Jonathan Gonzales Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 I have a question about ordering corals online. I have seen some sites aquarium depot to be specific with what appears to be nice selections at great prices. Has anyone bought from them? Or does anyone have any sites to recommend? also would anyone be interested in going in on an order and split shipping costs? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 I've got a number saved but I try to buy locally or with other members first. Cheaper and much less stress getting them from a LFS or person's house into my tank. Here's ones that I recommend based on my personal experience with them. https://austinaquafarms.com/ - AAF is local if you haven't seen them. They have ebay auctions and an online store. You can pickup in person Saturdays. Liveaquaria, Diver's Den especially. http://www.liveaquaria.com/ http://uniquecorals.com/ http://vividaquariums.com/ https://www.cherrycorals.com/ http://www.aquascapers.com/ (Looks like they are out of any stock, but great place for gorgs, and some random zoas, anemones, and ricordea) https://www.saltyunderground.com/ http://rockymountainfrags.com/ I'm sure there's many more reputable dealers, but I can attest to having good experiences with these ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Gott Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Definitely see what's available through fellow club members first! The "want to buy" forum is great. Also, if ordering online, I totally recommend organizing a group buy. Most of these sites have a deal on shipping when you go above a certain pricing tier. My favorite place to buy coral online is http://www.cultivatedreef.com. It's run by Greg, and he's super cool and easy to talk to. He doesn't have the selection of other, larger vendors but he has a lot of connections, and can generally find what I want. He tends to get an idea of what I like and surprise me with options I didn't even know I wanted, too. He always ends up giving me more than what I order, and the customer service is the best I've ever had anywhere. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 I have a question about ordering corals online. I have seen some sites aquarium depot to be specific with what appears to be nice selections at great prices. Has anyone bought from them? Or does anyone have any sites to recommend? also would anyone be interested in going in on an order and split shipping costs? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Check out the thread here: http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/37496-aquarium-depot-formerly-reefs2go/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Oh dear, I didn't realize they were the same company. There's no shortage of reviews on that company all over the internet. I'll leave that one at caveat emptor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 There is so much available locally I find it hard to imagine you couldn't find most if not all of what you are looking for locally. Like Jestep pointed out there's a lot less stress for the animal. You also can see what lighting and aquarium conditions it is doing well in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 I buy nearly all of my corals locally, unless I need to reach free shipping or it's something not readily available. Ordering corals online will bust your budget super fast and the pictures are hardly accurate and normally Photoshopped to death. The last fish that I purchased in June is the last fish that I will buy locally for a long time. I've had a permanent QT set up for nearly a year and every fish that I buy goes through the same process. I don't know what's going this year, but 8 fish from the LFS have died within a week while 18/20 live order fish have gone through just fine. I write reviews on websites that I've used at Color Reef. I'm a few behind, but they're all personal experience written objectively (hopefully!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phamily Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 Like many other people mentioned...if you can't find it locally then buy online. Unless you willing to buy a pack of at least $300 to get the free shipping ($45-60) then I don't think it would be worth it. Eventually once u get in that stage of your reefing life/addiction you will have to go the online route. Make sure to do your research about the vendor before you buy too and always pay with paypal(don't send it as gift if you don't know or trust them) that way paypal can protect your purchase if there is anything wrongSent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FluxCapacitor Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 I've ordered from worldwidecorals.com, austinaquafarms.com (local pickup), and tidalgardens.com. I'd say that the first two are really good. Tidalgardens is a bit overpriced compared to some other places and the frags I got from there came with some bubble algae and aiptasia. I'm pretty sure I've gotten rid of the aiptasia months after it being introduced into my systems but the bubble algae is quite a bit more difficult IMO. I'm not knocking tidalgardens, they do have some good pieces and I probably would order from them again, I will just be way more careful about putting the frag in my display tank before making 100% sure it won't introduce anything new. Worldwidecorals is pretty top notch in terms of making sure there aren't any "extra" critters in the frags. I don't mean pods, they are on everything.... but I haven't had any issues with creatures I didn't want getting into my system from them. They have some good selections and their "reef starter pack" is pretty cool for the price. Buying locally from people running private tanks is definitely the cheapest way to buy corals that I've found. You also get the chance to see the tank that they came from. I recommend that if you buy from an online vendor that you buy enough to get over their "free shipping" limit so that you don't have to pay the high cost of shipping separately. Aka, it doesn't make sense to buy a $20 frag and then pay $30 for shipping because you've basically bought a $50 frag of something that is only really a $20 frag. I know that's not rocket science but there are good deals to be had. Also, WWC often packages t-shirts with their shipments for free.... and last time I ordered from them I got a free Orphek flashlight that looks super cool on the corals when the lights are out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Good Greef Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 I wish there was a legit site for wysiwyg, mini colonies of maricultured Acros. Got enough frag sized ones already and only Aquadome or RCA ever seem to have a decent amt of choices once new boxes arrive. I know I can buy a box and roll the dice. But dont have enough space to keep ones I don't like nor time to try and sell/frag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 Just Reef got some in last week. http://www.austinreefclub.com/index.php?/topic/37680-Holy-acros! Unique corals has plenty and vividaquariums sometimes has them in your wysiwyg section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 And Unique is having a wysiwyg 15% off sale today and tomorrow. Use code: SHSUC15 at checkout Sunday and Monday ONLY! 15% OFF all Livestock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted October 30, 2016 Share Posted October 30, 2016 Pacific east aquaculture has some Aussie colonies in stock now as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Good Greef Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 Thx Ty for the heads up. Last time I went to Just reef he didnt have the tank setup yet. Ill check those sites too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 If you're looking for a lot of coral, you can talk to the shops around Austin and see if they'll cut you a deal for a bulk order. You may be able to get a box of maricultures at a lot cheaper than cherry picking frags online. And maricultures can really lead to some beautiful gems, my favorites in my tank were nasty ugly maricultures that I gave a try and then colored up beautifully under my lights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FluxCapacitor Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 If you want a large colony of acan's you can get those from Austin Aqua Farms.... they frequently have colonies with 50+ heads that are very reasonably priced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Gonzales Posted November 1, 2016 Author Share Posted November 1, 2016 Thanks everyone for your input. I was mainly wanting to order to find some of those really nice colors, but after talking to a few people and visiting some of the LFS I was able to find some cool stuff. I doubt I will make any orders the remainder of the year, but I will be buying locally. Austin Aqua Farms has some really awesome Acans and Pham has such a wide variety of zoa/palys I dont see a reason to order. Everyone on here is really helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 I was happy with my shipment from AquaSD. The website is hardly updated and the prices are high, but they post sales nearly every weekend in their sponsor section. There are a lot of collector items, but there are also a ton of frags $15 and under. Shipping is $40 and they don't offer free shipping promotions. Comparing apples to apples, if you ordered 8 frags at $15 each and paid $40 for shipping then each frag would cost about $20. Whether that is a good deal depends on what kind of corals you get. A single head of purple hammer might cost you $40 from the LFS and $25+ from a local, while a 5-polyp frag of Radioactive Dragoneye Zoas might cost you $5-10 at either place. You also have to consider that some corals may break in shipment or become stressed and die. Even if you get credit, that perpetuates a cycle of buying corals online to continually use your credit from the last purchase. Sometimes ordering online is the only way to get something specific because locals might not have it and LFS don't have it on their ordering sheet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Gott Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 Thanks everyone for your input. I was mainly wanting to order to find some of those really nice colors, but after talking to a few people and visiting some of the LFS I was able to find some cool stuff. I doubt I will make any orders the remainder of the year, but I will be buying locally. Austin Aqua Farms has some really awesome Acans and Pham has such a wide variety of zoa/palys I dont see a reason to order. Everyone on here is really helpful. I'm going to make another order with Cultivated Reef soon; I'll probably see if anyone wants to go in with me on a group order. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuxx Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 Unique Corals is pretty much my go to. Most are very well encrusted as well. Just picked up some frags from them to restock my frag tank. ~ 40 Acros, 2 Torches, 2 Montis and a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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