CAN YOU TRUST ONLINE VENDORS??

[Reef By Steele]

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Do you get what you pay for?

When you order products online, especially live goods, how do you know you are getting what you paid for. As a vendor who sells phytoplankton and copepods, I worry that customers who purchase from me will not be satisfied with our product. Not because we are shipping an inferior product, but that the customer may not understand it or have the wrong expectations. When I got back into the hobby in 2021 I ordered a product from a company I now compete with. (I will not be naming companies regardless of wether the experience was positive or negative, as this isn’t intended as an attack thread, but one of reflection and experience). Either in their listing or in the materials that arrived with the copepods was an explanation of the size of said copepods and that some were so small they would be hard or impossible to see. Following their directions I was able to see what I had purchased, but without that knowledge I would have said I got a jar of water with a couple of bugs in it. Over the next couple of years I purchase more from the same vendor and also from others. Always looking for a great deal or the best price (actually value). Some met or exceeded my expectations while others where lacking. Suffice it to say, I didn’t go back to the ones that were lacking unless they made it right. Later I discovered Phytoplankton while reading a thread here on R2R. I searched and found a listing selling a multi-strain phytoplankton and after an exchange of PM’s I chose to make a purchase. I was pleased with the results, finding it IMO much richer than others I had received in a combo pack from one particular vendor (which I didn’t use as I didn’t understand it’s value at the time. I continued to use his products, but ran out at a time when the temperatures were well below freezing so I was afraid to order. That lead me to culturing for myself thinking then I would never run out.

This developed into my starting to sell on R2R as a hobbyist to try to help pay for the salt and materials to continue my cultures. As I continued to sell the administrators determined I resembled a business vs a hobbyist and suggested that I become a sponsor. In order to do this, I felt I needed to expand our product offering to be as competitive as possible. We expanded our phytoplankton to the current 10 strains and added three new species of copepods and began offering amphipods.

This is when I found out that not all vendors are honest and ethical (ok so maybe I’m not that naive) but did expect better. I originally purchased all of my phyto cultures and three species of copepods from the guy I consider my mentor. He was very helpful in giving me advice, not necessarily giving me all the secrets of the trade, but definitely confirming what I had researched on the web, and steering me away from some common mistakes. When we expanded we had to find additional sources as we were already culturing the same strains and species that he had available. I purchased the three new species of copepods from a company that I had purchased pods and amphipods from in the past. I got them started and took the time to get the cultures up to density. During a routine reset of the cultures as I prepared to launch the new species I discovered barnacles growing in my cultures and some type of worm that I couldn’t identify. I reached out to the vendor asking if his pods were cultured, and he immediately replied yes, but when I then inquired about the other life that was growing in my sterilized cultures he never responded. I then looked at the pods under a microscope and determined that all three “species” were the same. I sent some of the pods to a university for identification and the best they could tell me was they were in the same family as Tisbe biminiensis but were not them exactly.

Mystery Harpacticoida

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I used this same vendor for my amphipod starters, and occasionally if my production couldn’t keep up with demand. Once upon adding what he claims are cultured amphipods to my culturing system I noticed an oddity and captured it. It turned out to be an isopod. Exact identification unknown. When I sent him a picture he replied that it was an isopod and that it was just bonus food. However since I know some isopods are parasites, I was forced to completely restart my amphipod cultures after sterilizing and eliminating any pest. The same thing I had to do those three copepod cultures.

Parvo Pods

When we expanded our phytoplanktons, I found another vendor through a google search and contacted him. He talked a great talk and sounded really experienced so we purchased our additional two strains of phytoplankton from him and put them into production. We constantly run two separate cultures started at different times to have a back up in place, but occasionally have to start up fresh cultures. I had one culture become contaminated with another strain so I reached out to this buddy of mine to get a replacement as he could overnight it to me so I could have it up in time for our next production cycle. What he sent me was also contaminated with a different strain. Knowing how diligent you have to be when culturing I didn’t find this distressing until I sent him a video of it under the microscope asking for identification (I knew it was Tetraselmis mixed with the Thalassiosira weissflogii I had ordered) and he replied back that it was Thal. This caused me concern as it told me one of two things. Either this person who I considered a friend, and had spent a considerable amount of time sharing what works for each of us, either has no actual knowledge about phytoplankton, or intentionally sent me a contaminated culture. I say this as Thal is not motile and the Tetra was jumping all over the place.

These experiences have done several things for me. For one, I have lost faith in businesses that I thought were honorable, and strengthened my resolve to provide only the cleanest products as described and promoted here in R2R and on our website www.reefbysteele.com.

When we offer a product to customers, they are going to get the species that we list. When purchasing a single strain of phyto plankton or single species of copepods our customers are going to get pure specimens guaranteed. We now only purchase from two trusted vendors who also guarantee their product, and we inspect it upon arrival, and also prior to shipping.

If you find a company that you can trust, by all means give them your business. But if you are looking for copepods and phytoplankton give us a shot at your business as we not only guarantee our products, but operate in an honest and ethical manner.

Thank you
Kent and Sherry