Aquadesignz Order

[shilo_1]

I just placed an order with Anthony for some zoo frags. Should arrive next Thursday.
I'll post some pics and update with any new info after everything arrives.

[Izsabelle]

Ooohh.. please post pics! I can't wait to see them and to meet you at the next meeting.

[shilo_1]

lol...I'm pretty excited too !

Meetings can be difficult for me to get to due to work, but I am hoping to make it. :)

[newmoon]

I ordered 4 SPS colonies from Anthony and everything arrived great and the corals are fantastic. VERY nice person to deal with and excellent livestock.

[dphins]

I just placed an order for some sps, can't wait to get them!:) I am glad you all had good experiences with him.

[shilo_1]

So far he's been great to deal with...VERY prompt to reply to questions - I like that.

Anyhow, still scheduled to arrive this Thursday...I did add another frag to the order...lol...couldn't help myself !

[alafish]

I just placed an order as well. Mine will be here Friday-

So far-AWESOME communication, great prices, willing to hold shipping until Thursday and to ship to Fedex location to be picked up.

I'll post pictures after I receive...

Marybeth

[shilo_1]

What did you order ? I got a few zoo frags.

[alafish]

Same here-I think I have 3 different frags coming...

Marybeth

[chow chow]

I remember a thread from someone who order zoos from them and they all arrived dead. She was told 'too bad, no arrive alive guarantee and zoos don't take shipping very well'. I couldn't find the thread, maybe someone else can locate it. I would hate to be out a few hundred dollars and have no corals to show for it.

[shilo_1]

I read the thread...Anthony does now offer an arrive alive guarentee on the site. Also, he is only a few hours from me, so hopefully they won't be in transit for too long.

[dphins]

I got my shipment in today and sorry to say that it wasn't smooth sailing for me. Before I paid the guy, I asked him to ship it to my work because our shipping dept could receive it. Then on my lunch I could run them home. Well I got a fed ex tracking notice that the order was being sent to my house instead! So I ended up having to wait around till the corals got there. I got them at 10:15 and I floated the bags in my sump then I went to work. I went home during lunch and opened the bags. The first coral I took out of the bag the base of it was completely covered in hair algae. I was mad before, then this happens! The next coral was ok. The last one was a frag with a good section of it dead. Not dead as in just died in shipping, but dead for awhile. So I don't know if I will do another order with him or not. $55 dollars for shipping and box charges plus $75 in lost pay. I did email him before I got the shipment and he did say he messed up and that he would make it up to me on my next order, but that doesn't help me out now.

[SOREVIV476]

how do you guys contact him?

i have emailed him before and i only got a reply 1 time out of 5.
the one time he did reply he asked me to call him since i live about 20min from him. so i did, we talked he said he woudl call me back so i can go pick up my zoo frag that i wanted but he never called back. a couple other times i emailed him for some sps that he had just put up i must have been first to email him they where available all day . i got no reply the next day they where pending sale to somebody else and i got no reply. my bro joe fish@chips29 on rc. tried to get some zoo's also he emailed him early when he updated his site. i still remember wich zoos they where because he was really excited over them . they where green ppe style with a yellow mouth . anyhow, the where avilable the whole day he got no reply . the next day the where pending sale . he got no reply( ime when i have order online adn the item is sold i have always gotten a reply with i am sorry the item sold thanks for your intrest. keep an eye on our site for new updates.) a couple days later i guess the person cancelled the order. and the zoos where available again. i called my bro to see if he had emailed him and nope he didnt. on monday i was on my girlies laptop computer and he had these sweet sps that look liek purple monster i hit him up with under her email name alicia _l (wait maybe i shouldnt right the email here lol ) anyhow no response it was availble all day. the next day it sold to the guy who orderd the other one he had up for sale. i still havent got a reply. anyhow to me it seems that he gives preferance to people who buy more then one thing from him i noticed the guy who bought the sps i wanted on monday bought quite a few things . i also rememeber that was the case for coupel other items i wanted... well this is my experiance with aquadesinz.com (it sucks because he gets some sweet stuff in . and he is only a few minutes away from me. i wont try to order again . i guess i just feeel that not getting a response sucks becasue i am waiting in anticipation all day to see if i replied fast enought to get . and i dotn even get a reply to say what you where intrested in was sold.

-richard

[shilo_1]

Not sure what the deal is, each time I email Anthony, I get a reply back...usually in a few min !

I'm keeping fingers crossed that all goes smoothly for my order, as it is a good bit of cash (hopefully it will all be worth it !)

[dphins]

He did pack everything very well. The coral with all the algae might not be his fault, he might of got it that way. The frag with the dead branches he could have broke them off so I wouldn't have seen it. When I do email him he is very prompt. The fact is he shipped my order to the wrong place and I had to make it work not him. The fed ex man told me the shipper is the only person who can change the delivery address. So he could have changed it. Anyway, I will post pics later when I get a chance.

[dphins]

Here is my $233 order.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/50121coral2.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/50121birdnest.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/50121coral1.jpg

What do you think?

[Azurel]

Looks like you got robbed to me, should have went with Reefermadness and you could have gotten a free bronze teardrop clam for the money you spent. JMHO

[dphins]

I know! But, they didn't have these pieces I got from Aquadesignz. Live and learn I guess?

[shilo_1]

Those don't look too good..but then I'm not into sps...
Hopefully my zoo order will turn out ok...
I just received Fedex notification that they are being sent and should arrive in the morning.

[dphins]

Here is my echinata with some actinic mixed in with my 10k ushios.
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/50121echinata.jpg

[SOREVIV476]

ouch!! that was alot.. you got the bridsnest . i was thinking about that one too. i heard that the tips on those birdnest will turn pink eventually. the gomezi looks bad. the birdnest does too. the echinata is so so. hey i was going to buy a gomezi from him once well i never got a response. anyhow, he had them for 49.00 at the time same size now he has them for 69.00 why??? i think your echinata will get better . looks like it just is stressed from shipping. good luck with the others.

[Azurel]

Thaat looks pretty sweet though...maybe it won't be so bad after all......

[dphins]

Thanks SOREVIV476. They should regain there color. I just got a rosaria from reefermadness last week that looked faded and it is regaining it's color. I think the birdnest might have rtn'ed. I walked by the tank with just the actinic on and it looked all white. I don't know if it's the lights or what? I will know tomorrow. I ordered the gomezi and echinata because I don't have anything like it in my tank. We will see!

[Old Yeller Tang]

Originally posted by dphinsx2
Here is my echinata with some actinic mixed in with my 10k ushios.
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/50121echinata.jpg
I bought one just like that from Anthony and it browned up some. After a couple of weeks and it was solid blue again!:)
It happens alot when you buy wild corals. Same thing happens to me with Reefermadness. If they survive the ordeal, they'll usually regain their color.

[dphins]

Old Yeller, does your echinata have any polyp extension? Mine doesn't at the moment but it does have good color.

[SOREVIV476]

hey dhinsx2,

i bought an echinata about a month ago. adn i am barely seeing polyps come out. it has colored up alot however.

[dphins]

Cool thanks!

[dphins]

shilo_1 and alafish do you have any updates for us? Any pics?

[shilo_1]

I got my order, as expected. Packaging was good, only one heat pack, but then it was a really short shipping distance (he's only about 6 hours away.)

I got a few extra red "PPE" style polyps that are cool, but I didn't order them. I ordered a total of 5 zoo frags. Of those 5 I ordered, I got 3.5 of what I wanted. The others are nice, but not the same frags that were pictured (he says he does WYSIWYG.)
I'm pretty happy with the order anyhow, since the colors are awesome and the zoos seem healthy for the most part.
Some stuff I wasn't too thrilled about was that the zoos came with those zoo eating nudis, frags had some hair algae and the are freshly collected from the wild (I really usually only buy aquacultured, but didn't know these were wild.)

Other than that though, like I said the colors are very intense, and the frags are a little bigger than I was expecting.

Anthony has been super-nice, and has been helpful and polite to deal with.

I haven't had a chance to get some really cool shots, but I'll post some I took the next day after they arrived.

[shilo_1]

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/43100100_3925-med.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/43100100_3953.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/43100100_3956-med.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/43100100_3912-med.jpg

I'll try get some nicer pics tomorrow. The last one is of the red "PPE" style polyps, not fully open.

[dphins]

Man, I didn't get a free gift!:)

[dphins]

Good thing you inspected your zoos and found those nudies.
Check this out if you don't already know about it.
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=451720

[shilo_1]

not sure if it was intentional, or what....remember, I didn't exactly get what I ordered ! lol

[shilo_1]

Yeah, I did a bunch of FW dips, and have them in a QT for another 5 weeks. :(

[okiebones]

I've dealt with Anthony alot over the past year or so and have to give him some due credit...his policies and practices have steadily improved in my book...quick to reply to ?'s, packs and ships well, always get what you paid for or WYSIWYG and he backs his products if there is a problem. 'nuff said :)

Doc in Tulsa

[dphins]

I agree, I would order from him again. He has a nice selection of corals on his site.

[Old Yeller Tang]

Originally posted by dphinsx2
Old Yeller, does your echinata have any polyp extension? Mine doesn't at the moment but it does have good color.
Mine as well as most of my corals, polyp at night due to nipping fish I have.

[alafish]

Sorry I haven't posted an update.

Went to Fedex Friday to pick up. Uh-oh wet box bottom. I open the box and the large lavender zoo rock has very little water. Luckily, the rock was upside down in the bag and was submerged. I let Fedex know of the issue and it was noted. Get home and start to acclimate. I notice a rock that looks unusual...Hmm. When I open the bag-RICORDIA YUMA!! I had emailed Anthony about it, but told him I did not want it. I got it! Nice bonus! Also got a bonus PE rock with out 8-10 polyps. After acclimating and a dip, they are all open and looking good in QT.

Camera is out of town. Will post some pictures later.

Marybeth

[shilo_1]

Marybeth,
what were the zoo frags like that you got ? Weren't you getting 3 zoo frags ?

[dphins]

I guess I didn't spend enough, only $215. I didn't get anything thrown in with my order. I feel left out. Oh well, I just placed an order with phishybusiness for over $600. Maybe now I will get a free gift?

[sagitariuscbc]

Originally posted by shilo_1


http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/43100100_3956-med.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/43100100_3912-med.jpg


shilo-i would like to trade you for a frag of the above zoa's when they settle in. lmk what you are looking for. in the first picture in my post it would be nice if you could include some of the zoa's in the foreground/left side of colony.
shawn!~)

[alafish]

I spent less than $215-by about 20%. Large Lavender rock looks great! Over 40 or more plyps totally covered about 6". Other rock with red mouths, about 2"x3", covered. 80% of the polyps have opened. Green zoo's look good. Not quite as pictured, but lighting may make some difference.

Overall-pleased, due to freebies and 1 rock. Packaging could have been better. Heat pack wrapper in box, but no heat pack. Low that day was 28, so needed it. We get cold in the South, too. (ok a little)

[dphins]

I know he read this thread. So I think you benefited form it. My loss your gain.

[newmoon]

Originally posted by dphinsx2
I guess I didn't spend enough, only $215. I didn't get anything thrown in with my order. I feel left out. Oh well, I just placed an order with phishybusiness for over $600. Maybe now I will get a free gift?


hehehe, for $600 they should bring you the corals themselfs! :)

[shilo_1]

I don't think its about the free gift....I would go without the free gifts to get the stuff I ordered !

For that alone, I don't think I'll be going back there anytime soon.
I like to know that what I order is what I'll get....its a pity, because he has some awesome stuff ! :(

Oh well.....

[dphins]

I completely agree with you Shilo. It's not about the free gift. You see something, then you buy it and that is what you expect to get. Not something else in it's place.

[alafish]

I agree-part of the reason for not ordering the Ric was space. Since I got it, I made space. I order from places not to get free stuff, I am ordering from a BUSINESS, but for quality. Anthony's stuff is good, not great, IMHO. His packaging is fair to poor.

[dphins]

Try Phishybusiness. This guy will bend over backwards for his customers!

[esotsm1]

i've dealt plenty with anthony and i know first hand that in terms of zoos his stuff is tops. name me one place where you can find a better selection... i can't speak on his shipping practices because i'm down just on the other side of town from him, but i know he takes his business seriously and as far as i was concerned, he has gone the extra mile for customer service. throughout the time i've known him, he's been a stand up guy and an honest businessman.

soreviv, i don't know what your trip is on the guy, but you sound pretty one-sided on the whole thing. it seems like 1/2 the time i read a thread of yours you're carrying a torch for eric/fragfarmer like you're on his payroll and here i see you badmouthing another vendor with a vengeance. btw, the echinata and the gomezi looks pretty damn good imo. as for prices... it looks more than fair to me, bro.
dphinsx2- if any vendor can get someone to bite on a $110 price tag for an aquacultured echinata i'm sure they'd do dogtricks too. :P

[SOREVIV476]

i carry the torch for eric because he knows how to take care of customers. i also have dealt with others like john from killercorals.com he is a stand up dewd. i dont believe i said anything wrong about anthony . all i said is that i have emailed him and never got a response. i havent had the opp. to by from him... you know both eric and anthony because you see them all the time at the wholesalers so you deal with anthony first hand . i have never had the chance to meet him. eric on the other hand i have dealt with many of times and have always talked good about his place because i want other people to know about him. as far as being on the payroll for eric thats just funny to hear you say that.... because customer service and the way you deal with people speaks for itself. eric doesnt need my help to spread the word for his business. his way of doing business takes care of that do a search on eric and see if anything has bad things to say about him. as far as other vendors having better zoos then anthony id have to say maybe eric or perhaps you! since you do the mad dash to the zoo bins at the wholesalers as soon as they open = )

i know anthony is a cool dewd i have just never had the opportunity to deal with him but from what i hear from other people he is a standup dewd!!! i know i said i wont try to buy anything from him again but i will try. i read on his site where he wrote his email doesnt work so maybe that was the case on my end. anyhow. i support those who are cool with me eric from fragfarmer has always been a coool a$$ person with so let me light that torch and give his place anther plug ( not like he needs it)
fragfarmer.com

[shilo_1]

I must kind of agree with SOREVIV476. If I go somewhere and have a great experience - I'll let you know how it went. If I go back to that place, and yet again, service is excellent, item quality is great, price is right again - you bet ya, I'm gonna tell everyone again how great it was. And IF I'm lucky enough to go somewhere on many more than only one occasion, and still receive top notch everything - hell yeah ! I'll sing their praises !!! lol

Like I've said previously - Anthony seems good, but other than all the interesting colors, and initial prompt and courteous service, I wasn't too impressed. Considering that I spent over $200, and honestly did not received what was pictured, I'm not terribly thrilled. When I emailed him after a few days to ask why I didn't get the zoos pictured, he finally said he did send the same frags.
Well....maybe somehow in his eyes..but I am not color blind ! ;)
When I look on his site and see blue, and those "same" ones look red in my tank (and I have very similar lighting to his) - those in my opinion are not the same as the ones I ordered. (Also, its not just the one rock that is different.)

Anyhow, its ok...they are alive, I got some cool colors, but I will not be ordering from him again (not sure what I would get next time.) lol

[dphins]

Just so you know it was 75 and that's what aquadesigzs charges. I now have one from each place and the one from phishy blows the other one away.

[dphins]

Guys, i'm not trying to bash Aquadesignz. I just perfer the corals at Phishybusiness. It has nothing to do with Anthony, he is a nice guy. When I make my next order I will look towards Phishy before I look anywhere else.

[newmoon]

Nice you got a good vendor,dpphinsx2. That's very important..to find a vendor which you trust.
My last order with Aquadesignz was good, not great, but was good. I wished for better packaging and I also had a DOA(which Anthony refunded me) coral and some broken tips in another. One of the corals came in an almost empty bag.
Other thank that, corals looks great

Here's a picture of the H. Hoeksemai I got from Aquadesignz 3 days ago. This is BY FAR the bluest of All Acros I ever seen( and this includes Torts, too). It's blue it's almost "cartoonish" looking..really amazing.
2 3/4" high, still getting used to it's new surroundings. ;)
Not a cheap coral, but worth it. Can't wait for it to grow into a bigger colony.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/554/76807hoeksemai.jpg

[Izsabelle]

Shilo, you are by far much nicer then me. I would of been upset if someone sent me reds when they were pictured to be blue and on top of that, he sent you nudis! Wow, I think I would of given him a ear full and demanded my money back or he better ship the correct coral to me immediately. Otherwise I'd contact my CC and ask for a chargeback. I guess that's why I only deal with local people. I just don't want that sort of a headache. I sure hope your future online purchases will be better.

Yes, I'm fiesty, but funny. :P

[shilo_1]

lol, I hear ya, Izsabelle ! I would have been more mad, but the ones I did get still have great colors....and are still alive, so I didn't lose....I just didn't get what I was expecting....I won't make this mistake here again. :)

[chow chow]

Hate that when you don' t get what you expect, it's such a let down.

[clavery]

we ordered some zoos and a clam from aquadesignz. Anthony was really responsive to my e-mails, and threw in an extra frag for free. the order came and one of the bags was broken, so I emailed him and he told me he'd give us a credit if the zoo's didn't open. fortunately, they did and all is well. We had a good experience with him.

My only comment is that the zoos look so much bigger in the pics than they do when they arrive, but I guess that's the advantage of buying in person.

All in all, I'd order from him again.

[ejocam]

Originally posted by esotsm1
soreviv, i don't know what your trip is on the guy, 1/2 the time i read a thread of yours you're carrying a torch for eric/fragfarmer like you're on his payroll and here i see you badmouthing another vendor with a vengeance.

Mike, I thought they banned you! Supposedly you "Moved On"?? Guess not? Please do not bring me into something I have nothing to do with. With hard work and honesty, you might make it one day ;)

[Andystl]

I ordered from Anthony a couple of months ago. I got great zoa's, good sizes and great colors. I also got a whole bunch of aeolid nudibranch's that are eating all of my other zoas. I understand that he has lots of zoa's going thru his system and I am not blaming him, but make sure you dip all zoas you get from the site, I would not want any of you to loose as many zoas as I have the past 2 months.

[shilo_1]

I got them from him too, Andystl. My first experience with them.
I just think it would be nice to know ahead of time. I did contact Anthony regarding the nudis, and he said he was going to put a notice on the site....as you can see, he hasn't....

[O'Coralman]

something for nothing does not really exist. These "free" items aprear to be something to calm down the fact the orders are not right. Kind of like a rebate on cars that are over priced to begin with.....then you think your getting a deal. These places cannot make money giving things away. They can by slight of hand with the free stuff.....while your oreders are short. It was wrong to ship the algea covered piece...especially if he got it that way. Algea in those rics out to be fun to get out and nudis in the rics and he knows about it. A notice is not needed....he needs to get them out before shipment. MNHO.....

You folks are paying a fortune for things I get a the LFS for much less. Your shipping costs are closer to what things cost me.

Steve

[shilo_1]

True, and it bugged me not getting what I origninally wanted, and I got the feeling the "freebies" were a pacifier.

I do think its funny though, that looking at his site last night, there is a frag on there for sale that I have sitting in my tank ! lol
I'd almost be willing to bet money that I have the zoos pictured !
If that is the case...someone else will not be getting the frag they order....

I won't be shopping with him again...I like to get what I order....:)

[Izsabelle]

Hey Shilo, you should check out O street. They've been getting some killer zoa frags. I missed out on a baby blue, yellow eye zoa a few weeks ago. Also, they had a few nice colonies a week or 2 ago too. Plus they charge between 25 to 45 for a large rock with about 50 to 100 polyps or more.

[shilo_1]

Thanks, Izsabelle, I'll have to do that ! (If Shawn doesn't beat me to it ! lol) ;)

Just FYI everyone, I just got a PM from Anthony, saying he has taken some steps and is confident that future shipments should be pretty much nudi-free ! :) Just thought I'd let you guys know. :)

[sagitariuscbc]

Originally posted by shilo_1
Thanks, Izsabelle, I'll have to do that ! (If Shawn doesn't beat me to it ! lol) ;)

LOL;) you guy's really need to come over to my house. i need (really need) to make room for new colonies.
shawn!~)