Do LFS corals do better than On line corals?

[Steve1500]

I am only 8 months into the whole reef tank hobby and already I have lost more than my fair share of corals...yes, probably due to impatience with tank maturation/knowledge etc.

But, what I have noticed is that the LFS corals, especially colonies vice frags, seem to do better than the online corals. I won't name the two online companies but they are very reputable and are frequently discussed on these forums. Most of my very first LFS corals are still alive but most of my online corals have died and I cannot figure out why. If I were trying to compare apples to apples, I am talking LPS in general.

When I talked to the guy at the LFS he thought the only logical reason could be that online corals of these two companies come from a nearly pristine, almost perfect reef setup. Knowledgeable staff with state of the art equipment. When they are bought, they go to a non pristine imperfect (ok, at least in my case) environment and despite acclimation, they are shocked.

On the flip side, the LFS setups are not usually perfect and probably closer in water quality/lighting etc than the average Joe's reef tank. So the corals go from imperfect to imperfect and they are not shocked, thus they survive the dreaded average Joes tank.

Any other ideas or thoughts? Just coincidence? Bogus idea? Anyone have a similar experience?

 

[Justfebreezeit]

A lot of LPS, especially colony size don't do well because of their sharp skeletons. Euphyllia especially are susceptible to cut themselves on their on skeleton during shipping.

If your LFS has healthy quality pieces then it definitely has a equal to or better than change of survival as compared to a shipped coral.

That being said, I've ordered 4 times from different vendors and haven't had a death yet. So i'm sure it comes down to individual circumstances.

 

[Scorpius]

Buying online you get to deal with shipping stress. If your system isn't up to snuff you'll suffer lots of losses. There are some acropora that just don't ship well no matter what.

Buying from your lfs the coral might only be in a bag for a matter of minutes.

Big difference between 24 hrs in a bag with total darkness versus a ride home from the lfs.

 

[Mebeknob]

I imagine the most successful are doing both.

 

[ca1ore]

A few of my corals were bought online, but the vast majority either LFS or trading with local reefers. I have a significant preference for local. Fish a different story.

 

[rkpetersen]

I've only had 4 DOAs out of hundreds of online livestock purchases, a rate of less than 2%. That's pretty reasonable, but with your LFS it's generally 0%. If critters have arrived at my house and appear healthy, in clear water, I don't think the source whether local or online, matters that much to be honest. In my two tanks, whether creatures do well or not seems to hinge more on what they are than where I got them. Some species always do well (like acropora, surprisingly), others are always a struggle at best. Although I will say that if there's extreme weather anywhere in the country, or it's mid-late December, sticking with local purchases isn't a bad idea.

 

[WVNed]

No