For those of you who have heard mixed reviews on MrCoral.com, I'd like to share my experience with you. My brother and I ordered 25 frags from him in the beginning of December. (some were for other people too). The selection was great on his site. We mostly ordered zoas and palythoas. Order shipped in a few days, and was right on time the next day. Packaging could have been better as far as heat packs go. He used a "Hot Hands" instead of a Uni-heat pack. The way Hot Hands are designed, they need air to stay hot. All of his bags were very thick, and tied well. There was some water in the bottom of the box, which soaked the Hot Hands. Needless to say, it was a cold day, and my frags were down into the low 60's upon arrival. We floated them for some time, trying to slowly bring the temperature up. We then drip acclimated, dipped, and quarantined the frags for a few days. After the 2nd day in the tank, some of the zoas began to open up. The Palys responded much quicker than the zoas. After about a week, some started looking not so healthy, so we dipped again, and placed them back into the tank. I believe the stress from the cold weather did them in. I photographed everyone that wasn't opening and contacted Sonny from Mr. Corals. He was great with customer service and advised me that if there were any issues, he'd take care of them. Out of 25 frags, and 2 weeks after shipping, we only ended up with 4 that didn't ever open. Given the cold water, I'd say this isn't so bad.
So, I took some pics, sent them to Sonny, and he offered me a replacement on my next order. My brother and I actually decided to drive the 3 hours to the store, to pick our replacements out of the tanks. Brian in the store, honored Sonny's replacement after seeing the email correspondence we brought with us, and the 4 pics on our camera. Though the $10 selection in-store, was not as diverse as the online store, we were able to find replacements, and purchased a few more items to make the trip worth it. They were very kind, and nothing like the horror stories I've read, but I don't know how different the experience would've been had we not driven down there. It would be hard to say that I truly believe that all the frags on the website are WYSIWYG, some of mine look much smaller or have a different amount of heads on it. Keep in mind though, for anyone who is looking for diversity in corals, this is definitely a way to get many things different than what's offered in your local stores. You just need to be patient and grow your frags out. I think for the diversity aspect of it, this was a good choice, though when I order again, it'll definitely be in warmer weather. Hope this helps anyone thinking about ordering.
One bit of advice, if you're a stickler for exact matches...... right click/save each frag you order so that you have his picture to compare to what you get. it'll help you to identify and be sure you got a 10 head frag and not a 5.
So, I took some pics, sent them to Sonny, and he offered me a replacement on my next order. My brother and I actually decided to drive the 3 hours to the store, to pick our replacements out of the tanks. Brian in the store, honored Sonny's replacement after seeing the email correspondence we brought with us, and the 4 pics on our camera. Though the $10 selection in-store, was not as diverse as the online store, we were able to find replacements, and purchased a few more items to make the trip worth it. They were very kind, and nothing like the horror stories I've read, but I don't know how different the experience would've been had we not driven down there. It would be hard to say that I truly believe that all the frags on the website are WYSIWYG, some of mine look much smaller or have a different amount of heads on it. Keep in mind though, for anyone who is looking for diversity in corals, this is definitely a way to get many things different than what's offered in your local stores. You just need to be patient and grow your frags out. I think for the diversity aspect of it, this was a good choice, though when I order again, it'll definitely be in warmer weather. Hope this helps anyone thinking about ordering.
One bit of advice, if you're a stickler for exact matches...... right click/save each frag you order so that you have his picture to compare to what you get. it'll help you to identify and be sure you got a 10 head frag and not a 5.
