| Can I cancel an order once it has been placed? |
| What is MarineDepotLive's phone number? |
| Can we order livestock and dry goods together by phone? |
| Is the MarineDepotLive operation center located seperately from MarineDepot? |
| If I am registered with MarineDepot, do I have to set up a new account with MarineDepotLive? |
| How can we know when my order will arrive? Does anybody call me? |
| What if I’m only home on certain days? |
| How does MarineDepotLive handle special shipping considerations? |
| How is my fish packed? |
| Why do I need a Quarantine Tank and what is required to set one up? |
| Why doesn't my new fish eat? |
| Does MarineDepotLive have a retail store? May I come by and pick up my order? |
| What is in stock? |
| What do you do about partial shipments and backorders? |
| Will there be substitutions? |
| Why are the prices so low? |
| Is your live rock cured? |
| Can I pay by C.O.D.? |
| Do you have a printed catalog? |
| Can the box be returned for a credit? |
| What is the turn around time for orders? |
| How do you ship your livestock orders? |
| How do you ship your live rock and live sand orders? |
| How often do you reply to emails? |
How do you handle livestock?
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Can I cancel an order once it has been placed?
Yes. Please contact us the day before your order is to ship to cancel an order. Cancelling orders will result in a 15% restocking fee.
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What is MarineDepotLive's phone number?
Feel free to call us at 1-714-935-9607.
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Can we order livestock and dry goods together by phone?
Yes. Livestock orders are handled separately from dry good orders and are therefore shipped separately and on different invoices.
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Is MarineDepotLive's operation center located separately from Marine Depot's?
No. Marine Depot’s and MarineDepotLive's customer support facility is located in Orange County, CA. Our dry goods ship from the same facility; however, our livestock ships from a separate warehouse located close to the LAX Airport.
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If I am registered with Marine Depot, do I have to set up new account with MarineDepotLive?
No.
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How will I know when my order will arrive? Does anybody call me?
When you place your order online, you will have the option of choosing a convenient delivery day, Tuesday through Saturday, to receive your order. You will receive a confirmation via email when your order is placed. Another email confirmation, which will include the tracking number for the shipment, will be sent when the order is processed and shipped. If your order is not able to be filled at least 70%, you will receive an email the evening before your requested delivery date stating we weren’t able to ship your order. In order to handle the vast number of orders, the confirmation emails are sent automatically. We do try to call if a time sensitive issue arises.
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What if I’m only home on certain days?
For your convenience, we allow you to choose your delivery day, Tuesday through Saturday, up to a week in advance. If your order isn’t available for delivery that day, please respond to the automated email sent to you with another day that would be convenient for you to receive your order. If it is not of great importance to receive your order in full, please specify in the order notes that your order can ship if less than 70% filled. We ship all of our livestock via FedEx Overnight Service. Shipments are generally delivered by 3pm in most areas. You can also visit www.FedEx.com to find out the estimated arrival time of deliveries in your area or to find a FedEx location for your order to be held at for pick up. Please note that our Arrive Alive Guarantee only applies to shipments that are received on the driver’s first attempt.
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How does MarineDepotLive handle special shipping considerations?
Specify any special handling consideration on our shipping form.
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How are my fish and corals packed in order to survive the shipment?
We ship the fish and corals in the highest quality water to keep waste down during the shipping process. The bags are filled with about one-third water and two-thirds oxygen. This allows adequate oxygen for the animals for several days, surpassing the one day shipping time. We pack with all the necessary precautions: insulation to prevent radical temperature swings, several layers to prevent puncture, sufficient water and air, etc. Please be sure to follow our Acclimation Procedures.
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Why do I need a Quarantine Tank and what is required to set one up?
This will help reduce the chance of infection and disease. Since it is impossible to eliminate all bacteria and pests without eliminating the fish itself, this is the best we can do to reduce the chance of an infection in your tank. Once there is disease or infection in your aquarium, it is almost impossible to be cured of it without upsetting your tanks ecosystem. This disruption can be fatal to many fish. Quarantining reduces the shock to your existing system, and helps your new arrival adapt to his new environment. This tank can also be used as a hospital tank to house a sick or injured animals where you can medicate the targeted fish without treating the entire tank. Please be sure to follow our Acclimation Procedures. Here are some helpful hints in setting up a quarantine tank.
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Sterilize all accessories. |
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Add some habitation for the fish. Providing hiding places within the tank will help reduce stress for the fish. |
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Don't overdo it on the lighting. A gentle environment is best. |
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Install a filter, aerator, preferably a sponge filter. This can be done in a 10-20 gallon tank. |
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Do partial water changes every day. Do this for 15-20 days. |
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Use a Formaline treatment for 14-21 days to treat for parasites. Do not use Copper based medications in the presence of Butterflies, Tangs, Angelfish or Scaleless fish and Eels. |
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Treat bacterial infections if there are symptoms. |
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Why doesn't my new fish eat?
When your new fish is introduced into different environment, it may take some time for it to acclimate. Quarantining and following our Acclimation Procedures will help. It sometimes helps to soak the food in Selcon , Kent Marine Zoe and/or Zoecon.as these seem to enhance the "flavor" and provide the necessary fatty acids, proteins and vitamins. Give it time, and experiment with different types of food.
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Does MarineDepotLive have a retail store? May I come by and pick up my order?
No, our only retail outlet is online. Sorry, we cannot accommodate pickup orders or shopping at our facility. Though we would like to service you this way, our current resources and desire to keep our prices low doesn't allow us to offer this now.
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What is in stock?
Mostly everything in our catalog is normally in stock. An item’s availability is usually noted, as our inventory shown is live (I.E. - If an animal is not in stock, you will see the “Notify Me” button). There may be occasional out-of-stocks due to heavy demand, seasonality, or weather conditions.
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What do you do about partial shipments and backorders?
If 70% of your order is in stock, it will be shipped. Due to the nature of our business, we cannot backorder live animals. If any livestock is unavailable and missing from your order when shipped, it will not be automatically shipped out when we do receive it in stock. Your existing order will be modified accordingly and another order for the animal will need to be placed.
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Will there be substitutions?
MarineDepotLive will not substitute unless specified & authorized by you. If authorized, MarineDepotLive will attempt to contact you when an ordered item is not available or is not ready to ship. Please understand that, quite often, substituting is impossible, since our packing of livestock does start until the afternoon and the FEDEX pickup is in the late afternoon/early evening. (This minimizes the time a specimen is out of tank.)
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Why are the prices so low?
We can offer both outstanding quality specimens and the lowest retail prices anywhere because, we buy direct from the importers, disintermediating the midddleman. We also run an extremely efficient, low overhead operation that allows you to enjoy our volume buying discounts.
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Is your live rock cured?
We offer both Pre-Cured and Uncured (Fresh) live rock. Our live rock catalog shows a complete listing of the types available. The live rock we sell is Pre-cured at the collection point. The Pre-curing process removes dirt and unwanted creatures. This process reduces ammonia shock when the rock is introduced into your aquarium.
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Can I pay by C.O.D.?
No, but we do accept MasterCard, VISA, American Express and Novus (Discover).
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Do you have a printed catalog?
We currently do not have a printed catalog. However, we do have a section in the Marine Depot (dry goods) Catalog with a small selection of our most popular livestock. Our site is always kept up-to-date on the current prices.
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Can the box be returned for a credit?
We cannot accept returned boxes for credit.
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What is the turn around time for orders?
As a general rule, if your order is placed before 10 a.m. PST, it will arrive to you the next shipping day (no Sunday or Monday deliveries). We occasionally book up before the cutoff time. If this occurs, your order may be scheduled to ship on the next shipping day.
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How do you ship your livestock orders?
All livestock orders are shipped FEDEX Overnight delivery. Deliveries in most areas are by 12 pm. Delivery times may vary by area. For exact delivery times in your area, please call 1-800-GO-FEDEX (1.800.463.3339). Sorry, but we cannot ship livestock orders on a 2-Day delivery service (except for Live Rock & Sand).
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How do you ship your live rock and live sand orders?
We ship our Live Rock and Live Sand via FedEx Second Day Delivery by default. The Second Day shipping cost is included in the price of the Rock and Sand. Next Day Delivery and Saturday Delivery are available at an additional cost.
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How often do you reply to emails?
Our Customer Service policy is to reply to all emails within 48 hours. In fact, we try very hard to give you a response on the same day that your message is received. If you do not receive a timely reply, please e-mail again or telephone. It is very likely that your e-mail or our response was lost en route. We are closed on Saturday and Sunday.
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How do you handle livestock?
Animals are inspected upon arrival and then slowly acclimated to RO/DI water and Tropic Marin synthetic salt mix. Next, animals are quarantined and closely observed for behavioral abnormalities and disease. Should an animal exhibit any strange behavior or signs of illness, they are relocated to “hospital” tanks for further inspection and treatment while healthy animals are transferred into our main systems.
We keep handling to a minimum by using acrylic containers—opposed to fish nets—when moving the majority of our livestock. Animals are kept in separate systems which utilize UV sterilization, huge skimmers and a large filtration system with a bank of filter socks. All systems are closely monitored 24 hours per day.
Salinity is kept around 1.024 ppt and copper is used sparingly depending on the animals in the system. Corals and invertebrates are kept at a higher salinity and copper is not added. Avoid adding the water your animal arrives in directly to your reef tank; instead, acclimate each species separately using the drip method. This is especially important if you receive corals, invertebrates and fish in the same shipment.
When acclimating fish and corals, be careful not to mix or combine the water. Fish water with fish water is fine, but mixing the water your fish arrives in with the water your corals or inverts arrive in is not.
For best practices, please read our recommended Acclimation Procedures.
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