FAQ

Whitecorals is known for its rare corals. healthy marine fish and invertebrates. We receive these exclusively through direct important from exporters with whom we have built up permanent and long-term supplier relationships. A large number of places that deliver to us do not supply any other customers in Europe but work exclusively in the US. This means that you as the customer have the advantage that you can get rare animal from us that would otherwise be very difficult to find in the European market. But Whitecorals can do more than just rare: we also offer a wide range of basic and standard corals and invertebrates at attractive prices.

Our online shop at www.whitecorals.com is updated three times a week. The first update is on Monday at 8pm, the second on Wednesday at 8pm, and the third update is online on saturday, 5pm. We always put a  large number of corals up with original pictures (WYSIWYG = What you see is what you get), so you always have a very good selection with us. On average, around 1.000 corals a week are photographed and put online. 

Yes and no. On the one hand coral colours are very dependent on subjective perception, and on the other hand on the lighting used and last but not least on the screen used. This means that this cannot be assured 100% by any serious trader. We can claim that the colours in the corals photographed correspond to the reality in our tanks. In this case, "reality" means that the corals are mostly photographed under LED lighting. Most of our customer also use this lighting, but if you use HQI or T5 lighting, individual colour tones may appear less intensive or more intensive than they are shown on the photograph. Corals are also able to change their colours relatively quickly. This can happen as a result of the transportation, but also as a result of the water conditions, lighting and flow in your tank. If your aquarium has the correct water conditions, the coral will return to a magnificent colour. Our corals are photographed using a modern reflex camera (Canon) with a 100mm close-up lens. Using this setup, we achieve results which are very close to the reality. The coral colours are not artificially edited on the computer – we simply adapt the white balance and brightness. Our high re-purchase rate of around 80% shows us that our customers are very pleased with the corals they receive. You are welcome to come to the site at any time to take a photo of the corals yourself.

Our online shop works in real time. You will almost certainly have noticed that some corals are reserved. This happens when another customer has already put this coral in his shopping cart. As we only sell corals by original pciture, each coral is unique and can of course only be bought by one customer at a time. The reservation time for a coral is 20 minutes. If the purchase is not made within this time, the coral is automatically re-released for sale and removed from the shopping basket. If the order is successfully completed, the coral is no longer available in the shop. In order to ensure that you receive the animals you can't, you have to complete your order within this 20-minute period. If you then keep browsing and want to order more animals, you can simply choose the shipping option "collection/second order" for any additional orders. We automatically combine your orders and only charge you one for the shipping costs.

We keep most of our corals under LED lighting. .We mainly use the Ecotech Radion XR30w G4 PRO. We illuminate our pure SPS systems with the AB+ Preset (100% Royal Blue/Blue/UV/Purple, 24% Cold White/Warm White/Green/Red) . For LPS, soft corals, zoanthus and mushroom anemones we use the "Coral Lab LPS/Soft" template (15% white/warm white, 100% royal blue/blue/UV/purple, 20% green, 25% red) with low brightness. We have had the best experiences with these lamps and settings in terms of colouring and coral growth. When we still used T5, they were equipped with 50% white-blue (16,000K) tubes and 50% blue tubes. In general, we recommend a blue ratio of at least 70% of the total lighting output. This corresponds to the natural conditions in the coral habitat, as other light colours can only penetrate into shallow water depths. On one hand, the fluorescent colours of corals will pop out, and on the other hand, the colours develop well in the long term as well.

Yes! We will of course only charge you shipping costs once. If you come across other corals or products when browsing our shop, you can add these to your previous order up to 2pm on the day of shipping. Simply make another order, choose "collection second order as a shipping type and let us know about the additional order in the comment field. We will combine the orders and only charge you shipping costs once.

Of course. We always like to meet our customers in person. Important: please let us know when you want to pick up your corals and well get your order ready for you.

In exceptional cases it is possible to reserve animals which have already been bought and paid for and keep them in our tank for an extended period of time. Please contact our customer service team about this.

You can enter the voucher code right under your basket overview. The amount of the voucher will then automatically be deducted from the total.

We generally respond to emails very quickly, but sometimes unexpected things happen which require all hands on deck. In urgent cases, please contact us by telephone. Otherwise we respond to each email within 24-48 hours during our opening hours.

Yes, this is normally possible, but due to the high administrative cost (Cites application, export duty registration etc.) it is generally only worth it for large orders. Please contact us by email.

We can offer you live animal shipping across Europe at excellent prices. We can only do this because our high shipping volume which makes our processes more economical and means we can achieve cost advantages. For example, we now buy styrofoam boxes by the truckload and are in permanent negotiations with various logistics companies. We pass the discounts we receive directly on to you as the customer. For more details, see "payment and shipping" in the footer under the "Information" tab.

Our large network means that we can guarantee a delivery in almost all of the countries in the European Union within 24 hours.

In Germany, the shipping cost for live rocks is a flat rate of EUR 9.90. In Austria, the shipping cost for live rocks is a flat rate of EUR 24.90. For other countries and more details, see "payment and shipping".

Yes, it is possible to ship live rocks to all countries in the European Union. Please read the information about shipping conditions here Payment & Shipping

We can offer you live animal shipping in Germany from EUR 12.90. We can only do this because our high shipping volume which makes our processes more economical and means we can achieve cost advantages. For example, we now buy styrofoam boxes by the truckload and are in permanent negotiations with various logistics companies. We pass the discounts we receive directly on to you as the customer. We deliver orders over EUR 250 free of charge within Germany. The shipping costs to Austria are EUR 29.90. For more details, see "payment and shipping" .

That's easy – there is a convenient calendar function on the checkout for you to let us know your desired arrival date.

Our regular shipping days are Monday to Thursday. This means that you will generally receive your order Tuesday to Friday. Saturday deliveries in Germany are also possible for a fee. If you want your order to be delivered on a Saturday, please choose the "Saturday delivery" option at the checkout (note: additional cost).

Our regular shipping days are Monday to Wednesday. This means that you will generally receive your order Tuesday to Thursday.

Same-day shipping is indeed possible, but you need to place your order by 2pm at the latest if you want your order to be shipped on the same day. Payment must be made via Paypal, direct transfer, credit card or paydirekt. 

In rare cases there can be problems in the order process over which we have no influence. But don't worry – we generally still receive the order and will reserve the corals until payment is made. To complete the order, simply send us the invoice amount manually using the Paypal "make a payment" button to our Paypal email address sales@whitecorals.com or contact us directly. In any case, you will receive an email confirmation from us when we have received the payment.

You can find our bank details on "payment and shipping".

It may be because of your browser. We generally recommend using Google Chrome. If you have recurrent problems, please let us know by email and our programmers will attempt to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.

We offer the following payment methods: cash on collection, advance payment by bank transfer, Paypal, direct transfer/direct banking, credit card payment (Visa and MasterCard), paydirekt and credit purchase or payment by instalments via paypal. For more details, see "payment and shipping".

Yes, this is possible. If you want to do this, please choose "Credit Payment" as a payment option at the checkout, then you can easily pay for the order after you receive it. We also offer payment by instalments by paypal. For more details, see "payment and shipping".

Yes. Please always give a telephone number when ordering live animals. We will then give it to the delivery company who will then be able to contact you if they can't find you.

In an ideal world, you will receive the order personally, check it and put the animals straight into the aquarium. However, if for any reason you are not able to wait for the parcel personally, please ask somebody to do it for you. It's important that the package is stored in a warm place (22-25°C), preferably not directly on the floor. Even the best packaging can't protect the animals from cooling down in cold rooms or sat in front of the door of your house.

We do everything we can to ensure that each coral leaves our facility as healthy as possible. We use the highest quality packaging materials for this and keep excellent contacts with our shipping service providers so that valuable animals reach you safely. We offer a live arrival guarantee with no questions asked. Please check your order for any damage as soon as you receive it. If damage is visible on the corals, please take photos and inform us immediately via email on sales@whitecorals.com. We will then arrange a corresponding replacement.

Corals are generally not acclimatised to the water conditions but placed directly in your tank. However, fish and invertebrates such as anemones and mussels in particular should be introduced to the aquarium water gradually over an extended period of time.

Of course we always attempt to keep the temperature at 25°C using heat packs and special packaging, but the danger of overheating is a considerably greater risk than the water being a little too cool. In our experience, the animals don't suffer any damage at temperatures down as far as 18°C. If various circumstances mean that the corals have died, please make use of our live arrival guarantee.