Here at AquaSD, we take the health and wellbeing of our corals very seriously. We do this because we have a responsibility not only to the coral but to our customers as well. This is why they are given the best care possible from the moment we receive a shipment. All New Corals are carefully unpacked, sorted, inspected, dipped and placed into ideal water conditions, lighting and flow. We test our water daily for salinity, pH, alkalinity, calcium and magnesium.
Small Polyp Stony Corals (SPS) get a bath in Bayer. This helps us prevent introducing things like Red Bugs and Acropora Eating Flatworms (AEFW) into our systems.
Our Large Polyp Stony Corals (LPS) are dipped in a Lugol’s Iodine solution. This helps treat any of the unique LPS diseases and also kills common LPS pests.
Our soft corals, such as Zoas, Palys and Mushrooms, receive a dip in Lugol’s, Coral RX or Revive. These dips are great for keeping soft corals clean and healthy!
As the Corals settle into their new environment, they are inspected by our husbandry staff for polyp extension, color, pests and many other things. Some corals stay with us longer than others. This is why our husbandry staff is constantly monitoring all of our corals just as if they had recently arrived.
If anything out of the ordinary is noticed, the corals are separated and placed under extra observation. During this time, they could be dipped more frequently; fed more frequently or just given more or less flow or more or less light.
Our husbandry staff also takes time cleaning and replacing frag plugs, frag discs and our clam holders to insure they stay free of algae. When we frag our corals, we use a Gryphon Band Saw with a diamond coated blade. The Gryphon saw we use was modified in conjunction with one of our very own employees several years ago to make sure it was ideal for fragging corals!
All of our fragged corals are given optimum time to heal. No fresh cuts around here! Once it is time for corals to be shipped out, our corals go through a multi-step inspection process. The corals are picked, sorted, bagged and packaged by different people to insure as many eyes are put on the corals as possible. What one person may miss, another may see!
Before a box is sealed up for shipping, we do a quick check of the weather for where the order is heading. This allows us to make sure the proper precautions are taken for cold or hot weather. Cold weather means heat packs and hot weather means cold packs. If for any reason we determine it’s not safe to ship an order due to weather, we contact or customers to let them know of any possible shipping delays. It is our goal to get your order to you as fast as possible.
Once you receive your order, we recommend moving them into acclimation as quickly as possible. If there is a bit of a delay, no big deal! Corals are pretty resilient and with how they are packed, they’ll be ok in the box for a bit. If you plan to float the bags to bring the temperature back up or down. We recommend doing so in the sump. If you don’t have a sump or don’t have the space, float them in your aquarium. Just turn the lights down so the corals don’t go from a dark box to reefing level bright lights. After 15-20 minutes, we highly recommend drip acclimating them. This will help your new corals acclimate to your water conditions. Once the acclimation procedures are completed, we recommend that you dip your corals. You can follow our dipping methods mentioned above or, you can check out or acclimation procedure on our website.
Our staff is also available by phone or email to answer any questions you may have.
Happy reefing!
Store Policy
We guarantee live arrival. In the unlikely event of a DOA (Dead on Arrival), we will need a clear digital picture within 2 hours of delivery. E-mail the picture/s to aquasandiego@gmail.com.
We do not give refunds. We send replacements and/or give store credit on future orders. We do not cover the shipping costs on replacements.
Guarantee is void if you refuse delivery of your order, if no one is available to receive the package, or package was not picked up from your UPS facility in a timely manner (within 6 hours of arrival).
Aqua SD cannot be held responsible for mechanical or weather delays by shipping company
There is a minimum order of $100 (excluding shipping) for all orders being shipped out. This does not apply for local pick up.
We can hold corals for up to two weeks without prior arrangements made. After this two-week period, we are not responsible for the corals. This also applies to local pick up, shipments that did not select a shipping date on the calendar and orders that have not paid shipping by the time they are supposed to be sent out. If no arrangements have been made to hold your items for any longer than two weeks, after 30 days we can issue you 50% store credit, after 60 days we cannot offer any compensation for money spent.
If any coral is not in good condition to be shipped, we will contact you via phone and email to substitute it for a different one of equal value. If we are not able to get a hold you, we will give you store credit for the coral that was not shipped.
Cut off time for any new orders will be 12pm PST on ship out date.
For the safety of the animals, if weather conditions are too cold/hot we will reach out via phone and email to reschedule your shipment. We want to ensure the best chance of survival for these animals.
We are not responsible for incorrect addresses given.
Shipping is non refundable, no exception
There is a 20% restocking fee to any cancelled orders
