Recent purchase from Live Aquaria.com

[Freed]

Hi, I just purchased the Aussie Elegance that you had for sale on your web site. The order # is A2598655 It is a bit chilly here and will still be when the coral is shipped. Would you please include at least two heat packs when you ship that to me? I am in IN and depending on where it is shipped from I would think at least 2 would be optimal for the health of the coral. Thanks.

[dfs/la2]

Freed,

Thank you for your post. We watch the weather very closely every night to determine which states may need heat or ice. Due to the colder temperatures in Indiana we will be doubling the heat packs for orders shipping out on Monday. Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns with us.

Gwen S.
LiveAquaria (http://www.liveaquaria.com/)
Drs. Foster and Smith (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/)

[Freed]

Curious when that will be going out. You mentioned Monday but I haven't received a confirmation e-mail about a shipment yet. Thanks.

[dfs/la2]

Freed,

Thank you for contacting us, your order shipped out today for delivery on Tuesday. We have sent the tracking information via email. We apologize for the delay receiving your shipping confirmation.

Chris C.
Live Aquaria (http://www.liveaquaria.com)
Drs. Foster and Smith (http://www.drsfostersmith.com)

[Freed]

Starting to get worried. Still hasn't been delivered here. Any way to contact the shipper to have them deliver ASAP?

[Freed]

Arrived at 12:55PM. Temp in bag at 1:00PM was 61' with your 6 heat packs still warm with a pH of 7.96 Your salinity is/was 1.028SG. It would be a plus if you could pack the heat packs in the future in a way that would allow more heat to get to the coral instead of being contained in the large envelope that they were in. This would have kept the temp of the coral more on the warmer side instead of frigid. Not bashing- just giving you some useable feedback.

I opened the bags and am now going to be floating the bag in my QT tank until the temp matches QT and will be slowly adding/removing water from the bag and will lower the salinity to mine at 1.025 spot on with calibrated refractometer.

Thanks for the coral and hopefully it will make thru the cold temp water.

[dfs/la2]

Freed,

We apologize that the temperature in the shipping bags was not ideal upon arrival. We appreciate the information you have provided and have forwarded your concerns to our Shipping Manager for further review.

Please contact us with further questions or concerns you may have. You are a valued customer and we look forward to hearing from you in the future.

Joyce F.
LiveAquaria (http://www.liveaquaria.com/default.cfm?siteid=20)
Drs. Foster & Smith (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/)

[Freed]

Hi, all is well so far. One question though, is the tiny crab that came with/attached to the elegance a common commensal elegance crab or should I remove it? Thanks.

[dfs/la2]

Freed,

Thank you for your order and your post about your Aussie Catalaphyllia jardinei. We will check with our Aquaculture Coral and Marine Life Facility for more information on the crab you received. If possible, a picture sent to our e-mail address techsupport@drsfostersmith.com would help us identify the crab.
We will post a response for you on Monday. Again thank you for your order and your patience.

Pat S.
LiveAquaria (http://www.liveaquaria.com)
Drs. Foster and Smith (http://www.drsfostersmith.com)

[Freed]

OK, will send you a pic of it this weekend if I can get a good clear shot of it. Thanks for trying to call and answer on the phone as well.

[Freed]

I just sent several pictures. Hope you can make heads or tails out of them. The crab is actually hiding out on the underside of the coral polyp tissue after it is closed up and is burrowing into the tissue and part of the skeleton if that makes any sense.

[dfs/la2]

Freed,

Thank you for sending us photos of the crab. We have forwarded these images to our LiveAquaria Manager for identification, and will be posting here as soon as we receive further information on Monday. We appreciate your patience in this matter.

Mike S.
LiveAquaria (http://www.liveaquaria.com)
Drs. Foster and Smith (http://www.drsfostersmith.com)

[dfs/la2]

Jeff,

Thank you for your patience while we reviewed this information. We would recommend separating the crab from the coral and removing it from the aquarium. If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.

Felicia
LiveAquaria (www.liveaquaria.com)
Drs. Foster & Smith (www.drsfostersmith.com)

[Freed]

Hi, OK thanks for the reply. After sending you the pics I found another one exactly the same as the first which isn't/doesn't seem to attach to the skeleton. It hangs out in the polyp itself. I know the pics I sent weren't very close and detailed so if I can catch this one I will try to take better pics for you and maybe then you can get a better evaluation of the type of crab/species/etc.

[Freed]

Hi, e-mail sent re the "crabs". Finally pulled the second crab off today after numerous failed attempts. Does not look like an actual crab though. Polyp receeding from skeleton at point where crab was attached thru polyp. Coral expelling brown jelly. Possibly zooxanthellae from severe stress? Stopped eating a few days ago.

[dfs/la2]

Jeff,

Thank you for updating us on the acclimation of the Elegance Coral and your success on catching the two crabs. We look forward to receiving additional photos in order to attempt to identify the specimen.

The waste that is being released from the Elegance Coral’s mouth is due to the added stress it has been through; however, we are hopeful that it will survive. Per our phone conversation, a credit has been placed on file. Please keep us posted on the health of the coral.

Gwen S.
LiveAquaria (http://www.liveaquaria.com)
Drs. Foster and Smith (http://www.DrsFosterSmith.com)

[Freed]

See, now this is just the sort of thing that will keep me coming back to you guys for future purchases. You stand behind your sales 100%.

I am sending much better close ups of the "crab". I say "crab" because after looking at it more closely after catching it, it looks more like some type of crab-look-alike or parasitic crustacean. It doesn't have large pincers like a crab at all and even has what look to be tiny mandibles that hold onto its prey kind of like a tic on an animal. It took forever to catch this one as it was holding on way too tightly to try to yank it off the polyp without risking a massive tear in the tissue. You'll be able to see what I'm talking about in the pictures I am sending. Thanks for all the help and the support. Maybe you can narrow it down to species or family or whatever those scientifice words mean. :) Thanks and let me know what you can figure out.

[Freed]

Did you receive any photos at all? Your firewall returned most of them.

[dfs/la2]

Freed,

Thank you for sending such clear photos of this fascinating animal. It appears to be a Gall Crab. Not much is known about these crabs, but experts say Gall crabs are commensal on LPS corals and do not harm them. There are many varieties that vary widely in form. The females live trapped inside the coral and feed on food particles passing by. Males are smaller and more mobile. They may even help keep the corals clean by feeding on mucus and may even fend off predators.

Some anecdotal evidence from aquarists shows that these Gall Crabs can be detrimental to the health of the LPS they inhabit, especially if the coral is already stressed or damaged. There are some threads right here on Reef Central (http://reefcentral.com/forums/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=9410728&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending) about aquarist’s experiences with these tiny crustaceans.

Please let us know if we can be of any additional assistance.

Felicia
LiveAquaria (www.liveaquaria.com)
Drs. Foster & Smith (www.drsfostersmith.com)

[Freed]

Thanks for the info. The one that was buried into and thru the polyp and attached to the skeleton of the coral seems to have lead to the recession of the polyp off of the skeleton in that exact same spot. Hopefully the recession will stop sometime soon and will begin to heal. Thanks again for the support.

[Freed]

.