Buying live coral online means trusting the seller with a living animal during a night in transit. This page explains how ReefGro gets your corals to you healthy, and what we do in the rare case one doesn’t make it.
How are corals shipped?
Most ReefGro corals are sustainably aquacultured and grown in our Ipswich facility, and any that aren’t are clearly marked. Before it leaves us, each coral is:
- Fully healed after fragging, so it travels without fresh cuts.
- Health and pest inspected on dispatch day, as a final check.
- Packed individually, or matching frags paired in one pot, so different corals are never packed together.
- Packed in insulated packaging, with heat or cold packs when the weather calls for them, and secure internal packing to stop movement.
When do corals ship?
We ship livestock every Monday on a next-day tracked service, so your corals spend one night in transit and arrive on Tuesday.
- Order before 12:00pm on Sunday → dispatched Monday → expected Tuesday.
- Order after that → dispatched the following Monday.
A single dispatch day lets us inspect and pack every order fresh, and avoids parcels sitting in a depot over a weekend.
Weather: your corals’ welfare comes first. If it’s too hot, too cold, or severe weather is forecast, we may hold your order and contact you to agree the next safe shipping date.
Where do you deliver?
Mainland Great Britain. We can’t currently send livestock to Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, the Scottish Highlands and Islands, or anywhere next-day delivery can’t be relied on. Not sure about your postcode? Contact us before ordering.
Delivery cost: £25 on orders under £200, free on orders of £200 or more. Collection from Ipswich is available by prior arrangement.
What is a live arrival guarantee?
A live arrival guarantee is a seller’s promise to put things right if a coral is dead when it reaches you. It doesn’t cover how a coral does once it’s in your tank, because that depends on your water, lighting and acclimation.
ReefGro’s Live Arrival Guarantee gives you one like-for-like replacement coral for any coral confirmed dead on arrival. If the exact coral is no longer available, we replace it with the closest match: same species, similar size, equivalent quality. WYSIWYG pieces are one of a kind, so if one arrives dead we refund it in full, or offer a similar piece if you’d prefer.
Because corals are live animals, they can’t be returned. Apart from WYSIWYG pieces, the guarantee doesn’t include refunds, store credit or cash alternatives. It doesn’t affect your statutory consumer rights.
What happens if my coral arrives dead?
Don’t panic, and don’t open the bag or pot. Then:
- Contact us within 2 hours of the courier marking your parcel delivered. Email info@reefgro.co.uk
- Send clear photos of: the unopened bag or pot, the coral inside its sealed bag or pot, the inside of the box, and the courier label.
- Leave the coral sealed in its bag or pot until we’ve reviewed and approved your claim. Don’t dip, acclimate or add it to your tank.
- Get your replacement. Approved replacements usually go out with your next livestock order, or on the next suitable dispatch. Replacements carry the same guarantee.
Dead, or just stressed after shipping?
Many corals look rough straight out of the box and recover fully once acclimated. Here’s how we tell the difference.
Counts as dead on arrival:
- Complete tissue loss, or bare white skeleton with no living tissue
- Brown jelly clearly present on arrival
- Severe tissue decomposition or a strong foul smell
- No visible signs of living tissue
Doesn’t count as dead on arrival:
- Closed or retracted polyps, or reduced polyp extension
- Deflated tissue
- Temporary colour loss
- General shipping stress, or a coral that needs a few days to settle
What isn’t covered?
The guarantee doesn’t apply if:
- the first delivery attempt is missed, or the parcel is redirected or held at your request
- the delivery address was wrong or incomplete, or delivery was delayed by customer error
- the coral was taken out of its bag or pot before photos were taken
- the coral was dipped, acclimated or added to a tank before the claim was approved
- the claim was made outside the 2-hour window
- we advised against shipping due to weather and you asked us to send anyway
- the coral deteriorated because it wasn’t opened and acclimated promptly
How to give your corals the best start
- Be in for the first delivery attempt, and track your parcel on Tuesday.
- Open and check your corals as soon as they arrive.
- Acclimate them properly before they go in your tank. See our acclimation and dipping guide.
Frequently asked questions
Do you offer a live arrival guarantee on corals? Yes. Every coral is covered by our Live Arrival Guarantee: one like-for-like replacement for any coral confirmed dead on arrival, if the claim is made within 2 hours of delivery with photos.
How are corals packed for shipping? Each coral is bagged or potted individually and packed in an insulated box, with heat or cold packs when needed and internal packing to stop movement.
How long are corals in transit? One night. We ship on Mondays by next-day tracked delivery, with expected arrival on Tuesday.
Can I get a refund instead of a replacement? The guarantee gives a replacement coral, not a refund or store credit. The exception is WYSIWYG pieces, which we refund in full because they can’t be replaced like for like. Your statutory consumer rights aren’t affected.
My coral’s polyps are closed after delivery. Is it dead? Almost certainly not. Closed polyps and pale colour are normal shipping stress. Acclimate it and give it a few days.
Do you ship to Northern Ireland or the Scottish Highlands? Not for livestock at the moment. We deliver to mainland Great Britain, excluding the areas listed above.