you scream, i scream, we all scream for... quarantine!!

[monkiboy]

you scream, i scream, we all scream for... quarantine!! that is how that saying goes, right?

 

i got to say that i love the atmosphere lately on the boards. more and more i get PMs and calls on my qt protocols for fish and coral. you also see a lot more posts nowadays on folks working together with legitimate and accurate information on how to get through a situation with a pest or parasite, what are best practices, folks setting up coral quarantine tanks, etc.

 

it's one thing to talk the talk and another to walk the walk. as the reefer becomes more knowledgeable and aware more than ever of what a proper quarantine protocol looks and sounds like we are able to make educated decisions about where the fish for our tanks come from.

 

For conditioned, quarantined, and prophylactically treated fish at their healthiest, you’ve come to the right place. 

 

Here is our protocol:

 

- first, we work to minimize the chain of custody. We obtain the healthiest specimens possible from the get-go from as direct a source from the country of origin to our door. We do this by leveraging negotiated relationships with divers and collection site managers we have developed over the years

 

- fish are brought into and unbagged in a dimly lit room. If necessary, they are pH, salinity, and temperature acclimated. Otherwise, our systems that will hold the fish are matched for salinity to the water in the bag allowing us to float for temperature acclimation and release into systems minimizing the potential for ammonia poisoning and the amount of stress endured.

 

- assuming the specimens are asymptomatic for uronema, brookynella, marine velvet, or any other quick-killer they are allowed to de-stress and continue acclimating over the course of 5-7 days while they are fed live foods, Rod’s & PE blends, and if appropriate, nori. If needed live BBS, clams on the half shell, etc. whatever it takes to get them eating very well and consistently

 

- once they are eating and adjusted very well, we begin prophylaxis. this is done with copper, formalin, and praziquantel. Additional treatments may be used when necessary such as antibiotics, freshwater dips, fenbendazole and/or methylene blue baths.

 

- we do not rely on outside vendors/wholesalers to quarantine our livestock. we've worked with most of them and there are often issues that arise or shortcuts taken. the only people and protocols we can trust are our own to ensure 100% confidence in what we provide our customers.

 

- treatment continues for 2 weeks.

 

- during those two weeks customer food choices are introduced, if any in particular, and fish continue to thrive on Rod’s & PE blends and live food selections.

 

- after two weeks of therapeutic levels of treatment, fish are transferred to separate unmedicated systems for observation. These observation systems are at least ten feet away from any treatment system to do our best to avoid aerosol contamination from any pathogens in the treatment systems.

 

- fish are given at least two more weeks to continue eating frequent meals and regain any lost vigor without treatment and observed many times a day for any issues that may have not been caught

 

-fish at this point are ready for their new home and made available on the site if not already presold.

 

You may be thinking, “Wow, that is a LOT of work.” 

 

But it is this diligence and consistent effort that separates us from the rest. At ERC we don't look for shortcuts. We are not of the business model to “flip” fish. We take the time, resources, and effort to provide the healthiest fish to you! 

 

We are confident this hard work is what shows in every customer order and why so many come back to ERC time and time again!

 

We hope that if you haven't experienced everything ERC has to offer that you'll soon allow us to exceed your expectations with a truly superb specimen for your reef!

Edited April 21, 2023 by monkiboy

[Orion]

- we do not rely on outside vendors/wholesalers to quarantine our livestock. we've worked with most of them and there are often issues that arise or shortcuts taken. the only people and protocols we can trust are our own to ensure 100% confidence in what we provide our customers.

 

This. x1000

 

Both you and Richard are doing an outstanding job. I am in awe of how much work you both do behind the scenes. Keep it up. You are already turning heads locally, and are bound to as you expand online.

[gmerek2]

Looking forward to the new website! How the heck do you guys keep prices so darn low?! Lots of labor put into livestock

[Crob5965]

yeah, I have a tank to fill, looking forward to your expansion to livestock.

[Paul'sReef]

yeah, I have a tank to fill, looking forward to your expansion to livestock.

 

+1 let me know when you can start QT'n fish! Looking forward to working with you.

[morgan175]

+1 let me know when you can start QT'n fish! Looking forward to working with you.

I also am waiting for you to take an order.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[gmerek2]

+1 let me know when you can start QT'n fish! Looking forward to working with you.

Don't waste your time or money on QT medicines and setups let ERC pay all that money and buy disease free fish from them!

[TrueTricia]

you scream, i scream, we all scream for... quarantine!! that is how that saying goes, right?

 

i got to say that i love the atmosphere lately on the boards. more and more i get PMs and calls on my qt protocols for fish and coral. you also see a lot more posts nowadays on folks working together with legitimate and accurate information on how to get through a situation with a pest or parasite, what are best practices, folks setting up coral quarantine tanks, etc.

 

it's one thing to talk the talk and another to walk the walk. as the reefer becomes more knowledgeable and aware more than ever of what a proper quarantine protocol looks and sounds like we are able to make educated decisions about where the coral and fish for our tanks come from.

 

lately, business has really been tremendous; we've been doing very well and i'd like to think it is because of our impeccable customer service, the healthiest and most beautiful assortment of corals, and our always very fair and reasonable prices. that being said, what i've been actually hearing lately from our customers most is how they truly appreciate the care and attention given to the frag or colony they just picked up.

 

for fish this means:

- minimizing the chain of custody and obtaining the healthiest specimens possible from the get-go from as direct a source from country of origin exporter to our door as possible by leveraging negotiated relationships with divers and collection site managers

- fish are brought into and un-packaged in a dimly lit room. they are pH, salinity, and temperature acclimated.

- assuming they are asymptomatic for brookynella, amyloodinium ocellatum, or any other quick-killer they are allowed to de-stress and continue acclimating over the course of 7-10 days while they are fed seven to ten times a day LRS fish or reef frenzy and if needed live BBS, clams on the half shell, etc. whatever it takes to get them eating very well

- once they are eating and adjusted very well then we do not begin prophylaxis for another week. this is done with cupramine or chloroquine phosphate, furan-2, and praziquantel/FW dips. if symptoms are shown for any parasite, malady, or bacterial infection unaffected by above prophylactic treatment, then they are dealt with individually with appropriate treatment.

- we do not rely on outside vendors/wholesalers to quarantine our livestock. we've worked with most of them and there are often issues that arise or shortcuts taken. the only people and protocols we can trust are our own to ensure 100% confidence in what we provide our customers.

- treatment continues for 4 weeks.

- during those four weeks customer food choices are introduced if any in particular and fish continue to thrive on LRS food selections.

- after four weeks of therapeutic levels of treatment, all FW dips and rounds of praziquantel are completed, medications are removed via activated carbon, skimming, and water changes.

- fish are given at least one more week to continue eating frequent meals and regain any lost vigor without treatment and observed multiple times a day

 

for coral this means:

- most of our coral is hand-selected in person ensuring the very best, healthiest, and most colorful coral.

- all coral is carefully and closely inspected for unwanted pests

- coral is dipped in bayer and/or coral rx pro

- if AEFW/eggs or red bugs are found on a coral colony or frag, it is immediately discarded. it will not enter quarantine.

- all acropora is quarantined for at least 4 weeks and most commonly 8-10 weeks to ensure the color of the acropora holds in a captive environment, the health of the specimen, there were multiple opportunities to find any potential pests via daily inspections or weekly dips

- all acropora is dipped in bayer once a week for at least four weeks while undergoing daily inspections

- we never offer fresh cuts. even of all the aqua-cultured colonies. everything we frag and sell has had at least three weeks to heal and encrust which offers the healthiest coral and highest chance of livelihood in our customer's tanks.

 

typing it all out in modest detail like that it still seems like a lot of work. but it is this diligence and consistent effort that separates us from the rest. we don't look for the short cuts and i'm confident this hard work is what shows in every customer order.

 

as we begin to tackle the online-order market we found our website is not up to par. despite past attempts at rejuvenation it became clear that to match our mission, level of service, and meet demand, a full over-haul was required. a few weeks ago we enlisted the help of some wonderful web professionals and over the coming weeks will have a newly designed, efficient, and effective site that will allow for unique customer features across all our product offerings (evergrow LED lights, dry goods, frozen food, and of course, coral). please be patient as great things are coming as we continue to evolve and surpass your expectations.

 

we hope that if you haven't experienced everything ERC has to offer that you'll soon allow us to exceed your expectations with a truly superb piece of goodness for your reef!

Can't wait to see what's the new improvements are. You guys are wonderful!

[scott711]

very cool.  Great write up and good transparency

[monkiboy]

This. x1000

 

Both you and Richard are doing an outstanding job. I am in awe of how much work you both do behind the scenes. Keep it up. You are already turning heads locally, and are bound to as you expand online.

thank you and i appreciate the support. things are taking off and systems just continue to grow and expand to meet demand. really targeting the online market is going to blow us out of the water. ah, ah, see what i did there!

 

Looking forward to the new website! How the heck do you guys keep prices so darn low?! Lots of labor put into livestock

we are too - it's going to really change things up and make us much more efficient in handling our online orders. i'm a hobbyist at heart and know what fair prices are. despite all the hard work, it's a labor of love, truly. well most days, haha. we'll just keep doing the community right with best practices and fair prices and success follows.

[nova423]

Can't wait to see what's the new improvements are. You guys are wonderful!

Excellent, very informative!

[YHSublime]

very cool.  Great write up and good transparency

 

Awesome transparency, I appreciate that! Keep up the good work!

[monkiboy]

bumping this up to the top since i've gotten a couple PMs lately on details of our process.

 

i really want to bring home all the hard work that we do personally to ensure only the healthiest specimens of coral and fish are sold to our customers.

 

we don't take shortcuts. why? well, our customers and their tanks are always priority numero uno. there is no way to prove that better than by doing the hard work ourselves, consistently and diligently.

 

thank you for trusting us with your confidence and reef. we appreciate all the love folks!

[jacobB89]

I can't wait to start stocking the 180 will be getting a lot from you.

[smallreef]

I'm pre-thanking you...I'm so happy this service is offered...can't wait to get my new addition!

[monkiboy]

I can't wait to start stocking the 180 will be getting a lot from you.

thanks jacob. you're getting pretty darn close to wrapping up the build too. when are we going to start going over that fish list, eh?

[jacobB89]

thanks jacob. you're getting pretty darn close to wrapping up the build too. when are we going to start going over that fish list, eh?

Soon as I get back from vacation I got an idea for fish list needs to be narrowed down now lol.

[monkiboy]

I'm pre-thanking you...I'm so happy this service is offered...can't wait to get my new addition!

i really appreciate that. your trigger is ready when you are!

 

especially great for you as now you have a legitimate quarantine and treatment done personally and meticiulously AND local pick up! keep the orders coming!

[monkiboy]

ttt please - we work hard to do it right and ensure the healthiest livestock so you don't have to go anywhere else. if you haven't already, give us a chance to exceed your expectations - you won't be disappointed.  

[monkiboy]

ttt with the live sale coming up. we now have this information on our site as well for a quicker find. thank you as always for supporting the hard work we do to ensure our customers receive only the best from us and our livestock.