South Coast Corals

South Coast Corals Ltd supply both imported and aquacultured high-end stony corals direct to the marine aquarium hobbyist from our premises in Southampton or nationwide via mail order.


DOA Policy:

Should you receive a coral which is dead on arrival a full refund for the value of the coral(s) will be issued, if a frag pack was purchased the refund will equate to the pack cost divided by the number of corals it contained.

In order to be able to issue a refund photographic evidence of the DOA coral sealed in the original packaging will need to be provided within 2 hours of the consignment being signed for on the first delivery attempt.

Please note refunds cover the cost of DOA coral only, not the shipping fee.


Acclimatisation Guide:

Bear in mind when you receive your shipment of corals they will have undergone a degree of stress. Although our packing methods have been honed to minimise this stress it’s important to take care when adding them to your system so not to stress them further.

1 – Temperature acclimatisation:
When you first receive your order float the corals in their container or bag in your system for 15-20 minutes to equalise the water temperatures. This is best done in the sump (out of light), or in the main display with the lights off or dimmed.

2 – Water acclimatisation:
Once the corals have been acclimatised to the temperature of your system gradually add your aquarium water to them to slowly introduce them to your systems parameters. Depending on the size of the order you can either remove some water from the container(s) and replace this with your tank water or add the shipping water and corals to a food grade container and drip or manually add water slowly, over a period or around 45 minutes.

*Note: It’s recommended if your system has an RO top up unit that it is switched off before this step.

3 – Dip / Treat corals:
While we quarantine and treat all of our livestock before it is added to our main system, fundamentally you're responsible for what enters your aquarium and should take precautions regardless of the source they have come from.

This can be done by adding the treatment to the freshly acclimatised water the corals are in (provided you know the volume of it) or by taking the required measurement from your system. We recommend using Polyp Lab Reef Primer as it is very effective and noticeably gentle on the corals.

4 - Add the corals to the system:
If the corals were treated with a dip you may want to rinse them in another container of fresh aquarium water to remove any which may be left on them. The corals can then be placed in a low light area of your tank such as the sand bed.

The water the corals were shipped and acclimatised in should now be discarded and the volume of water removed from your system for the acclimatisation process should now be replaced with fresh salt water, correctly aerated and at the correct salinity and temperature (if you switched off your RO top up unit off in step 2 this can now be turned back on).

The corals should then be left to recover from shipping and acclimatise to the new water parameters and lighting. Being photosynthetic corals are very sensitive to light and should not be moved for at least a week.

5 – Light Acclimatisation:
With the majority of our corals requiring a high amount of light they should be gradually adjusted to these intensities. After they have settled into your system we recommend using a frag rack attached to the glass to raise the corals gradually over a period of time to introduce them to higher light levels.

6 – Points to consider:
Research: Information regarding the flow and lighting requirements of each coral is provided in their descriptions. With corals being sensitive to light it is not recommended to repeatedly move them around the aquarium, so it is best to have a location you think will be suitable for them planned.

Feeding: While many aquarists do not actively
feed their corals (and there are plenty of stunning tanks out there to fuel the argument that corals do not need to be fed) it is estimated that corals receive approximately 85% of their energy from light so arguably the final 15% will be provided from feeding. Bear in mind if you’re in the process of acclimatising newly introduced corals to your lighting then feeding would be considered important (in our opinion) to aid the health of the corals while receiving lower levels of light.

Is your system ready? With the majority of our corals being on the more delicate side please consider if your system is capable of supporting their requirements before ordering. Are you having nutrient problems, struggling with stability or have you been having issues losing corals recently? If so then adding fresh stock probably isn’t the best plan at the moment.

Final point to consider: While we offer a DOA policy we cannot be held responsible for issues which may arise once the corals have been added to your system.

Please take time to consider the points detailed in this guide and happy reefing!