Mopar32985 April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 To start off with I'm not here to start a flame war just want to let ppl know my experience with Mr. Coral. Well for my birthday my wife drove me down to Mr. Coral to get a few new frags for my tank. Before we went down to his store I went on the website to look at the $10 section. Looked to be alot of really nice frags for the price with great color. Once we got inside and I started to look for the same ones I saw on the site. They didn't look like the same coral at all colors didn't look great. To get to the point out of the 7 I got I only have 2 sps that made it. After the first night I had 2 start to RTN. The thing that really bothers me about this is it's a chop shop for corals. They get wild colonies chop them up and sell right away just setting ppl up for a disaster. This is very bad for our hobby this is not just turning away new ppl from killing corals it's making our hobby look very irresponsible. I feel anytime a coral is fragged first it must be a decent size to give it a fighting chance to bounce back. But also they should hold on to them for a while a monitor them to make sure they are healthy. For instance my LFS makes sure there corals are in good shape before thy sell them. To bring it to a close I posted this because I wish I had the info I do now before I made my purchase. - Chance- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surf&turf April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 Well first off, how many places do you know that sell frags for $10. I've gotten stuff there that has done great and some stuff has not. He's not charging 40 or $50 a frag like most places, it's 10 dollars. JM2C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrcoral.com April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 (edited) Chance all the corals are WYSIWYG except for a few items that I have one pic so everyone know what they are getting. I do this which take all night to insure everyone knows what they are getting. We do not ship any coral unless it has sit in our systems for at least 10 days. Do we cut up Colonies YES of course that is how we make frags. Not sure why you would have issues we ship 100 packages a day and they go threw the shipping process and we had a pretty dare good success rate. To just bring them home should of been a very easy for the corals. Did you bring them in correctly? We do back up everything we sell but you do need to contact us about it 1st. I assume this is your way on contacting us to bash us on a forum which we sponsor? Edited April 23, 2011 by mrcoral.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mopar32985 April 23, 2011 Author Share April 23, 2011 Well first off, how many places do you know that sell frags for $10. I've gotten stuff there that has done great and some stuff has not. He's not charging 40 or $50 a frag like most places, it's 10 dollars. JM2C This is very true they are only $10. But when you factor in i bought 7 and only 2 made it that's 35 each for a very small frag not so much of a deal. Like I said above the most important thing is they should be propagating them properly and getting a higher survival rate. -Chance- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incredible Corals April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 Just to play devil's advocate. Do you think the RTN could have been caused by something else? Also, I'm pretty sure a lot of the SPS they have is aquacultured. Most of the SPS colonies I see there, waiting to be fragged were definitely grown on large aquaculture plugs. Another way to think about it is you got two frags for $35 each which is still a good deal compared to some of the other LFS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mopar32985 April 23, 2011 Author Share April 23, 2011 Chance all the corals are WYSIWYG except for a few items that I have one pic so everyone know what they are getting. I do this which take all night to insure everyone knows what they are getting. We do not ship any coral unless it has sit in our systems for at least 10 days. Do we cut up Colonies YES of course that is how we make frags. Not sure why you would have issues we ship 100 packages a day and they go threw the shipping process and we had a pretty dare good success rate. To just bring them home should of been a very easy for the corals. Did you bring them in correctly? We do back up everything we sell but you do need to contact us about it 1st. I assume this is your way on contacting us to bash us on a forum which we sponsor? I'm not trying to bash but when I was there the guy in the back was cutting up fresh colonies then glueing them and putting them right out for sale. That wasn't 10 days. I'm really not tryin to sound like I'm attacking you o just feel it's making our hobby look bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mopar32985 April 23, 2011 Author Share April 23, 2011 Just to play devil's advocate. Do you think the RTN could have been caused by something else? Also, I'm pretty sure a lot of the SPS they have is aquacultured. Most of the SPS colonies I see there, waiting to be fragged were definitely grown on large aquaculture plugs. Another way to think about it is you got two frags for $35 each which is still a good deal compared to some of the other LFS. No all parameters were all In check I have multiple other sps colonies in my tank with no problems at all. I'm sry you guys are getting mad at me for posting this it's not all about the money i just feel it's not responsible to chop up a colony then put it right out for sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrcoral.com April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 (edited) When Bryan cuts he puts them in the back to heal before I take pics. We do have customers who come in a request us to cut things for them while they wait and we do that all the time. Why would you not pick up the phone and call us? I would of ask some simple question and ask how you brought it in your systems what kind of lighting things like that and took care of you. Of course I would of wanted to see a few pics. It does sound like bashing because you do not have your facts correct and you did not try to contact me before. Again, we ship 100 packages a week and one of the biggest shippers out there. If we were shipping corals and people were losing 5 out of 7 we would be out of business. So again, I guess things can happen but you should of contacted us 1st with some pics. Edited April 23, 2011 by mrcoral.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefoholic April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 Guys, To Sonny's credit, all the corals I got from him were very hardy and made it to this day after enduring several crashes and what not. Also, Sonny NEVER tried to sell me a frag even for $10 if he didn't think that my tank setup, conditions and experience was enough to take care of the frags. I have asked him to cut me frags before not wanting to wait for several days to take them home but he was always straight forward with me about what he could do and what he couldn't. I am not taking sides here, I am just sharing my overall experience with Mr.Coral and Sonny. When Bryan cuts he puts them in the back to heal before I take pics. We do have customers who come in a request us to cut things for them while they wait and we do that all the time. Why would you not pick up the phone and call us? I would of ask some simple question and ask how you brought it in your systems what kind of lighting things like that and took care of you. Of course I would of wanted to see a few pics. It does sound like bashing because you do not have your facts correct and you did not try to contact me before. Again, we ship 100 packages a week and one of the biggest shippers out there. If we were shipping corals and people were losing 5 out of 7 we would be out of business. So again, I guess things can happen but you should of contacted us 1st with some pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mopar32985 April 23, 2011 Author Share April 23, 2011 When Bryan cuts he puts them in the back to heal before I take pics. We do have customers who come in a request us to cut things for them while they wait and we do that all the time. Why would you not pick up the phone and call us? I would of ask some simple question and ask how you brought it in your systems what kind of lighting things like that and took care of you. Of course I would of wanted to see a few pics. It does sound like bashing because you do not have your facts correct and you did not try to contact me before. Again, we ship 100 packages a week and one of the biggest shippers out there. If we were shipping corals and people were losing 5 out of 7 we would be out of business. So again, I guess things can happen but you should of contacted us 1st with some pics. I'm just referring to the store not the website never have order online I'm only 15 min away. I think it's ok if someone request to get a frag of something and you chop that for them atleast they know the situation. I don't know what facts I got wrong just putting down what I observed when I was there. Also was going to call just got very frustrated with the situation, and just decided to keep going where I been getting my sps. Sry again just wanted to share my view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrcoral.com April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 (edited) Of course it is Ok to share your Views but when you put things out there like this without contacting me 1st I have to question it. Why no pics? No email? No Phone call. 5 out of 7 way way way to high and I would of loved to help you out and went over things with you. Edited April 23, 2011 by mrcoral.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 (edited) It's not the quality of the corals - they would have been dead long before you got there if that was the case. It has to do with either handling at the time of purchase, or whatever happened after the items left the store. Roughly 2 months ago, I got a sps frag that was cut for me while I was there, and it is still fine. Edited April 23, 2011 by treesprite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypertech April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 No all parameters were all In check I have multiple other sps colonies in my tank with no problems at all. I'm sry you guys are getting mad at me for posting this it's not all about the money i just feel it's not responsible to chop up a colony then put it right out for sale. I bought 5. 1 eventually died. The others are all growing and colored up nicely since the purchase. Here's the thing though - if you think it is so wrong, why did you buy from him in the first place? If its not about the money, then why is it presumably OK for him to do if all your $10 frags made it, but since you had some losses, its now a moral issue that just isn't responsible. Sort of hypocritical to buy the stuff from him and then turn around and complain the whole thing is irresponsible after you have a few losses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Ward April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 definitely grown on large aquaculture plugs. Don't confuse aquaculture with mariculutre. If they're decent size colonies then they were probably mariculture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 just to add my experience- I used to think the chop shops were bad because they sold frags that were fresh cut and they tended to have mortality issues. But as time went by and obviously some of the chop shops got the method right, experienced less mortality and the frags were hardier for resale. I was one of the critics of MC in the past. I will no longer be a critic because I have had good experiences with all of the corals that have come from MC- either by direct purchase, online, or thru trades with other WAMAS'ers that have purchased from MC. If you go to any particular store with pre conceived doubts about the product that they are selling, and it just so happens that some of those products fail, then you will have a bad experience. You went there and bought fresh cut or even recently healed frags knowing that there may be a chance that they wouldn't make it. You absolutely should have talked with customer service BEFORE posting on the forums. Let the vendor try to make things right before going public- it usually works out best for both parties. FWIW, I saw many $10 frags offered for sale on WAMAS... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 Sorry to hear of the loses. To lose that high of a percentage I would guess it was from a difference in the store tanks and your personal tank. I always check the store's water when I bring something home as it lets me know if I need to extend the acclimation period or not. How close was the SG and alk to your tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angel not fish April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 I ordered last month and out of 6 just 2 survived. Is the third time that I ordered and let me say, I am not thinking to do it again. Here at wamas, do you have the opportunity to get very good frags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mopar32985 April 24, 2011 Author Share April 24, 2011 I ordered last month and out of 6 just 2 survived. Is the third time that I ordered and let me say, I am not thinking to do it again. Here at wamas, do you have the opportunity to get very good frags. Yea man there is alot of great guys on here that sell frags at great prices. Just got some the other day. -Chance- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmubeach April 27, 2011 Share April 27, 2011 I don't think its quite 7 out of 2 losses.... He wouldn't be in business. I did have losses, but hes charging 10$ for 50$ frags what did you expect. As for the cutting and reselling quickly I've been to people tanks had a fresh coral cut glued right in front of me and they normally survied. I don't buy any sps so I wouldn't know whats what with that I only buy lps I've losted probably 25-40 percent out of 20+ corals I've lost probably 5 or 6 and of those I probably had some overcrowding becuase of the cheaper prices? I hate when people say their water is "ok" or all "parameters are good" without hard numbers. I'd be curious if we could buy some as a club and see how well they survive in a tank. Without you knowing mr coral:) If he waits 10days and 10days is his policy then you know that I think 10days is enough time to heal. I figure that 10 corals come out of a colony if 3 surive in someones tanks thats better then someone buying a huge colony and killing it! I love the new frag circles by the way mr coral:) The spiral kind seem to rotate better as the narius snails and creatures on my rock. Oh one more thought I get a lot higher survival rates if I uae expoxy and have a general idea of where stuff goes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mopar32985 April 27, 2011 Author Share April 27, 2011 I don't think its quite 7 out of 2 losses.... He wouldn't be in business. I did have losses, but hes charging 10$ for 50$ frags what did you expect. As for the cutting and reselling quickly I've been to people tanks had a fresh coral cut glued right in front of me and they normally survied. I don't buy any sps so I wouldn't know whats what with that I only buy lps I've losted probably 25-40 percent out of 20+ corals I've lost probably 5 or 6 and of those I probably had some overcrowding becuase of the cheaper prices? I hate when people say their water is "ok" or all "parameters are good" without hard numbers. I'd be curious if we could buy some as a club and see how well they survive in a tank. Without you knowing mr coral:) If he waits 10days and 10days is his policy then you know that I think 10days is enough time to heal. I figure that 10 corals come out of a colony if 3 surive in someones tanks thats better then someone buying a huge colony and killing it! I love the new frag circles by the way mr coral:) The spiral kind seem to rotate better as the narius snails and creatures on my rock. Oh one more thought I get a lot higher survival rates if I uae expoxy and have a general idea of where stuff goes... I hear you about ppl saying there water it ok. Mine is if you want hard numbers here ya go just tested tonight. Nitrate 2.5 Calcium 450 Mag. 1360 Alk 10.2 The one thing I hate is when ppl say they are only $10. That completely defeats what I am saying. The other thing is when you get a fresh cutting from a members tank it has a much higher survivability because that is an established coarl in a tank. Not one that has came in from shipping to get cut up. I wish some of the ppl that has sent me pm would post on here. Got about 5 of them totally agreeing with me. Here is a pic of one that I got that is pretty much dead the green you see on it was white a few weeks ago. One more thing I like to add is I really make sure my parameters are always in check I keep a log of all my readings and what I add. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrcoral.com April 27, 2011 Share April 27, 2011 (edited) That favia looks like it has algae on the side and the disc. Does not look fresh cut to me. But I guess it could be your pic. Were are all the rest of the corals that died on you? I still don't get why you would not email me and why you are having so many issues. Like I said I ship 100 packages a week and if I was getting that kind of rate we would be closed down and I would be doing something else. You came in and picked your corals and it did not ship and this happened? Something is not right here. Are you sure you don't have something going on with your tank? Might be something else other then your water. If you would of contacted me I would of replaced them for sure. Have a good one Edited April 27, 2011 by Brian Ward Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mopar32985 April 27, 2011 Author Share April 27, 2011 That favia looks like it has algae on the side and the disc. Does not look fresh cut to me. But I guess it could be your pic. Were are all the rest of the corals that died on you? I still don't get why you would not email me and why you are having so many issues. Like I said I ship 100 packages a week and if I was getting that kind of rate we would be closed down and I would be doing something else. You came in and picked your corals and it did not ship and this happened? Something is not right here. Are you sure you don't have something going on with your tank? Might be something else other then your water. If you would of contacted me I would of replaced them for sure. Have a good one You are correct the favor is not fresh cut I have had this one fora few weeks. It lost all color in about a week. The only reason y it's still here is there is one mouth on it that still has some color to it. The rest of the corals are long gone. Once they bleached I decided to discard them. I'm not saying that every person that orders from you is going to have a bad experience. Myself I did. As far as my tank nothing is wrong with it been having great coral growth. If you would like look at my YouTube channel. I have about 8 video updates on it. You can see for yourself. Also about your comment on my LFS I would like to state I don't play favorites. I like to judge about my own personal experience. That includes fish and coral stock. How honest and helpful the staff is. Also another big thing for me is the cleanliness of the store. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrcoral.com April 27, 2011 Share April 27, 2011 No problem. I got it now. Have a good one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mopar32985 April 27, 2011 Author Share April 27, 2011 That favia looks like it has algae on the side and the disc. Does not look fresh cut to me. But I guess it could be your pic. Were are all the rest of the corals that died on you? I still don't get why you would not email me and why you are having so many issues. Like I said I ship 100 packages a week and if I was getting that kind of rate we would be closed down and I would be doing something else. You came in and picked your corals and it did not ship and this happened? Something is not right here. Are you sure you don't have something going on with your tank? Might be something else other then your water. If you would of contacted me I would of replaced them for sure. Have a good one By reading your last few sentences your kinda putting your foot in your mouth. Makes you not sound very professional. I never started this post to end up like this. I just wanted to put up my personal opinion. So I guess every bad review it's the consumers falt. One thing I have learned from working in the plumbing industry is if I go to a customers house and they were not happy with my work and I Said it's your falt and someone told you to say that. It would not me look like a respectable company. Lastly like I have stated before I have my own opinions and I like to find out things on my own. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrcoral.com April 27, 2011 Share April 27, 2011 That is a funny one. At the start of this I was like this is not making sense. 1st how could someone lose that amount of corals when they come in the store and pick them out. Then how could someone lose that amount and not email me or call me. Why would this person not of take pics at least of all those DOA's just in case. It just did not make sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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