Mail Order Shrimp, Snails & Heat Packs; A cautionary tale.

As mentioned previously, there was another Olive
and another Tiger on their way along with some
plant and Amanos.

I tried a new supplier because I wanted to see
if I could consolidate shipping cost by finding a
supplier who had all the items I wanted for this
shipment. I am unhappy.

I ordered 5 Amanos and two Tiger Nerites from the
new supplier. I received a notice after purchase that
the supplier was moving to a new location but by then
I had already put in a second order for another Tiger
and another Olive nerite plus a plant order. Due to the
suppliers notice that shipping would be delayed, I
immediately requested the orders be combined
and set a specific date before which I could not take
delivery. Any time after was fine. They got that
part half right, the delivery date.

They did not combine my orders, had they my Amanos
could have ridden along with my Riccia or another plant.
The Amanos arrived D.O.A. within 36-48 hrs of leaving
the facility. Whomever their supplier is for heat packs,
the supplier puts out a good product. Maybe too good.
The interior of the box was warm, maybe 80-85 and I
could smell fishy-ness before removing the insulating
newspaper. I did not think anything of it, could have
been spilled tank water.


The Amanos were in dirty water, with duckweed, no plant
of any kind. They were already salmon colored and
deteriorating. Had they survived, all were adults,
not a single juvenile. I took pictures and sent
an email notification immediately. No response.

The two Tiger nerites as noted previously arrived live,
were in clean bags both times and are
munching their way around the tank.

The next day the plants, second Olive and third Tiger arrived.
Tiger was D.O.A., Olive was pond snail size but alive.
The Riccia portion was in a little cup, all the water
having spilled into the package. Doubtful this will
survive either.

I will never order from this supplier again. Not solely because
I am out for shipping on two orders, the cost of five Amanos
and a Tiger nerite but because to date, the supplier has
not acknowledged either email. I am conflicted as to
whether I should name this supplier at this point.
The "vengeance is mine" part of me has no problem outing
a bad business practice. However, I do not know what
sort of issues the human being on the other end of this
transaction has. Would this other human being make good
in some other way, this transaction if he knew it has gone
sour in my book? And how long do I wait patiently for
an email acknowledging my dissatisfaction?

Pondering ethics, lack of shrimp and world peace . . .

Editor's Note: I just checked the date of the announcement
for the supplier's shipment of Amanos; seems I ordered
on the day of the announcement. In this case I must ask
myself and the supplier; "Did you quarantine these Amano
Shrimp before offering them for sale?"

Seems not.

The Algae Crew

In the ongoing effort to battle algae, we noted
we moved the fish-rack and reduced the photo-period.
Now we are adding Nerite snails in the 10g:view;
the tank with the worst problems.

This is our Olive Nerite, or rather our 'eggplant' nerite as you can see.  He/She has
been in the tank for about ten days and has been busy munching his/her way through the algae on the glass and banana plant.  Not in an orderly way we note but
the job is getting done.

Yesterday two Tiger Nerites arrived to assist.  They slid out of the fish bag, piggyback.  Safety in numbers.  Once out of the bag they went their separate ways to avoid the hunter b. splendens who could care less for a change.  Both found something interesting to do in short order as you will see.

One made it's way to the back of the tank, post haste.  This one found the Radican Marble Queen to be a comfortable place to rest and then was off on it's own journey.  Both have been seen sampling on the glass in the last ten or so hours.

 One more Olive and a Tiger are on their way to join their mates, shortly.

There are new plants in the shrimparium, received a week or so ago.  However, due to an out of town convention, no shots are available at this time.  Updates to come when the new livestock arrives in the next two or three days.