Queen City Corals — Local services in Mint Hill

Update on 11/22/24

Beautiful, well priced coral. All my coral were pest free and healthy. Opened up within minutes of being placed in my aquarium even after being shipped. One of my orders did have one torch coral that came in not looking to happy. Guessing from shipping stress/ the cold winter weather. After 24 hours, the torch didn't look like it was heading in the right direction.I contacted QCC, and I was given credit for the torch! Couldn't ask for more! Great customer service!!

Edit: 8 orders later, and you guys are still rocking it!! #1 Online coral vendor that I have found!

Update 11/19/24

Well, I'm on order #14, and I have to take away 2 stars. This is specifically for the quality of torch corals that i have recently received. I'm a huge fan of torch corals and have ordered 12 torche's from them . I used to receive the healthiest torches with amazing flesh bands. This was the one coral that i would order, and they would arrive looking better than the website pic. I recently had a torch arrived that was in pretty bad condition. Had very little flesh band and never opened. It lived for about 1 week, then had the start of brown jelly, so I had to toss it. I then got credit for the torch and ordered a replacement. My replacement that came was in even worse condition . It has zero flesh band on half the torch and about 1 millimeter on the other side. QCC torches normally open up within 1 hour in my tank. These 2 have never opened. I do not know what is going on at QCC, but their torch quality has gone down. If you have a torch that clearly is not healthy, you should not be shipping it that's basicly sending it to its death bed. I have 9 other torches in my tank thriving, so I know it's not my tank causing them to die. I have ordered other LPS coral and softies and they have all been great . The good thing is QCC will give you credit, but having to pay 50$ for shipping is adding up . If i get 1 more replacement and have to pay another 50$ i could have bought another higher quality torch with that money.This is specifically written to bring up awareness of the declining torch quality. If things start turning around I will definatly raise the stars. I don't know if there's an issue with tanks or employees, but something needs to happen about these less than healthy torches being shipped out.

Update 11/22/24

OK so after finaly getting in contact with Queen City Corals about the last update . They offered to give me credit plus pay for the shipping cost. This is more then we can ask for. Yes it sucks that these issues happen, but Queen City Corals seems to always make it right. And just some advice. To anyone ordering coral if it arrives not looking to hot (not just DOA) they can give you pointers to help it if it's struggling. Just take photos and and shoot them an email. Cover your butt just incase things take a turn for the worst. It's a lot of stress on these Corals being shipped . So things happen. If you read this Queen City Corals I just want to say thank you so very much for the joy that your...

I have placed many orders with qcc. Their are so many questionable places to reef shop today, like many in this hobby I first placed a small "canary" order to test the quality and care because if somone can't get a smaller lower price order to me in good condition I won't even consider trusting them with a larger more expensive order. From the first order my experience was wonderful. Everything was packed with care and the coral looked exactly as expected with 0 pests. Since then I've placed many many orders for a wide variety of pieces and order with confidence wether I buy a bargin frag or the super rare sought after piece. I feel like what really makes the difference is the owner Kevin. I've never met him in real life but there are times I've had questions or concerns and called the store to verify a product, request a second photo, request a specific item, report a doa (happens to the best of us), or hold a delivery due to poor weather. Kevin is very responsive, he takes most calls personally and handles every inquiry professionally and courteously. Kevin has been able to meet some small special requests like holding an order or finding a special item, will share knowledge about his stock even if it means confirming that I might not want to buy somthing that isn't right for my tank, and can take feed back (even if a transaction didn't go 100% smooth) he had always seemed to want to ensure I felt like I got a fair deal and was willing to work out a resolution if there was shipping damage etc. I know for many people this seems like common sense but I've auctually had another store where my animal died before they shipped it (in their care) and they just ran with my hard earned money, this was never returned and i never recieved the order (this other supplier was not affiliatedwith QCC). After a year+ trying to get what i ordered i accepted the loss and I called QCC to see if they were able to source the same coral and when speaking with Kevin related what had happened and how disappointed I was with his competitor. It took a little while but Kevin did find exactly what I was looking for (I have no doubt this was a special order etc) and, while I can't say he did this for free, but he managed to match the competitors price even though the piece was selling higher at this time. I don't want to sound like the store offers a price match guarantee, I'm sure this was a one time thing done for a long time customer that stocked many tanks worth from his shop. But, when dealing with QCC I've always felt like a valued customer that deserves a personal experience, i was shown empathy in a situation that had nothing to do with his company when all I expected was a sales transaction. Compared to many of the businesses today that work in a robotic assembly line mentality cranking out a product I feel like this store is operated by a human that cares about the animals he sells and the people that buy them, to me this is what makes the difference and is worth...

I was a first-time customer of Queen City Corals and decided to purchase two Black Light Anemones on 02/03/2025. My order was shipped on 02/04/2025 (Order #89196) and delivered on 02/05/2025 at 10:20 AM.

Given the many five-star reviews, I had high expectations. Their website claims a 99% Live Arrival Guarantee, that staff are trained to the highest standard of corals, and that each coral is securely triple-bagged and encapsulated in specific specimen containers to ensure live arrival. Unfortunately, these so-called commitments proved to be untrue.

Upon opening my package, I was immediately hit with a foul odor coming from each bag. The anemones displayed clear signs of distress, including open mouths, faded coloration, shrunken and deflated tentacles, a lack of response to stimuli, and visible tears on their bodies. The only positive aspect of my order was the mystery frags—a Birdsnest and a Neon Green Acropora—but even those were underwhelming.

I immediately contacted Queen City Corals' support team, but their response time was slow. When I called and spoke with the manager, I was assured that the anemones "just look pissed" but would recover after acclimation. Despite following the acclimation process exactly as instructed, the anemones began to deteriorate and melt in my tank. I attached images as evidence.

To prevent further damage to my reef tank’s water quality, I removed the anemones and reached out to Queen City Corals again, seeking guidance on how they would rectify the situation. After receiving no response, I followed up the next day. When I called, a representative assured me that the manager would return my call. Hours passed with no response. Frustrated by the lack of communication, I called again and was once more told the manager would "look into it."

After much back and forth, they finally issued a refund for the Black Light Anemones but refused to refund the shipping cost—even though the corals were dead on arrival. While I understand that shipping costs are a shared loss, this situation clearly warranted a full refund for the entire order. Although a partial refund is better than nothing, the entire experience highlighted Queen City Corals' lack of communication, poor product quality, and false advertising. I strongly recommend looking elsewhere, such as Aqua SD or World Wide Corals, for better quality...