Ordering corals from GARF?

TWallace · 12/31/2006, 06:08 PM

Has anyone done this? They have some great looking corals on their site, but there doesn't seem to be a way to order them online, you have to call. Also, they mention deals of 5 corals for $100 and 2 free bonus corals, but they don't mention what corals they are.

ronjeremy · 12/31/2006, 06:21 PM

give them a call and ask....they are really nice...

figuerres · 12/31/2006, 07:05 PM

GARF has been around for years... I've never heard anything bad about them.

reefshadow · 12/31/2006, 07:42 PM

I would look on the feedback forum, and get some more first hand opinions. I have heard lots of negatives BUT have zilch first hand experience.

If you are looking for SPS and are up for a road trip, I would recommend Kevinpo's store, Aquatic Dreams in Spokane. Best quality and value I have found, bar none, and I've been to alot of LFS's in Washington. He may be shipping now, so worth a look.

Are you a PSAS member? Lots of advantages there.

BTW, did you get through the power outage ok?

yodacroz · 12/31/2006, 09:01 PM

I ordered from GARF about 9 months ago now. The corals came in looking nice. You have to call them to order them. The corals are just whatever they have when they pack them. The ones I got were of good size and labeled, and they'd even taken the time to attach styrafoam to the bases so that they stayed in the water during shipping.

yodacroz · 12/31/2006, 09:08 PM

HOWEVER- I ordered 2 DVDs from GARF at the same time I ordered my corals. Since you have to call them to order, I paid for them at the same time. I have YET to recieve the DVDs NINE months later!!!!!!!! I have emailed them several times and at first got a a couple of replies, but then they have stopped returning my calls and emails. I was told that they are waiting for parts for thier computers so that they can make the DVDs. After I asked about getting a refund, they stopped returning my calls/emails

yodacroz · 12/31/2006, 09:12 PM

My advice- order the corals if you are not too particular about the corals you get. They may or may not tell you what they have available-they couldn't tell me when I called. Order the corals, but DO NOT ORDER DVDs or other dry goods. I STILL haven't gotten mine

yodacroz · 12/31/2006, 09:15 PM

Oh yeah!!!!!!!!! I got some "free" GARF "grunge" and put it in my refugium on my 75 reef but I can't tell anything about it one way or the other.

benray4fun · 12/31/2006, 10:24 PM

I wouldn't return your calls either if you wanted a refund...

GARF is a great place to get live stock, i've used'm for years and whatever you do get from'm is quality stuff.
However, if you do not want to be disappointed, buy local or make sure
you know what you're getting before ordering. If they can't tell you then I would have to buy somewhere else, livestock are not one of those things you should buy online. I only order equipment or dry goods online to be shipped..."my two cents."...

xcreonx · 12/31/2006, 11:37 PM

My only experience is with their 'grunge' which I wouldn't take for free now that I know what it is and what you get. COMPLETE waste of money. I had similar problems with them returning my calls, but of course I had a few pressing questions as to what they sent me in the bag labeled 'grunge' and why I paid so much for it. I don't know about their corals, sorry.

MJT82 · 12/31/2006, 11:49 PM

Hmmm.. A buddy of mine ordered some GARF grunge from them, and Sally Jo called him up to discuss his order. I traded him for some of the stuff to seed my sandbed, and he did the same in his 'fuge. I'm thinking about ordering some for my upcoming 'fuge project... No complaints from him!

xcreonx · 01/01/2007, 12:07 AM

Well your buddy got a deal I guess.

benray4fun · 01/01/2007, 12:16 AM

I also got some garf grunge and my sandbed came to life in a week, it's
really good live sand with too much to list in it.

TWallace · 01/01/2007, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by reefshadow
If you are looking for SPS and are up for a road trip, I would recommend Kevinpo's store, Aquatic Dreams in Spokane. Best quality and value I have found, bar none, and I've been to alot of LFS's in Washington. He may be shipping now, so worth a look.

Are you a PSAS member? Lots of advantages there.

BTW, did you get through the power outage ok?

Spokane's a bit too far a drive for me, about 5 hours each way I think. I'm not a member of PSAS, don't really know anything about it. Got a link?

I got through the power outage ok. I was one of the lucky ones. My power was only off for about 21 hours. I know lots of people that lost it for more than 4 days. I have a battery powered air pump that turns on when the power goes off automatically, so that wasn't an issue. Heat was an issue though. My tank dropped to 70.5 degrees. Luckily I have a small apartment with a fireplace, so I loaded it with firewood and closed bedroom/bathroom doors, so the fire wasn't trying to heat those rooms up. It wasn't able to raise tank temperature, but it did prevent it from dropping below 70. I was getting desperate towards the end and was about to remove some water, heat it in the fireplace and slowly pour it back into the tank, when the power came back on. That was good, but since the water in the sump was colder than the tank, it actually lowered the tank temperature at first (to around 67) when the power came on. However, I got through it all without a single thing dying.

Thanks everyone for the feedback on GARF.

CeeGee · 01/01/2007, 01:27 PM

GARF is a company I would avoid. I ordered a cleanup crew from them and the experience was horrible. I have since seen way too many other unhappy customers to recommend them.

I too bought some grunge that was supposed to be 5 pounds and what I received was under 1 pound. No matter though as all it contained was dirt. There was absolutely no life in this bag of snake oil.

There are so many good places to buy corals I wouldn't waste my time with these people.

figuerres · 01/01/2007, 03:20 PM

wow.... sounds like they are *NOT* as good as I thought!

Sucks....

Peter Eichler · 01/01/2007, 04:08 PM

In addition to what others have said, they promote themselves as a nonprofit organization. You can call it that but when you're taking a salary and doing nearly the same thing as so many other online livestock places it just seems like nothing more than a clever rues.

reefshadow · 01/01/2007, 04:57 PM

Quote:

In addition to what others have said, they promote themselves as a nonprofit organization. You can call it that but when you're taking a salary and doing nearly the same thing as so many other online livestock places it just seems like nothing more than a clever rues.

Thank you, Peter! Right on the money there. You defined one of the reasons I feel ill at ease with GARF.

Twallace, I'll Email you with some info on the PSAS

12/31/2006, 06:08 PM	#1
TWallace Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Seattle Posts: 1,464	Ordering corals from GARF? Has anyone done this? They have some great looking corals on their site, but there doesn't seem to be a way to order them online, you have to call. Also, they mention deals of 5 corals for $100 and 2 free bonus corals, but they don't mention what corals they are.

12/31/2006, 07:05 PM	#3
figuerres Registered Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Plant City,FL,USA Posts: 1,339 Blog Entries: 15	GARF has been around for years... I've never heard anything bad about them. __________________ Denny, Geek of all things... I guess I could fit the phrase "inquiring minds want to know..." :-) Current Tank Info: 150 reef tank underway, getting it stocked

12/31/2006, 07:42 PM	#4
reefshadow Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Central Washington Posts: 1,786	I would look on the feedback forum, and get some more first hand opinions. I have heard lots of negatives BUT have zilch first hand experience. If you are looking for SPS and are up for a road trip, I would recommend Kevinpo's store, Aquatic Dreams in Spokane. Best quality and value I have found, bar none, and I've been to alot of LFS's in Washington. He may be shipping now, so worth a look. Are you a PSAS member? Lots of advantages there. BTW, did you get through the power outage ok? __________________ All Your Coral Are Belong To Us Current Tank Info: 30 Deep Blue shallow mixed rimless, MP10, Ecoxotic LED's, SCA 301 skimmer.

12/31/2006, 11:37 PM	#10
xcreonx Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 1,362	My only experience is with their 'grunge' which I wouldn't take for free now that I know what it is and what you get. COMPLETE waste of money. I had similar problems with them returning my calls, but of course I had a few pressing questions as to what they sent me in the bag labeled 'grunge' and why I paid so much for it. I don't know about their corals, sorry. __________________ Nature knows no indecencies; man invents them. -Mark Twain Current Tank Info: 90g shallow with H. Barbouri Seahorses

12/31/2006, 11:49 PM	#11
MJT82 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Brandon, MS Posts: 410	Hmmm.. A buddy of mine ordered some GARF grunge from them, and Sally Jo called him up to discuss his order. I traded him for some of the stuff to seed my sandbed, and he did the same in his 'fuge. I'm thinking about ordering some for my upcoming 'fuge project... No complaints from him! __________________ Reefing since 2002 100g with 20g sump/fuge - Softies/LPS - 4x54w T5's 30g with 10g sump - Softies/LPS - 4x39w T5's Current Tank Info: 100 gallon soft coral reef with 30 gallon sump

12/31/2006, 06:21 PM	#2
ronjeremy Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Destin ,Fl Posts: 431	give them a call and ask....they are really nice...

12/31/2006, 09:01 PM	#5
yodacroz Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Graham, NC Posts: 33	I ordered from GARF about 9 months ago now. The corals came in looking nice. You have to call them to order them. The corals are just whatever they have when they pack them. The ones I got were of good size and labeled, and they'd even taken the time to attach styrafoam to the bases so that they stayed in the water during shipping.

12/31/2006, 09:08 PM	#6
yodacroz Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Graham, NC Posts: 33	HOWEVER- I ordered 2 DVDs from GARF at the same time I ordered my corals. Since you have to call them to order, I paid for them at the same time. I have YET to recieve the DVDs NINE months later!!!!!!!! I have emailed them several times and at first got a a couple of replies, but then they have stopped returning my calls and emails. I was told that they are waiting for parts for thier computers so that they can make the DVDs. After I asked about getting a refund, they stopped returning my calls/emails

12/31/2006, 09:12 PM	#7
yodacroz Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Graham, NC Posts: 33	My advice- order the corals if you are not too particular about the corals you get. They may or may not tell you what they have available-they couldn't tell me when I called. Order the corals, but DO NOT ORDER DVDs or other dry goods. I STILL haven't gotten mine

12/31/2006, 09:15 PM	#8
yodacroz Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Graham, NC Posts: 33	Oh yeah!!!!!!!!! I got some "free" GARF "grunge" and put it in my refugium on my 75 reef but I can't tell anything about it one way or the other.

12/31/2006, 10:24 PM	#9
benray4fun Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Hartford, CONNECTICUT Posts: 1,147	I wouldn't return your calls either if you wanted a refund... GARF is a great place to get live stock, i've used'm for years and whatever you do get from'm is quality stuff. However, if you do not want to be disappointed, buy local or make sure you know what you're getting before ordering. If they can't tell you then I would have to buy somewhere else, livestock are not one of those things you should buy online. I only order equipment or dry goods online to be shipped..."my two cents."...

01/01/2007, 12:07 AM	#12
xcreonx Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 1,362	Well your buddy got a deal I guess. __________________ Nature knows no indecencies; man invents them. -Mark Twain Current Tank Info: 90g shallow with H. Barbouri Seahorses

01/01/2007, 12:16 AM	#13
benray4fun Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Hartford, CONNECTICUT Posts: 1,147	I also got some garf grunge and my sandbed came to life in a week, it's really good live sand with too much to list in it.

01/01/2007, 01:27 PM	#15
CeeGee Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: TN Posts: 3,272	GARF is a company I would avoid. I ordered a cleanup crew from them and the experience was horrible. I have since seen way too many other unhappy customers to recommend them. I too bought some grunge that was supposed to be 5 pounds and what I received was under 1 pound. No matter though as all it contained was dirt. There was absolutely no life in this bag of snake oil. There are so many good places to buy corals I wouldn't waste my time with these people. __________________ My algae WAS special. Current Tank Info: 75 gallon display, 40 gallon breeder sump, RLSS R6i, ATI Powermodule, Apex, Ecotech MP40's

01/01/2007, 03:20 PM	#16
figuerres Registered Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Plant City,FL,USA Posts: 1,339 Blog Entries: 15	wow.... sounds like they are NOT as good as I thought! Sucks.... __________________ Denny, Geek of all things... I guess I could fit the phrase "inquiring minds want to know..." :-) Current Tank Info: 150 reef tank underway, getting it stocked

01/01/2007, 04:08 PM	#17
Peter Eichler Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Milwaukee Posts: 6,081	In addition to what others have said, they promote themselves as a nonprofit organization. You can call it that but when you're taking a salary and doing nearly the same thing as so many other online livestock places it just seems like nothing more than a clever rues. __________________ April 2015 TOTM