Salty Bottom Reef Company

Toxic Avenger

2023-12

I bought a mantis shrimp cause it's super cool it cracks things to eat them and they are beautiful colored. I order it and say I can pick it up and the email I got back was rude. On e I finally got my shrimp the bag was open water was all over the place the heating pack was wet and not hot since it got wet. The mantis shrimp looked dead lifeless on its back for a good 2 hours! Finally once I got it I'm by tank and few days passed I bought to s of crabs and what not to feed it I noticed that it had no hammers! The hammers were removed from it! The main reason I spent 200 bucks on the animal and it didn't have it! So now I feed it cubes of meats and halves clams till hopefully 3 months and they may grow back... If it was t for the actual shrimp being in my tank right now I would rate this a 0 but...I love my shrimp and we have grown close these past few days...please if you read this big with precaution!

Tyler Sullivan

2024-02

Ordered a aiptasia filefish and a copperband butterfly fish last week. Within 24 hours the filefish was dead and now 5 days later the butterfly fish is dead. When I emailed them asking for a credit for the first fish that I already threw away they said they needed a picture. So here’s your pictures of my healthy tank with my second dead fish from y’all. $120 wasted DO NOT BUY FISH FROM THIS COMPANY.

Iv Official

2024-05

Purchased a true pair of seahorse and various snails. Acclimated properly and the next day I woke up to one dead on the sand… fast forward to the next day I came home from work and the other seahorse was dead 😢 I bought these seahorse so my original seahorse in the tank would have some friends… epic fail… both the seahorse arrived with concave sunken in pouches. It looks like they were starving. I tried feeding amphipods and baby brine shrimp but neither would eat. There deaths of the seahorse were completely out of my control. My other seahorse, snails and fish are just fine… I have reached out to the company and have yet to get a response. As of now I would steer clear of this company when buying livestock.

Jeff Wieber

2024-01

First time using salty bottom. I ordered a clean up crew and everything they sent was alive and well. I never received an email with the tracking info but that’s minor. I feel like they even gave me a higher quantity on some of the things I ordered which was nice. Good experience, I would order from them again.

Cody McCarmen

2024-05

RUDE! Don't waste your time with these people unless you want a bunch of yelling and cussing to go with the ill fish you purchased. The business is run out of their house and the owner is completely unhinged.

Bobby Williams

2023-12

Ordered an octopus from them and Debbie was SO helpful! I was picky with what I wanted and she helped me get a VERY healthy octopus. It was shipped very well and was delivered overnight. I will definitely order from Salty Bottom Reef Company again!

Nolan McKinney

2020-05

I keep a simple 20 gallon tank with a canister filter, but over the past couple of years I've added live ocean floor, rubble and coralline rock from Salty Bottom to bolster the tank. I now have tunicates, cup corals, snails and fan worms have survived over a year in the tank. The live ocean floor is the best looking substrate I've ever seen.

Nicky Peaphon

2024-05

Super amazing to talk to and place orders through:)) Thank you for your GREAT service 😁

Dead Head3238

2023-08

There are so many better companies to go through that wont make the experience awful. The customer service and communication here is specifically horrible, they add random "bagging" fees, and when they send you dead animals they make you re-pay for shipping AND the "bag fees" that are separate from shipping.

Brittany Logsdon

2023-05

If I could give 0 stars I would. We ordered a pair of lined sea horses they came in the mail last week one had a big hole in his mouth and blind in one eye. He was dead. It has been a big Hassel since then. Emailed and called finally got ahold of them lady was rude on phone said she didn't have time to deal with this right now ok whatever. Finally after a week they refunded half my order. All I wanted was a replacement but wanted me to pay for shipping and the box. Why would I pay anything more when it was there fault they sent me a very noticeable sick sea horse . Will not be ordering again!

cindy delp

2023-05

I bought 2 fish and 3 corals from them. Upon arrival the fish were sluggish and barely moved. I acclimated the fish correctly and placed fish in tank the first fish died within 24 hours and the second died the next day. I have other fish in my tank that are still alive to this day. I have had this tank for over 4 years never had issues with adding fish. I did not have time to notify the SWR until after I got home from work. All they could say was sorry but you did not notify us in time. I spent alot of money on these fish and expected a bit more. Would not recommend buying fish from them poor customer service as well

David E

2020-05

These guys are awesome!! Customer support was absolutely on point. Even though there was a little hiccup in my order, Debbie was able to accommodate me and make sure I got exactly what I wanted. As for the livestock, they have a really cool and diverse selection to choose from. Everything arrived alive, healthy, and on time. I couldn't be happier and will definitely order from them in the future!

Dustin Walker

2021-05

I love the fact they contact you for the best day for your order to arrive. That makes it way easier that your not juggling your schedule. Live critters deserve the best care they can get and not be sitting outside your door all day.Also everything arrived in great shape! All still doing well 2 weeks later.

Will Grones

2022-05

Fantastic experience with live rock I ordered from these guys. This stuff is the real deal and in my opinion is the magic secret ingredient to a stable home reef. I ordered the best rock they had shipped and submerged in water to my nearest airport. The rock arrived teaming with life and no noticeable dye off. It didn’t have a smell at all and was crawling with all kinds of critters. I added the rock immediately to my already cycled 100 gal reef tank and waited a few days, expecting ammonia spike and dye off...but everything has survived and it didn’t cause any issues with my tank cycle. Beautiful product! Will order from them again.

John W

2022-05

Purchased several fish and a handful of snails and clams. Shipping was quick and accurate. Tangs arrived healthy and active. There was a minor abrasion on the copperbanded butterfly which stressed and took some extra time to adjust after shipment (currently in qt being treated) and the dottyback didn’t ship well and died not long after arrival which is a risk you take in long shipments (FL-> PA). I didn’t file any claim as the rest of the shipment was in good condition and acclimated easily. Overall this company did a great job with communication, packaging and quality of livestock. I will be doing business again with them.

Hollie Perez

2022-05

I ordered from Salty Bottom Reef for the first time in January 2022 and I was very pleased with the experience! I received an email to confirm shipping dates and all of the fish and invertebrates that I ordered all arrived very healthy and looking great. Would most definitely shop here again!

Lisa Ellis

2022-05

They were super friendly, kept me notified when things were shipped. My order arrived as promised even though it was just before Christmas. I will be ordering from them again, although in the summer. Shipping fish in the winter is pretty hair raising.

Jack Schleif

2022-05

Order arrived on time and packaged perfectly! I had a question during the order and they responded right away. I got a fish, shrimp and some snails. All were healthy and look great! Will be ordering from these guys again!

Mike D

2022-05

Bought 100lbs of dry rock, it was shipped in three boxes with three different tracking numbers. 2 boxes arrived one got lost. Contacted owner and he gave me the remaining tracking number , a few days later the package still hadn't moved.. I wrote a follow up email and had no response… so I got 67lbs (ish) out of a 100lb order.

Melissa Ladhar

2017-05

Just wanted to take a second to give a review of my experience so far with Salty Bottom Reef Company. I'm a stickler for customer service. I run my own business from home, so I know that customer service and satisfaction are TOP priorities. Let me just say, this company makes damn sure those two things are number 1 for them. Since before even ordering from them, I've had the pleasure of speaking personally with them/their employees, asking questions about their products, even questions they didn't need to answer as they had nothing to do with a sale. Every message sent to them was answered ASAP. Every question and concern I had was addressed immediately.As far as their actual products: zero complaints. I ordered over 100 snails/crabs/etc in one go and we did lose a few, even with my babysitting the tank (literally) all night. It happens, I know. But all my little inverts came looking great! All snails and hermits were great size-wise. Shipping was very quick (as would be expected for this). And, as someone who had never added a new life to her tank (everything I have was part of a gift from a friend), I was very nervous about receiving and acclimating my new little guys. THREE different employees all spoke with me and walked me through (in addition to the instructions that come with livestock they ship) and assured me it would go just fine.I'm pretty sure my toddlers like the new hermits more than the damn fish at this point, but luckily, I know this is the only place I'll ever go again for new members of our family. Just wanted to pass some unsolicited, unpaid advice along for anyone looking for a place to order that also has customer service that goes above and far beyond.

Mike Pope

2022-05

Very helpful during purchase and responsive after delivery (which was without issue). Everything arrived healthy and is doing well a couple weeks later. We will definitely purchase from Salty Bottom Reef Company again - actually in the process of doing just that!

Clint Mausling

2023-11

Wow. Amazing fish great recommendations on fish. All are happy and healthy. Customer service on point. Thanks so much

Matt Bishop

2022-05

I want to start out by saying I do not think the people of salty bottom reef company are bad people. I ordered a couple of condy anemones from salty bottom and asked to change the order to one single green bubble tip anemone. I knew I was losing a few dollars, but assumed it would all turn out well. The communication was great and then the anemone arrived. As soon as I pulled the bag out of the box I knew it was dead, you could smell the stench through the bag and see parts of the dead anemone in the bag. I immediately made a DOA claim, and messaged salty bottom back on our email chain. The response I got from Debbie was, the mouth is there it's still alive. The mouth was no longer there when the anemone arrived and it was clear that it was dead. I waited a few days and finally I received an email that my purchase price was being refunded. Again I do not think bad of the salty bottom crew, but for this instance there was no reason to argue with a customer and tell me that the clearly dead anemone was still alive.

Sanjay M

2022-05

Prompt response (talked to the owner twice..Debbie was super nice). Fast in fulfilling the order! I believe all of the new friends have survived and made a HUGE difference in my 55 gallon tank! I can't wait to place my next order. I highly recommend! Debbie and her company are great and please support this small business!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)

Drew Kline

2021-05

Amazing employees and customer support! Being a fresh and newcomer to the reef aquarium world I had many questions and concerns regarding what was okay to get and especially ship and after many conversations with subpar and uninterested vendors and marine aquatics distributors it was a breath of fresh air to find and converse with the people at salty bottom reef company! Once all questions were answered I ordered my new tank mates and received everything quick and just as expected and everything was living and happy as can be! Will for sure be buying more from them and they may have become my go to reef essentials and fish providers from here on out!

Yadiel And Victor (The Blue Eye Bros)

2021-05

Worst customer service I’ve ever experienced. I placed an order for $208 and paid $20 for shipping on top of that I an extra $8 charge for “bags”. I e-mail the company to ask what the $8 “bag” fee is for and Debbie replies “every one gets a bags fee” that was literally her reply. Not only did that not answer my question but it was rude so since she couldn’t answer my question I kindly replied and told her that this was going to be my first and last order with the company. Because if I can’t get a simple explanation about an extra fee that I’m getting then I’m just not going to give you my business. I get a reply from her that she has canceled my order. I never told them to cancel the order I simply just wanted to know what the $8 “bags” fee was for since I had already paid a $20 shipping fee and as a small business owner the packaging is included in the shipping fee and I’ve ordered fishes from at least 4 other online shops and no one had ever charged me for the “bags” that my fishes come in. I proceeded to call the company to tell them that I didn’t want to cancel my order and guess who picks up the phone with an attitude because she must have known that it was me calling, Debbie. I told her why did she cancel my order and she said “because you are not obligated to shop with us and I’m not obligated to give you any explanation” I’m sorry but you are because that is my money that you are taking. The whole time she was screaming over me on the phone barely let me get a word in then finally says “The order has already been canceled I gotta go bye” and just hung up in my face. All of this just because I asked what was the $8 “bags” fee. Never have I ever had such a negative experience with a company. Obviously they don’t need the business so do yourself a favor and spend your hard earned money with a company that actually respects the people that support it.

Elasmotanks

2022-05

The amount of life on the rocks I received from SBRC was absolutely stunning. With more rock weight for less cost than some of their competition, and the difference in the amount if life was staggering I highly recommend purchasing their submerged live rock. The communication between the sellers and purchaser was also fantastic, as someone who has not picked up packages from the airport before, they explained everything I needed to do.

john radcliff

2021-05

Loved the purchase!!! Everything came overnighted and was alive! Super easy instructions. One item they didn’t have on stock which was the cucumber and they substituted a flame scallop for it. That’s the only item out of the 85 clean up crew I wish I would have been offered something different. In general they don’t do well or live long in aquariums unless you can target feed them. This is impossible because I haven’t seen it since the day it went in. They are beautiful but you’ll never see it and I don’t believe it offers much in terms of cleanup crew. But overall I loved everything and will be buying again from them

Jarred Walker

2022-05

I've bought livestock through Salty Bottom Reef Company a few times and have always had a good experience. Their customer service is great. They usually email to confirm a shipment and in the event that something ends up being out of stock they will give options for substitutions etc. I do a lot of price comparisons with other online stores and my LFS, but they seem to have the best overall prices. I recently bought a tomini tang through them that cost 49.99. They usually go for $90+ elsewhere. Royal gramma was 18.99 and almost always goes for around $30 other places. Invertebrates are also priced nicely. If you have a few things you've been wanting to get you will probably end up saving money with them even with shipping costs. My animals have always arrived in very good condition; some of my fish I've bought through them even started eating as soon as I released them into the tank.

Thomas Madison

2018-05

Hi My name is Tom and I am the owner of a competing Live Rock company. Our company was hit very hard by hurricane Irma, both our reef and our facility were damaged. We were temporarily closed for over a month. Customer satisfaction is always our top priority but during that month we were unable to supply our product so we recommended several other live rock suppliers to our customers. Today we received a call back from one of the customers that we recommended Salty Bottom Reef Company to and they were thrilled with their order and couldn't thank us enough for referring them. We feel that this company has earned our respect enough to leave them a 5 star review for great customer service and an outstanding product. We will continue to recommend your company when we ourselves are out of stock and we look forward to possible collaborations together in continuing to raise the bar for our industry and in providing the best quality products to all our customers. Keep up the great work guys! ~AR