Dr. Reef

[Pickle_soup]

What is your experience like with Dr. Reef? I know at times it takes months to get your order, but I am not too concerned with it. Do you guys QT fish from them anyway, or just observation? Did anyone get some uninvited quests from them? Their Qt procedure looks pretty solid, but can it be fully trusted?

 

[vetteguy53081]

The many persons who have ordered from Dr. Reef have had great success with live delivery, good size and good health. He does have both conditioned (observation) and quarantined fish.
Even though you are getting a quarantined fish as ordered, you still want to do a short term QT (14-21 days) and assume fish has something before releasing into display from shipping stress and delays as a few have had disease from QT fish from facility and blamed Dr Reef for issue.
QT is on the owner- Not the fish

 

[exnisstech]

Personally I have no experience. I've read many good post here about fish from him. I've read as many bad post on humble fish. So I guess like everything internet related you have to sift through the info and then make a decision. Like vetteguy53081 IMO QT falls on the owner again JMO.

 

[Pickle_soup]

I wasn't going to put the fish right into the DT, but at the same time, I don't want to use copper if I don't have to. I might just observe for an extended period of time before I decide on the next course of action. Thank you!

 

[kbnh]

What is your experience like with Dr. Reef? I know at times it takes months to get your order, but I am not too concerned with it. Do you guys QT fish from them anyway, or just observation? Did anyone get some uninvited quests from them? Their Qt procedure looks pretty solid, but can it be fully trusted?

I’ve ordered twice from them, everything arrived in good condition and the fish are all still swimming around. They don’t ship fish in poor condition so you may be missing one or two fish but they refund that to you. I didn’t QT because I’m already paying for that service to be done, if I was going to QT myself then I’d just buy fish from the lfs and do it myself. The salinity they arrived in was quite lower than my display so that is something to keep an eye on.

 

[Pickle_soup]

I’ve ordered twice from them, everything arrived in good condition and the fish are all still swimming around. They don’t ship fish in poor condition so you may be missing one or two fish but they refund that to you. I didn’t QT because I’m already paying for that service to be done, if I was going to QT myself then I’d just buy fish from the lfs and do it myself. The salinity they arrived in was quite lower than my display so that is something to keep an eye on.

Thank you. What did you order from them?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I wasn't going to put the fish right into the DT, but at the same time, I don't want to use copper if I don't have to. I might just observe for an extended period of time before I decide on the next course of action. Thank you!

At minimum, give them a ruby Rally Pro bath for 60 minutes

 

[xWascallyWabbit]

All of my fish are from dr reef. I can say that from my experience it has been very positive. All fish arrived alive and in good health. Their communication is very solid. They respond to emails within a day or two and will let you know when fish are expected. I'm currently done sticking my tank but if I were to order any more it would be through them.

 

[sc50964]

Flag fin is pretty easy to QT tho.

 

[Pickle_soup]

At minimum, give them a ruby Rally Pro bath for 60 minutes

Do you I am better off with 1-2 3-day treatments? Does it stress fish?

 

[Pickle_soup]

Flag fin is pretty easy to QT tho.

I am not married to this fish yet, it just caught my attention a bit, its appearance did. I don't want to keep too many big fish in my 125, and I already have a Heni, PBT and YT.

 

[sc50964]

I am not married to this fish yet, it just caught my attention a bit, its appearance did. I don't want to keep too many big fish in my 125, and I already have a Heni, PBT and YT.

How big is the PBT and how established is he?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Do you I am better off with 1-2 3-day treatments? Does it stress fish?

There is bath or treatments- most treatments take 2-3 days to actually start taking effect. You can as i mentioned do a 14-21 day QT or a 60 minute bath which is pretty much a disinfecting step.

 

[Pickle_soup]

PBT is about 6 inches. He is about 7 years old, or so. I downsized my tank and lost pretty much everything because the tank didn't arrive on time and I left on vacation. He has been in the new tank for about 6 weeks, and it's pretty clear that he wants to own that tank. Yesterday I added smaller fish, he wasn't too bad with them, if he saw one he would chase it for a second or two, but that's pretty much it. It's better already this morning.

 

[Pickle_soup]

There is bath or treatments- most treatments take 2-3 days to actually start taking effect. You can as i mentioned do a 14-21 day QT or a 60 minute bath which is pretty much a disinfecting step.

Thanks

 

[sc50964]

PBT is about 6 inches. He is about 7 years old, or so. I downsized my tank and lost pretty much everything because the tank didn't arrive on time and I left on vacation. He has been in the new tank for about 6 weeks, and it's pretty clear that he wants to own that tank. Yesterday I added smaller fish, he wasn't too bad with them, if he saw one he would chase it for a second or two, but that's pretty much it. It's better already this morning.

6” okay…, so it’s a 50/50 proposition for you in. 125G when it comes to adding any new fish

 

[Pickle_soup]

6” okay…, so it’s a 50/50 proposition for you in. 125G when it comes to adding any new fish

I am pretty certain this will be my last PBT. With that said, years ago I had a Hippo that completely obliterated a convict tang 1/2 its size.

 

[sc50964]

I am pretty certain this will be my last PBT. With that said, years ago I had a Hippo that completely obliterated a convict tang 1/2 its size.

Yeah…, they often are their own worst enemy.

 

[exnisstech]

I wasn't going to put the fish right into the DT, but at the same time, I don't want to use copper if I don't have to. I might just observe for an extended period of time before I decide on the next course of action. Thank you!

Some people will disagree but often I do observation only for a minimum of 30 days. Especially for sensitive fish. I have a copper band in observation only right now. My goal is to get the fish eating and fat before introducing to the DT. If I don't see anything abnormal after 30 days I'm comfortable moving fish to the DT. I don't recomend it because their are risks but I do it.

EDIT : another benifit to not using copper is I can add live rock to the QT along with a seasoned sponge and not have to worry about ammonia build up. It's an instant cycle.

 

[JohnNYC8]

What is your experience like with Dr. Reef? I know at times it takes months to get your order, but I am not too concerned with it. Do you guys QT fish from them anyway, or just observation? Did anyone get some uninvited quests from them? Their Qt procedure looks pretty solid, but can it be fully trusted?

I've ordered exclusively from Dr. Reef and have had nothing but good experiences. All of the fish and inverts are happy and healthy.

I also got two berghia nudibranchs from him and they were big and hungry (I believe white coloration means they haven't eaten aptasia in a while and they were very white). I observed them munching on aptasia on day 1.