Reefcleaners

[JTM4UG]

Was thinking of ordering a bunch of copepods and some crabs/snails from reefcleaners. After $65 they give you free 2/3 day shipping usps. Will they be alive when they arrive with that type of shipping? Anyone have any experience with their shipping and doa policies?

 

[GraniteReefer]

Great experience with reefcleaners, usually if you order a fair amount it’s not unusual for double the number of snails to come of the smaller varieties. John hooks it up. Multiple orders and the DOA is never greater than the excessive amounts you receive. I have even had a RFA shipped the slow method from him and it made it. Highly recommended buy with confidence

 

[Reefer508]

I did an order from them over the winter. Unfortunately we had a super cold snap and half of the order was DOA, after contacting them they replaced everything I lost. Good customer service and I will use them again.

 

[frank180reef]

I did an order from them over the winter. Unfortunately we had a super cold snap and half of the order was DOA, after contacting them they replaced everything I lost. Good customer service and I will use them again.

No heater packs or cooler ?

 

[Reefer508]

No heater packs or cooler ?

There was a small heater pack but after 3 days shipping and day time highs in the teens, who knows how cold over night, the water was VERY cold.

 

[jacobnano]

John is the man, definitely buy with confidence. As others have said he is very generous with his counts and will help you out if you have any issues due to shipment.

 

[flyfisherman]

I hot a 2 day shipment from them sub 20 here, most stuff lived, lost a few hermits. Usually a few blue leggs will die, a few snails

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Have had good experiences also. A few hermits snuck in with my snails, but practically has been everything alive and well. Will absolutely order from them again.

Note the dwarf species of snails are tiny tiny tiny (dwarf cerith, planaxis, and zigzag periwinkles). Can't emphasize "tiny" enough.

 

[JTM4UG]

Just wanted to give everyone an update. My order came today and I was very happy. A few DOAs but tons of extras to make up for it. I bought the 25 gallon package and some pods. I was waiting on the emerald crab to eat some bubble algae thats starting to come up. Crossing my fingers.

 

[LTibbs77]

I had recently ordered, did not have as good of luck as mentioned earlier in the post. 93 out of the 100 hermits I ordered were doa, 10 bumblebee snails out of 40 (as well as 4 others that were occupied with hermits), 2 out of 10 emerald crabs, and within 10 hours all 3 lettuce slugs also dead. I was refunded $72 of my $205 purchase. I would not recommend this as a source to people in this area. I could have gotten more for less at petco in all honesty. Also everything in my order was counted exactly to the number, not a single extra anything. Might be a reflection of the current situation we're in at the moment

 

[Chris A.]

I’ve order twice from there and both times less than half survived a week and there was a few dead on arrival. Only thing was extra was a few dwarf ceriths but everything else was exact. Guess it’s luck of the draw

 

[JimN]

I just bought a cleaner package last week. I also had a lot DOA. None of the 25 hermit crabs made it (rotting hermits smell awful ). And one out of the three emerald crabs died. The snails did okay. Customer service was good and John processed my refund quickly. But I don’t think I will buy from them again.

 

[Reef55]

We have a shipment coming later this week... hopefully they'll make it?

 

[mnavick]

Bought a good size one 2 weeks back (and have used many times in the past).
Maybe a dozen misc DOA's, but the excess definitely made up for it.

 

[frank180reef]

Are they shipping in an insulated box and or hand warmers

 

[MrX]

Are they shipping in an insulated box and or hand warmers

My order a couple weeks ago had an insulating liner/bag and a heat pack. USPS was a day late bringing it so the heat pack was expired/useless at that point.

I'm sure I had a few DOA but I didn't/don't really pay attention. I tried taking some pics to see if things are "moving around" but haven't spent much time comparing.

 

[JTM4UG]

Imo If you are trying to get clean up crew through the mail this option is much cheaper than anywhere else. I had considered ordering from live aquaria.com but the cost would have been much more.

 

[LTibbs77]

So after refunding me for the stuff that was doa, he shipped me replacements also. Wow, customer service like I've never seen before from livestock distributor. Still had fair amount of doa, but roughly 80% made it this time. Even if you have a tough shipment he'll make it right.

 

[Zach77]

Yeah, I’ve ordered from him a dozen times or so and the couple times there’s been an issue he’s made it right. I’ve never had a bunch of excess critters like others though. I’ve got another coming next week so hopefully my trend continues!

 

[CrypticLifeStyle]

Anyone try Gulf Coast Ecosystems?