SWF order delivered and... death!... then a few Questions.

[slouiscar]

Firefish Goby was dead on arrival. Are they tough to ship?
Everything else looked OK. But I am bummed.
Has anyone gone through the whole return deal?? Is it worth the hassle?
Next: do you go lights out in your tank when you add inverts?
How long do you QT a specimen that is in good health? 3 weeks?
Do you acclimate from your QT to your main even if salinity, pH, temp etc. are the same? How do you acclimate?

 

[dreamocean]

You QT every new fish for 3 weeks. Lights out for 2-3 hours is what I do. If all params are the same between the two tanks, no acclimation is necesary.
Sorry to hear about your firefish, very pretty fishy.

 

[spicyballs]

i usually still acclimate from qt to main tank.. no water can be exactly the same.. unless they're taken from the same source... just my opinion..
i found the firefish to be fragile as well.. i hear you gotta pay for shipping again so not sure if it's worth it.. best to call em and double check... good luck

 

[calvindo]

your not alone.... i've had problems everytime i order something.
first order:
-orange ricordeas = was shipped green ones.
-flame angel = died after 2 days, fish was blind! how do i know? well, i stick my finger in front of his face and it wouldnt move.
second order (recieved yesterday)
-9 neon gobies = 7 dead, 2 barely hanging on.
-4 queen conche = 2 dead
this is the last time i'm going to order anything! big waste of money and time. stick with the lfs....

 

[spicyballs]

guess i'm one of the few lucky ones...
ordered twice, no doa's... but the blind flame, that's harsh... flames can be hard to ship though.. shy fish to begin with.. i found neon gobies to be prone to ich and other diseases as well.. i've purchased a total of 10 of them from an lfs.. none have made it so far.. all were put in a qt tank.. didn't last a few weeks..

 

[bsktmom]

:joy: I have never had a problem ordering from SWF. A cleaner shrimp I ordered once was DOA. I contacted SWF immediately and they gave me a code to put on my next order. That way I didn't have to pay for shipping. Just let them know and I'm sure they will take care of it for you.

 

[calvindo]

i sent an email to swf, but havent heard back yet. its only been a day... hopefully i'll hear from the folks soon.

 

[jtutton]

I just got an order this past week and my maroon clown was DOA. They were really nice, gave me a code for next time. Two hitches, code cannot be used for a discount, has to be a replacement for exact item and you can't use it as part of your minimum for free shipping.
I don't think it'll be a problem for me, I'm just starting to get corals and other inverts in my tank and one can't have too many turbos eating algae. Get 10 for $9.99
Anyway, they were pretty nice. I also thought my queen conch was dead, but I took it out of the tank, looked at it, placed it on the rock, and it seemed to wake up and move around.
Good luck,

 

[calvindo]

still havent heard back from swf. anyone have their phone number?

 

[russianspy]

HAHAHAHA, Sadly this only supports my theroy that Live things on websites should be banned, I'm no enviomentalist but its cruel, Sadly they fdon't garentee the arival of things alive only that they last 5 days, there should be a survay on how many people got there orders alive, I don't think anyone has $80 that can be wasted on an order in hopes they come alive, If your going to sell live thngs online at least make sure u garentee there survival to the house, to get a refund they should hae you send the thing back!!!!!!! Just a thought, Sorry SWF.com (Still a good forum)

 

[russianspy]

And a correction gto my last post, It;s not funny your fish died its funy that a while ago i started complaining about this sites way of doing that 80 minimum and now i see all these things about dead fish, maybe i never looked

 

[jtutton]

Russian Spy,
First, perhaps you could try a little spell check and grammar check in your emails. Very difficult to read.
I have only had one thing arrive DOA from SWF.com
I don't see a phone number anywhere. They are about 10 miles south of me, but I can't take my item to them yet for a return. They do plan on opening a storefront. Can't wait for that!
I see the prices others charge for online or in LFS purchase and these are the best. The LFS gets their stock from Miami or via airplane from CA. Think that's any better?
I feel fortunate that my shipments spend a minimum time in transit since I'm within the state, but I don't see a lot of negative fb here, just a few mishaps.

 

[jpence151]

I've placed one order and won't hesitate to order again when ready. Ordered 2 Queen Conch, 3 horse crabs, xmas tree rock. All arrived alive and well. The conch laid motionless for a bit, but then started moving fine. This was 2 month ago, I have unfortunately lost my three horseshoe crabs but all others are fine. I knew the crabs were a risk, I've heard there difficult to keep. I bought a couple snails from my LFS and got home one was dead so DOA can happen anywere. As far as guarintee, SWF guarintee's arrive alive. I've not found a LFS that will do any better on Saltwater animals. So all in all I would say that yes it might be a bit of a hassel with mail order when you have a DOA, but I was very happy with what I got. The Conch are doing great and the xmas tree rock is still doing fantastic. I am hoping that the store opens soon, I'm looking forward to checking it out next time I go to Florida.....
John

 

[jpence151]

Also one other comment. I haven't found what I bought from SWF in my LFS and looking at the price of the items that my LFS has SWF has much better prices, and with the prices of the fish it takes nothing to come up with $80.00 worth of fish. The same fish at my LFS would cost me $100.00+
John