Chrisv.
2500 Club Member
This post details my experience buying a fish from forum sponsor @Cultivated Reef. Spoiler alert: I am a very happy customer.
About a year ago, I was lucky to obtain an adult midnight lightning clownfish, one of the more obscure ocellaris morphs that is captive bred by Sea and Reef. Since then, I've been looking for a juvenile to pair with my adult female.
After reading a clownfish WTB thread on my local forum, I ended up on the Cultivated Reef (a local forum and R2R sponsor) website-- and to my surprise, they had midnight lightning clowns from Sea and Reef in stock.
Since the time to buy an uncommon fish is when you see the uncommon fish available, I decided to place an order. I exchanged several DMs with Holly from Cultivated Reef, who answered all of my questions.
Most importantly, I learned that Cultivated Reef operates a biosecure facility. They ONLY sell fish from Sea and Reef (a breeder with rigorous biosecurity) and they keep their fish from Sea and Reef in a dedicated system. So, essentially every fish that Captivated Reef sells comes from a clean facility.
When I placed my order, I sent Holly a picture of the clown I already have and asked her to pick a brood-stock quality clown that has a pattern well matched to the one I already have. She was happy to help with this. In addition to the standard shipping confirmation email, Holly took the time to text me to let me know my fish was in the mail.
When I got my order this morning, I was extremely satisfied.
First, since Cultivated Reef is located in Maine, the package was shipped directly from Bangor to Boston without having to fly through random hub cities, experiencing the now inevitable delays. Not everyone will have this benefit, but for new england reefers, man it's nice to not have your package sit on a loading dock in Memphis for untold hours.
The package arrived at 10 am, and was packed better than I have ever seen. Inside the outer carbord box, I found a 1.5 inch thick foam cooler and two heat packs. My 1 inch juvenile clown was packed in about a third of a gallon of water, which seemed like a TON for such a small fish. What's more, there was a second equal size bag of just water used as a heat sink to keep the temp in the box stable. The entire box was filled by the two bags. Packing the box this way ensured the best chances for the fish, but it was no doubt considerably more expensive. I learned that the actual cost to ship a fish from Cultivated Reef is around $50, but they subsidize the shipping cost to remain competitive, and only charge $29. My shipment arrived on time, but due to the packaging job, I have no doubt that the fish would have survived even a 24 hour delay.
The clown I received is perfect. It has great body conformation and symmetry, and a great pattern. In other words, it's a brood-stock quality clown, just like I was hoping for. As expected from a fish that came from a biosecure facility, he looked very healthy, so I was happy to put him directly into an acclimation box to get acquainted with the clown I already have.
My next Cultivated Reef order (and there will be another order) will be for an Orchid Dottyback. If I am feeling brave, I may try for a pair.
If you're considering adding fish to your tank, check out Cultivated Reef. They are a small business that sponsors R2R and small local clubs, and has good prices on healthy captive bred fish.
My adult midnight lightning clown:
My new juvenile midnight lightning from Cultivated Reef:
Their awesome shipping:
About a year ago, I was lucky to obtain an adult midnight lightning clownfish, one of the more obscure ocellaris morphs that is captive bred by Sea and Reef. Since then, I've been looking for a juvenile to pair with my adult female.
After reading a clownfish WTB thread on my local forum, I ended up on the Cultivated Reef (a local forum and R2R sponsor) website-- and to my surprise, they had midnight lightning clowns from Sea and Reef in stock.
Since the time to buy an uncommon fish is when you see the uncommon fish available, I decided to place an order. I exchanged several DMs with Holly from Cultivated Reef, who answered all of my questions.
Most importantly, I learned that Cultivated Reef operates a biosecure facility. They ONLY sell fish from Sea and Reef (a breeder with rigorous biosecurity) and they keep their fish from Sea and Reef in a dedicated system. So, essentially every fish that Captivated Reef sells comes from a clean facility.
When I placed my order, I sent Holly a picture of the clown I already have and asked her to pick a brood-stock quality clown that has a pattern well matched to the one I already have. She was happy to help with this. In addition to the standard shipping confirmation email, Holly took the time to text me to let me know my fish was in the mail.
When I got my order this morning, I was extremely satisfied.
First, since Cultivated Reef is located in Maine, the package was shipped directly from Bangor to Boston without having to fly through random hub cities, experiencing the now inevitable delays. Not everyone will have this benefit, but for new england reefers, man it's nice to not have your package sit on a loading dock in Memphis for untold hours.
The package arrived at 10 am, and was packed better than I have ever seen. Inside the outer carbord box, I found a 1.5 inch thick foam cooler and two heat packs. My 1 inch juvenile clown was packed in about a third of a gallon of water, which seemed like a TON for such a small fish. What's more, there was a second equal size bag of just water used as a heat sink to keep the temp in the box stable. The entire box was filled by the two bags. Packing the box this way ensured the best chances for the fish, but it was no doubt considerably more expensive. I learned that the actual cost to ship a fish from Cultivated Reef is around $50, but they subsidize the shipping cost to remain competitive, and only charge $29. My shipment arrived on time, but due to the packaging job, I have no doubt that the fish would have survived even a 24 hour delay.
The clown I received is perfect. It has great body conformation and symmetry, and a great pattern. In other words, it's a brood-stock quality clown, just like I was hoping for. As expected from a fish that came from a biosecure facility, he looked very healthy, so I was happy to put him directly into an acclimation box to get acquainted with the clown I already have.
My next Cultivated Reef order (and there will be another order) will be for an Orchid Dottyback. If I am feeling brave, I may try for a pair.
If you're considering adding fish to your tank, check out Cultivated Reef. They are a small business that sponsors R2R and small local clubs, and has good prices on healthy captive bred fish.
My adult midnight lightning clown:
My new juvenile midnight lightning from Cultivated Reef:
Their awesome shipping:
