[fixerupper]

Recently, after a few setbacks, I decided to venture back into setting up my main display tank with more SPS again. My experiences with (expensive) crap equipment took the wind out of my sales to continue in this hobby. When my return pumps AND my skimmers AND my backups failed (thank you Waveline) I simply lost most of my enthusiasm. Anyway, since I was out-of-the-loop for a few years I decided to go to my LFS (Red Coral) to get some advice and refresh my livestock but nope, they're gone. So I went to a place that rhymes with "Big Al's". After I looked around , nope, not that desperate. I had already decided not to ever go back to my 'favorite' (sarcasm font) west end bait-and-switch shop. What to do? I hadn't been active on Canreef but thought I'd check to see if some of my local Edmonton private coral pimps were still around. Guess what? Nope, all shut down. So I scanned Canreef for vendors and saw a LOT of new-to-me online vendors. I sent several emails with questions trying to feel out how they were for customer service. It was encouraging that almost all of them were quick to reply. I follow another forum where Bill at IA has a tank journal so when he responded I thought I'd give him a whirl.

Here's my experience:

Shipping:
Prices are in line with most similar vendors.
UPS overnight express service performed as expected (poorly) but Bill responded to my emails immediately and lit a fire under them. I quickly got UPS updates telling me my shipment was to arrive at 3 PM - Naturally this email was sent at 4:21 PM, lol. I finally received the box at 6:30 PM, about 24 hrs after it shipped. The 17.5lb box was in good condition with only one corner crushed. The styro cooler had no failures.

Packaging:
The packing was as good as I’ve ever seen. The shipment came in a sturdy outer box containing a sealed styrofoam cooler. It was packed tightly with no room for movement. The heat packs were still nice and warm and separated from the contents by several layers of newspaper. All items were double or triple packed in turgid heavy poly tubes/bags. Most of the frags had round Styrofoam discs keeping them floating and separated from the packaging. I've never had fish shipped to me before so have no reference but these showed up in water that had a significant yellow tint to it. Not 'fish pee yellow' but more neon yellow. I'm guessing it was some sort of beneficial additive but have no clue what it was.

Product:
I had a GBTA, 2 fish, a small clean up crew and assorted SPS frags. Surprisingly, two Monti caps and a green slimer didn't come mounted on frag plugs. Based on their size (very big) I suspect having them on plugs would have been a hindrance rather than a help. I usually remove the plugs, if possible, before dipping anyway so this is noted as a general observation rather than any criticism.

Results so far (20 hrs):
All sealed bags immediately went into my dark sump for temp acclimation.
Drip acclimated (1-2 hours). All critters and frags were fine but emerald crab remained motionless throughout. I think he’s (she?) is likely dead.
Frags were dipped in Bayer then triple rinsed with tank water then into quarantine. No pests/hitch hikers were seen at all. Impressive. Frags coloured up under my dim blue dusk/dawn lighting as I was putting them into quarantine.

Fish and neme doing well. Neme was placed in a 4” glass bowl and is still sliming like crazy. It immediately attached to the inside of the bowl so I’m sure it will just take a few days to settle in. MP40 is currently off but will get turned back on soon once I screen the intakes. I took a small gamble and after acclimating, put the clown and neme in my office tank (50g cube) with the resident fat female clown. This tank only has one fish and no other livestock and serves as a no-meds quarantine tank of sorts. Amazingly there are no territory issues with the clowns (yet?) The male coco clown won’t leave the resident female alone. He’s always within 6” of her. He has lots of places to hide but I think he’s love-struck or something.
She (so far) has been very tolerant but she only nudges him aside when he snuggles against her while she’s in her sleeping area. I fed them a bit just before the lights dimmed to 1% and they both ate with no conflicts. Good signs so far.

Communication:
As I mentioned earlier Bill replies to emails quickly and courteously.
When I sent my online order I had made errors in choosing the correct freight method. Bill advised me of my options within moments. A few order changes and a special request for an unlisted addition were not only replied to quickly but he found me the male mocha/coco clown I've been looking for. I probably sent Bill 20+ emails and not once did he seem anything less than totally professional. When there was an urgent reply needed he actually picked up the phone to call me rather than waiting for an emailed response. A real phone! Remember those?

Pricing:
This was a shipment of mostly $10-$15 frags and inexpensive fish. Usually one says they got great 'value' which translates into 'I got what I paid for-so can't complain'. Other than UPS issue (which cannot be helped) the only problem was the motionless (dead?) Emerald Crab. BTW that sucker was so big there was no way I would put him into a tank with fish anyway. Frankly, I got boutique shop service and product for really competitive prices.

Totally impressed.