WE GOT THE REEF!
SAVE 26% ON OUR EXTENSIVE SELECTION OF COPEPOD & PHYTO BUFFETS, MACRO ALGAE & CLEAN UP CREW MEMBERS.
*Offer valid on qualifying purchases of our Copepod and Phyto Buffets, and Clean Up Crew Members. Excludes CUC Packs, Kits, Brightwell Aquatics and our Hard Line Goods.
Sherry and I have been blissfully married for 9,496.5 days or 312 months OK 26 years. What an awesome journey and partnership.
1095.75 days, 36 months or yes, 3 years ago we became Reef2Reef Sponsors, and oh what an adventure this has been.
Having been in this hobby for the last 35 years, I still marvel at the amazing array of beauty and tranquility I find in our tanks and their inhabitants. Plus, I owe my amazing life with Sherry to reefing. While living in Western Nebraska and doing business with a very small LFS, a reefing newbie stopped in for advice. The owner didn’t have the knowledge to answer his questions, but said he had a customer who could (me). After getting my permission the shop owner gave Mike my number. A friendship developed and later Mike’s wife asked Mike to invite me to the Diner/Ice Cream shop she Managed to let a friend check me out. Guess her friend was impressed lol. I still take joy in Sherry and Calliope’s reactions and engagement with our little friends. lol Sherry will call out from the CUC room “I just saw Sally (Sally Lightfoot crab), she is snuggling with a Trochus!”
EXPERIENCE THE STEELE ADVANTAGE!
Yeah, I know, catchy slogan, but what does it mean?
As active fellow reefers, we have the same wants and desires as our customers. We also share the same experiences that you all do. For this reason we understand the struggles we all face. We are dedicated to providing the best customer service, offering products at the lowest possible prices, ensuring the health and safety of all the animals in our care.
Personalized customer service is a key part of our business culture. Whether accommodating a specific targeted delivery date, rescheduling a delivery due to tank issues, or just taking the time to talk with a customer via chat or phone, after God and family our customers are our number one priority.
Caring for and selecting the animals in our care. Sherry (and sometimes I) walk our tanks multiple times a day, righting errant snails, checking parameters, and observing for any issues or cautionary signs. When selecting CUC for shipping, we select only specimens that are actively attached to the glass, visibly active or other signs to ensure they leave us in the best possible condition.
When we started I sieved through a series of different micron screens, and would later find copepods in the “waste water” if I didn’t dump it in a couple of days. I found out that nauplii, and copepodites were passing through the larger screens. While others sieve the adult stage copepods, leaving the nauplii and copepodites in their system for faster regeneration, we sieve at extremely low micron levels to include these life stages along with the adults. From a visible customer standpoint, lots of adult pods are appealing, from a customer tank benefit not so much. Receiving all life stages of copepods greatly enhances their likelihood of colonizing in your tanks as they progress through their life stages, vs aged adult copepods who are nearing or have passed the end of their reproductive prime, being more of a single serving food source.
Our phytoplankton production follows the strictest protocols pertaining to sterility and quality. Every vessel we use is marked and used only with the same strain. Each is cleaned and sterilized through a multi step process between batches. Our water is filtered through RODI, then mixed with Brightwell Aquatics NeoMarine REEF salt mix, where others use Instant Ocean or other cheaper products making the culture and the end product more closely aligned with the parameters and trace elements of the water we use in our reef systems. What constitutes high quality phytoplankton? Is it color, darkness, or something else. While there are many methods available to concentrate phytoplankton during or post production, most do not improve the product. Our concentrated Phyto Buffet Extreme is produced through natural settling in a specialized commercial refrigeration unit allowing it to maintain a temperature that retains the phytos viability. The various methods used by others include heat evaporation (damages the cellular wall if not outright killing the Phyto), centrifuging (also extensive cell wall degradation), additives (one vendor uses a product used for thickening gelatin and other cooking products), settling and pouring off the clear or clearer water (method we employ, but only works on certain strains dependent upon fat content) or culturing right up to the edge of culture crash. Once a culture reaches a certain point the overall cell density becomes a light inhibitor causing a weakening of the cells. We take great pride in receiving customer comments that our phytoplankton is the only one they have used that either reduced nutrients or elicited a feeding response from their SPS corals.
Prior to shipping, Sherry or I check the Weather Channel App (during my contracting days I found it to be the most reliable) for both our temperature but also every customers destination temperatures. When we see concerns we reach out via email to offer upgraded shipping options or encourage holding for better conditions. We also use this information to determine the amount of packaging, and additions for shipping. Whether we double wrap in thermal with ice packed between or use one wrap, the amount of ice we add or which heat pack duration to include. Not always easy decisions, as too much ice can be as harmful as too little. We honestly feel remorse and sadness if any of our products arrive DOA, although the replacement cost obviously weigh in, for us it is about our critters not the inconvenience or expense. Fortunately we have a successful rate that is nearly perfect and of those losses the majority are due to shipping delays.
So why don’t we ship every package in styrofoam? Reefing is not always a budget friendly hobby lol, so we are focused on offering the best value possible. In my years of retail management and life itself, I learned nothing is FREE. Free delivery, stickers, candy etc. all have to be factored into a business’s costs. With boxes ranging from $10-$28 each, and size and weight effect shipping costs, our pricing would have to take a significant increase. But more importantly, we care about the environment and our impact on it. Styrofoam boxes add size and weight which increases fuel consumption by the carrier, and at the end of the trip almost all of them are going to find their way to a landfill. For this reason we offer styrofoam as an upgrade option so that only those customers who need the added protection can access this benefit without everyone having to pay the cost. Our styrofoam upgrade pricing is less than the actual cost to us, why? We share in the additional cost to make it more affordable for our customers and feel we save money on the back side by minimizing DOA claims and expenses.
While we use the above method to help keep our pricing lower, our business model is designed with volume as the key factor. In order to maintain current pricing (especially in our current and previous inflationary environment) we need your continued support. Help Sherry and I celebrate these major milestones with your order today!
LOW PRICES + HIGH QUALITY = GREAT VALUE!
SHOP NOW AND SAVE 26% OFF YOUR $150* or more purchase of our extensive collection of Copepod and Phyto Buffets, Clean Up Crew Members, and Macro Algae.
*Offer valid on qualifying purchases of our Copepod and Phyto Buffets, and Clean Up Crew Members. Excludes CUC Packs, Kits, Brightwell Aquatics and our Hard Line Goods.
Thank you and Have a Blessed Week!
Kent and Sherry
HIGH QUALITY + LOW PRICES = GREAT VALUE!
Large selection as we have updated our inventory with new orders received. Take advantage now as there are no minimum requirements.
Clean Up Crew Members require 2 Day or faster shipping. Temperatures vary across the nation, please check you weather, Styrofoam or Overnight Upgrades are required for full LIVE ARRIVAL GUARANTEE when temperatures are over 80. Overnight styrofoam for temps 100-110. We will hold orders if temps are too high for safe shipping.
EXPERIENCE THE STEELE ADVANTAGE!
Even with shipping upgrades, you can get the products you need to achieve the highest water quality for your system, for less than our competitors.
We are committed to delivering our products in the best condition, we take the care of these animals seriously and are personally affected when losses happen.
HIGH QUALITY + LOW PRICES = GREAT VALUE!
Sherry and I take great pride in the quality of our product. From culturing in sterilized saltwater processed with RODI, Brightwell Aquatics NeoMarine Reef Salt Mix (others use the cheapest salt mixes on the market ie Instant Ocean), UV sterilization utilizing 120W Lifeguard Aquatics sterilizer, followed by bleach treatment and natural neutralization. We currently culture 8 individual copepod species. Providing multiple options so you can target your tank’s occupants specific needs (check out our copepod guide here
https://reefbysteele.com/pages/how-to-choose-the-correct-copepods-for-your-tank).
Our harvest process incorporates low micron sieves to collect all life stages of our pods. Why this matters is that juvenile copepods moving into or through maturity have the highest reproduction rates, sieving adult copepods only reduces the colonization potential ensuring repeat purchases
Combining our Copepod Buffets with our Phyto Buffet options can further enhance this reproduction potential, providing your tank with the highest quality and nutritionally packed food source for you pods. Using our Phyto Buffet products add another benefit. Consistent dosing of our live Phyto Plankton is proven to reduce nutrients (Nitrate and Phosphates) in your water increasing the overall health of your tank. We have had multiple customers reach out to let us know that our Phyto Buffets are the first phytoplankton product that actually reduced these nutrients. While we do not speak negatively about our competitors, and nutrient reduction should occur with dosing of any “LIVE” phytoplankton, we attribute this to our commitment to quality and freshness. We culture between 16-20 distinct strains at any given time providing one of if not the most diverse blends in the market, we scope our product with every harvest to ensure health, viability and ensuring it is what we say it is. We harvest fresh every week and bottle and ship without ever refrigerating (with the exception of our (Phyto Buffet Extreme which requires refrigeration during our natural concentration process again done weekly to ensure freshness) to bring our product to you with the least “aging” possible.
TARGET YOUR TANKS NEEDS!
We are committed to assisting our customers with achieving the highest water quality parameters and cleanest water possible. We can help you get these results with all the product listed above, as well as our extensive selection of quality Clean Up Crew Members, and an exciting new product offering from one of our wholesale vendors.
Shop our Clean Up Crew selection where we offer the best values online by clicking SHOP NOW and selecting Clean Up Crew, or Clean Up Crew Packages from the drop down menu here.
For the clearest cleanest water we highly recommend utilizing Lifeguard Aquatics UV sterilizers combined with Quiet on AC or DC pumps. Email us at kent@reefbysteele.com with tank total volume and we can produce a quote for the appropriate size Sterilizer and pump combination for Algae reduction, or total protozoan reduction protection. We utilize these systems not only in our culturing process but in our Clean Up Crew systems. Matching flow to wattage ensures you are getting the proper dwell time required for your specific system needs and desires.
These products will be added to our site (as quickly as I have time). After our discussion with them earlier this week, we are stoked to be able to get these amazing products into our customers hands as quickly as possible.
IMPROVE YOUR WATER QUALITY WITH THE BEST VALUE IN CLEAN UP CREWS!
Improve water quality with Copepods, Phytoplankton, Macro Algae, and of course Clean Up Inverts. We offer a huge selection of each of these, all from fishless systems (Inverts not quarantined but never with fish upon our receipt) at super values!
WE GOT THE REEF!
Our CUC is priced very competitively with our online competition. As an added bonus we ship CUC 2 Day nationwide for FREE over $60. Our competitors charge $40-45 for overnight shipping unless you spend over $200 or more. This makes us your best choice for quality Clean Up Crew inverts. We constantly work to provide the greatest value for your reefing needs.
New inventory arrives weekly. If we don’t have what you want, reach out and we will make every effort to locate and add it, or replenish if we are sold out.
No minimum purchase required, but we do require 2 Day or faster shipping on inverts. Please consider Styrofoam or overnight if temps over 80 degrees as the backs of the trucks are even hotter.
Temperatures can vary widely across the nation currently. Consider an upgrade to Styrofoam shipping at checkout for added peace of mind.
WE HARVEST FRESH, CUC GENERALLY SHIPS TUESDAY OR LATER.
TEMP MAY VARY THROUGHOUT THEIR TRIP! UPGRADE TO OVERNIGHT OR STYROFOAM FOR FULL ARRIVE ALIVE GUARANTEE! CUC REQUIRES STYRO OR OVERNIGHT TO SHIP LOWS BELOW FREEZING OR HIGHS ABOVE 80!
