Review: Algae Barn Live Tisbe and Tigr Pods & Phytoplankton 4/5 Stars ****/*****

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#1
(( I was going to post this in Buyer / Seller / Vendor Feedback, but I didn't have the post count or time on the board in order to do so. This works well enough, instead. ))

www.algaebarn.com
777-444-PODS

Also available through amazon.com

___

Do yourself a favor, and order directly through their website. It is less expensive, and they offer completely free shipping on orders over $40. Shipping is fast, but avoid the urge to order until SUNDAY NIGHT for ALL SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ORDERS --- YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED (Don't Order on a Thursday or a Friday. I would actually recommend ordering only on Sunday through Tuesday).

___

Here's the deal:

I ordered on Thursday 9/1, through Amazon, a bag of "3000+ Premium Live Copepods" and one bottle of "Ocean Magik Live Phytoplankton Blend." The price was $15 + 9.99 shipping and $25 + 9.99 shipping, respectively. Amazon removed one of the shipping feeds, so I paid only about $54 after tax.

On Thursday evening, I got a notification from Amazon that it was shipping. I checked tracking and it said it would not be delivered until WEDNESDAY, 9/14!!!! I e-mailed the vendor (Algae barn) through Amazon.com's feedback menu and asked if it would be wiser to wait to ship them until after the Labor Day Holiday (1 week !?? SoCal Heat in a Box Truck? No thank you!).

Friday, they e-mailed me back and asked something along the lines of, "What makes you think this order will take a week? Your order should be in by Saturday."

I e-mailed them back and stated my concern again, and that the tracking information showed a week, and that it already showed shipped. No Response. Later in the day, I e-mailed them again. No Response. The weekend went on, and eventually I got an actual phone call from the vendor - Yes a phone call! They insisted that they were not ignoring me and that the amazon feedback and their recent warehouse move was making problems for them, and they didn't get any e-mails past the first one and the one that provoked them to call me.

They looked up the tracking, observed that it was taking much longer than normal, and then informed me - they had a DOA guarantee. And not a silly, "E-mail us within 1 hour of the package arrival," but a 12 hour DOA guarantee. They requested that I wait for the package, check out its contents and then go from there.

Granted, I was in no rush to get the pods. My dragonet is fine, I have plenty in the tank right now, and all i was interested in doing was seeing how well that I could culture with a well reputed source's stock, etc.

Fast Forward to Tuesday when the package comes in. My Phyto is fine, but my Pods are DEAD. They are all DEAD DEAD DEAD on the bottom of the package. I went to the website, filled out the criteria and sent in the DOA feedback. They called me the next day and shipped out my replacement on Wednesday. I got my new pods today, Saturday.

An annoying turn around for a product that should have gotten here faster, but ultimately, impressive customer guarantee, and probably stellar customer service if amazon was not the intermediary.

For that reason -- If you choose to use these guys, (which I highly recommend), DO NOT BUY THEM THROUGH AMAZON. You will pay more, in the end.


Go directly to their website, www.algaebarn.com and order enough to get the free shipping (anything combination over $40), or just pay the measly $10 shipping for a small amount.

I like these guys, and their phytoplankton blend smells almost delicious. I would probably buy it if I made things like organic soaps and facial scrubs and that sort of stuff. The phyto is quite thin, and it probably is easy to lean toward impulse and use too much, so they include a measuring cu pand criteria for it.


I will use these guys again.
 
Joined
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#3
update to the above review. so, having been given the "buy one get one free offer i bought the 5280 Pods & OceanMagik Phyto. what i didnt do was give the right address. i missed out the street name, needless to say it was not delivered and sent back to shipper. no doubt the pods are dead. i contacted algae barn and explained that i gave the wrong info. this was sent on a friday afternoon.
they contacted me saturday and explained how sorry they were for not seeing this mistake and sent a new batch out their next send day. it hasnt arrived yet, but how cool is that?
 
Joined
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#5
My pod culture has doubled. I still have about half of their phyto blend. I decided to supplement with phyto feast as well,but i will probably order one of their larger sizes of phyto after this one runs out.

Sent using TAPATALK via Android
 
Joined
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#6
Anyone want to split a bogo order in South Orange county. Not sure I need two bags of each pods and phytoblend at the same time. I think I would want to do the 5280 mixed pods and pyhto mix for $60. Let me know if interested
 

Elo500

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#7
Anyone want to split a bogo order in South Orange county. Not sure I need two bags of each pods and phytoblend at the same time. I think I would want to do the 5280 mixed pods and pyhto mix for $60. Let me know if interested
I'm interested. Looks like Free shippping too
 
Joined
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#10
Received the bogo deal from them yesterday. Shipped on Monday and arrived Thursday with their free shipping. Did see lots of pods in the bag. Will see if they establish or not in my sump. Just dumped them, in the chaeto. Not sure what to do with the phytoplankton, but the instructions recommend dumping 5 ml per 10 gallons in 3 to 4 times a week.
 

reefhound

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#11
Algae barn has been good to deal with.. I have to support a blue stripe pipefish

Todds Pods has been an awesome supplier as well (TISBE) only
and to keep them breeding in a HOB fuge I feed Tahitian blend from brineshrimpdirrect

my GF loves the blue stripe.. but he is a spendy little bastard to keep alive and happy
 

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