Buyer Beware - Elite Reef

[foxface 13]

Hey all -

Thought I would toss out a warning to anyone who is thinking of using Elite Reef for livestock in the near future. I bought an abilone from them last week, drip aclimated it for 6 hours and then dropped it in the tank with the lights off. It essentially died immediately. I was very hesitant when I bought the specimen as it looked to be rather lethargic, but the guy working told me to call them if I had any problems with it and they would "take care of me."

So today I called as I have a few hours to drive back up to Lafayette and grab another. My concerns were rudely dismissed as the guy answering the phone said "we have no guarantee's on abilone's because they are so sensitive." He would not listen to the fact that my 29 gallon JBJ reef has been established for over 3 years and I have 29 different species of coral in my tank, all of which are growing very well. I understand that abilone's are sensitive, I have kept them in the past and always given them away or sold them to a fellow reefer when they run out of food. I would not have made the purchase of that particular abilone without the additional assurances, however.

To wrap up the conversation he recommended that I buy some of their turbo snails, to which I explained to him that I am having trouble with hair algae. His reply to that was "yeah, turbos are great with hair algae." In 5 years in this hobby I have never seen a turbo eat hair algae, and I used to use them as my primary algae eater. They should certainly not be regarded as "great with hair algae."

It appears that Elite Reef has now turned the corner, so to speak. I would question who they are employing and the consistency of their policies. I, for one, will not be driving back to their shop.

Jeremy

 

[dv3]

its been my personal experience that when something dies soon after (within hours) of putting it in my tank that i did something wrong perhaps it was the few hour drive over maybe something went wrong with your acclimation?...why did you wait a week to call them ?

none the less i'd be surprised if you dont here from them as they always seem to take care of their customers

 

[ColoradoReef]

Sorry about your experience .
Call me if you would like to.

C.J.
720-363-3401
I will not be available till around 2 today. I am going into a meeting.



Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

 

[that0neguy1126]

I have never received anything other than the best of service from Elite Reef. All of my livestock I have bought from them have fared well (unless I killed it doing something stupid). 6hours seems like way to long of an acclimation period. Unless you are acclimating it in a full size tank, but I doubt there was enough water for you to do that.

 

[chrislorentz]

Sounds to me Foxface 13 has another store they like better, and maybe trying to tarnish anothers reputation. Not to mention it is strange that for some reason you think turbo's do not eat hair algae. Do some simple research and you will find turbos love hair algae. From what you are saying I would be looking into my tank and find the problem not "trying" to put it off on someone else. Not to mention if you are having a algae problem you obviously have excessive nutrients which states less then optimal water quality, which as we all know invertebrates are sensitive to. They are very sensitive to nitrates and just guessing with all the hair algae you have an abundance of. I would suggest doing some re-search before simply trying to bash a store that is 2nd to none.

 

[foxface 13]

why did you wait a week to call them

I was in the hospital Monday-Sat morning for a clinical research study at Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland, I purchased last Sat, abilone was dead by Mon morning when I left. I called them on the drive down from Loveland so I could possibly pick one up on my way home and save some gas.

few hour drive over

. I was home in an hour, would have taken half the time if it hadn't been snowing. This should have been more than fine.

6hours seems like way to long of an acclimation period. Unless you are acclimating it in a full size tank, but I doubt there was enough water for you to do that

Acclimated in spare 5 gallon bucket, as I always do. I use extended acclimation periods for inverts and it has always worked extremely well in the past.

Sorry about your experience .
Call me if you would like to.

You have no abilone's in stock currently, this is the ONLY reason why I drove to your business in the first place. I am a long time customer of Ocean's Apart, always been treated greated by the fellas there.

Don't point the finger at me here guys, just because Elite Reef is a sponser. Anyone running reef tanks for 5 years knows should now how to acclimate a critter. I'm not some noob. None of this explains what happened today with the recommendation for turbo snails, or the conflicting policies.

 

[chrislorentz]

It has nothing to do with them being a sponsor. It has to do with all the great service and product we get from them on a daily basis. I am sure people in the hobby for 5 years that are not noob's know that turbos are great for algae consumption.

 

[Zoalander]

Elite Reef is great and why would a 3 year old tank have hair algae problems if the water quality wasn't bad? Either way I'm sure they'll take care of you.

 

[foxface 13]

Do some simple research and you will find turbos love hair algae

Refer to my first post, my experience is that turbo's do not eat hair algae. Yes, there is information that says they do. I would say if you asked 10 experianced reefers if abilone's or turbos are better at eating hair algae 100% would say abilone's.

From what you are saying I would be looking into my tank and find the problem not "trying" to put it off on someone else.

I take care of my own tank's, I do not use a tank service, even though I could easily afford one.

Not to mention if you are having a algae problem you obviously have excessive nutrients which states less then optimal water quality, which as we all know invertebrates are sensitive to.

Nitrate - 0 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Ammonia - 0 ppm
Salinity - 1.022

I do need to test for Ca and Mg today, but my guess is that they are great. Probably should have included that in the first post, so touche Chris. I am guessing the hair algae is from the increased lighting I put into my tank from an LED stunner strip upgrade, which was supposed to just accent the metal halide.

Sounds to me Foxface 13 has another store they like better, and maybe trying to tarnish anothers reputation.

I am just trying to relate my experiance as a customer of a business, same as sites such as citysearch and users of Google do. That is my right as a consumer, my duty as part of a community, and and honor afforded to me by the Constitution of the United States. I do not presume to tell anyone what to do.

 

[KhensuRa]

I think it was the title that probably ****ed some folks off. The title it self sounds like it should be attached to "Reef-n-Pond". Life is well life and no store on earth can be perfect 100% of the time and they also run out of products, such as a the replacement CJ was/is probably going to give you for your troubles. If I wrong sorry, I am just assuming as we do from times. And yes you have your right to say what ever, but so does the rest of America. Damn them revolving doors!!!!

 

[that0neguy1126]

Nitrate - 0 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Ammonia - 0 ppm
Salinity - 1.022

Just because your tests says 0 ppm nitrate doesn't mean you don't have any. I am sure there is plenty in your tank along with phosphates. If it was truly 0, you wouldn't have an algae problem.

Did you ask ER how long they have had the abalone for? If they kept it sucessfully for 3 months, I would say it was the shock of transferring it that killed it. If they just got it in, it could of already been dieing. Regardless, everyone has lost livestock. I would say almost 90% of the time, its because of us that they die. Have we lost fish that were dieing at the store? probably. but that's part of the hobby. Knowing how to pick livestock. You said yourself that it looked bad, why buy it?

 

[chrislorentz]

have a great day and good luck with the snail

Edited personal attacks do nothing for the discussion

 

[dvenson]

Why did you give your previous albilons away I kept one in the same size tank for over a year that ate multiple types of algae

 

[nadking]

Turbos eat hair algae, but only if it as at a manageable length. My suggestion to you is to scrub the algae out of their, siphon it out, and come back with a massive clean up crew to keep it away. You will not be able to rely on just one snail to solve your problem's. If you want a one man wrecking crew buy a sea hair and dbtc him away after it finishes.

 

[dv3]

Don't point the finger at me here guys, just because Elite Reef is a sponser. Anyone running reef tanks for 5 years knows should now how to acclimate a critter. I'm not some noob. None of this explains what happened today with the recommendation for turbo snails, or the conflicting policies.

i personally wasnt trying to points fingers just pointing out my experiences and other possibilities ...it is good for people to be able to voice their concerns/experiences here and is usually appreciated im sorry you feel the way you do but as you can tell they have treated all of us very well in the past and we are very happy to have a store like this in the area so it just hits kinda close to home so to speak ...dont let me or these other guys run you off

id appreciate it if everyone stopped arguing and name calling here ....i think we have enough posts in this thread that anyone that reads it in the future knows how the majority feels ...lets not get nasty

 

[kmcmurtry]

In my experience, it's buyer beware any livestock purchase from any store. I have killed enough inverts to know they are super picky. If yours was on the edge, a trip to your house and a bucket for several hours, although certainly the recommended procedure for acclimation, would likely be more than enough stress on the creature to kick it over. If I see something in my LFS which looks even the slightest bit off, I wait a few days and go back or you can ask them how long it's been there and request a hold on it if it's been there only a short time. Just today I had to restrain myself from rescuing a pair of black clowns from an LFS - I have been waiting for some for awhile and they are on sale too after having been there a couple weeks, but they're hanging out on the bottom today not looking as good, so I passed them up. It sucks to lose critters, I know. I hope you have better luck in future with them.

 

[Bajamike]

I do have to say if Heather is not behind the counter, I walk out. I went in one weekend (few days before x-mass) two guys where watching football it seemed like I was bothering them. Then when I got help it was short. Then (dont remember the words, word for word) more or less was asked if I was going to buy anything? I left and bought else where that day. IMO I would call Heather she is great! she will help sort this out.

 

[kyuubichan218]

I have to say that I have had great experiences with both Mike and Haley. They have always been really helpful and attentive. The thing about buying living creatures is that there is a certain amount that neither you, nor the store can control. For example, I bought a baby sailfin tang there last week, and he just never started eating. He died last night. I tried everything that I could to get him to eat, but there was nothing that enticed him. Am I bummed? yeah. Is it Elite's fault? nope.

 

[scchase]

One glaring thing stands out to me and that is your salinity. It is low for a reef tank and quit likely contributed to the abalone loss. Try to keep it from1.025_1.026.

 

[Tripple T]

Foxface with each of your posts it becomes more and more clear that the problem lies with your husbandry skills not elite reef. When something dies quickly like that we all like to blame the lfs. Having a 3 year old tank means literally nothing. You keep your salinity at 1.022, based on that alone i blame you solely. Hair algae means that the problem is in your tank my friend. Also if you bought something that you didn't think looked good that is also on you.