Frequently Asked Questions About Our Store & Policies
Customer service and support is a crucial part of the Dinkins Difference. If you have any questions which aren't listed here, please email us and we'll answer right away!
This FAQ page is oriented toward general questions. We have a Live Foods FAQ page with frequently asked questions about our live copepods, amphipods, and phytoplankton. We also have a Reef Refugium Boosters FAQ to cover questions about our Clean Chaeto and Snacklerock.
Shipping
Yes, we are available for local pickup by appointment. Simply select "local pickup" at checkout and contact us to schedule a day and time.
We offer free two day shipping on orders over $59. Otherwise, shipping is $19.
You get to choose! From your Shopping Cart, you'll have the option to Pick Your Own Delivery Date. Since UPS occasionally makes mistakes, we can't guarantee your order will arrive on your chosen delivery date, but 95% of the time it will.
With a few exceptions for holidays and such, we normally ship Monday - Wednesday. With two day shipping, that means you'll receive your order Wednesday - Friday. Customers within UPS' one-day delivery zone (most of Texas, parts of Louisiana and Oklahoma) may even see an option for delivery Tuesday.
Our system automatically sends an email with your tracking number once we've created a shipping label (you may need to check your "spam" folder if it doesn't show up in your inbox).
We ship all products in biodegradable styrofoam boxes with UPS two day shipping. Before shipping, we check the weather for every delivery address, and we add ice or heat packs as needed. For more details, check out our shipping process.
Absolutely and unconditionally. Every order is protected by our no-hassle Dinkins Delivery Guarantee.
We package our products carefully in order to help them survive a delay of up to two days in transit. In the vast majority of cases, your products will be totally fine even if delayed. Please do inspect them carefully, and if there are any issues, please contact us
Every order is covered by our Dinkins Delivery Guarantee, no matter what.
Because of import/export restrictions on live plants/animals, we are only able to ship within the USA.
Acclimation
When you receive your live copepods, we suggest removing the lid and keeping your bottle at room temperature until the lights go out in your tank.
For best results, turn off your powerheads and return pumps for about an hour. Our copepods are benthic meaning they like to crawl around on surfaces in the tank. Once they get settled in initially, very few of them will get sucked into your overflows because they will be holding onto your rocks and sand!
Live amphipods are shipped in jars containing a reef-safe nylon sponge. The amphipods are strongly benthic, meaning they prefer a surface to cling to. They tend to burrow deep inside the sponge due to the stresses of shipping.
We suggest adding all the water in the jar, and placing the sponge in the sump or tank for a couple days. After a couple days, the amphipods will have migrated out of the sponge in search of food, and it can be removed if you'd like.
Please note that we intentionally fill the amphipod jars only about 1/3 of the way full with water. If part or all of the sponge is out of the water, it's perfectly fine.
Float your jar of Clean Chaeto for about an hour to temp acclimate it, then add the entire contents of the jar to your sump. We add extra live copepods to each jar of Clean Chaeto, so please add the water from the jar to your sump as well.
Do not put flow directly onto the chaeto. Our chaetomorpha is the more "fine" variant which can blow apart under high direct flow, especially after shipping stress.
Tumbling isn't necessary though it is ideal.