched out from buying online? 

Any thoughts? Has anyone had any success? And which websites do you guys recommend 

[Christopher Marks]

Please consider supporting our community sponsors, we have many awesome coral vendors who help support Nano-Reef, they all have WYSIWYG options. 😊

[Tamberav]

Cultivated Reef seems to send corals bigger/better than I ordered 🙂

[mcarroll]

More risky since can see neither the coral nor the tank nor the store before you buy.  

 

Are you able to QT coral in a separate system for at least a few weeks?

[shaner014]

12 hours ago, Hunter Lang said:

I wanted to know y’all’s opinions on buying corals online? I never have always buy from my local marine store but lately they have just had the “same ol” stuff and nothing interesting or I already have it. I have looked online at some really cool sps and lps but am a little sketched out from buying online? 

Any thoughts? Has anyone had any success? And which websites do you guys recommend 

 

All of the established vendors should be as easy, if not easier than LFS purchases. If you've exhausted your options locally, then certainly consider buying online with confidence. The "facebook marketplace" is much riskier than any established online vendor. Most online stores will have gone much furthere than you're local shop to keep any pests from the system as well, given that their grow-outs and frag tanks need to stay absolutely pest-free. I think that's a part of the "increased cost" that is often overlooked. I rarely, if ever, hear of pest issues coming from the top vendors. 

 

As @Christopher Marks said, the vendors here have been vetted by the community many times over, and for the most part result in perfect transactions. Do know that you may be taking time off work to facilitate the delivery, and memorize their DOA policy should, unfortunately, the need arise. 

[Kellie in CA]

I've had great luck with online vendors.  No DOA's and everything has been healthy and pest free.  However, the pictures you see online are generally enhanced in some way so I have had quite a few pieces that didn't look nearly as spectacular in person, or were a different color altogether.