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What's the shelf life of Reef Nutrition products

sfboarders

sfboarders

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Just went to LFS to buy some Phyto Feast so I can culture some Tigger Pods. I look at the expiration date of the bottle and it's less than 2 weeks away on 6/2/10. I look at the bigger bottle and the date is back in April.

I decided to pass and not buy anything. Does a LFS get a new batch of RN products that have expired or do they keep it until it is sold off the shelves?

I'd rather purchase a bottle that has a "Good by" quite far away.

Gresham? :)
 
Pretty sure I remember Gresham saying that they often last longer than the expiration date, and that the way to know it is bad, is by smell (sulfur).
 
That thing last a long time. I forgot I had a bottle in my refrigerator. It was 4 or 5 months after the expiration date and it didn't smell bad at all.
 
sfboarders said:
Just went to LFS to buy some Phyto Feast so I can culture some Tigger Pods. I look at the expiration date of the bottle and it's less than 2 weeks away on 6/2/10. I look at the bigger bottle and the date is back in April.

I decided to pass and not buy anything. Does a LFS get a new batch of RN products that have expired or do they keep it until it is sold off the shelves?

I'd rather purchase a bottle that has a "Good by" quite far away.

Gresham? :)
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I wouldn't buy it at that point either. I know for a fact RN products are very conservatively rated for their "best by" dates. I know you can smell it and see if it's bad (after buying it?!) but why take the product that has almost reached its 'best by' date? I believe RN also likes stores to stay on top of these stock issues so I'd request you to PM the stores name to Gresham. I have a lot of sympathy for stores that choose to handle dry goods and I know it's often unintentional when stores have nearly expired products. Did you mention the dates to the store?
 
I've been to one or two stores that have RN products with a limited shelf life (~ 1 month left) also, the stores mention they're waiting for a new shipment, and I figure I'll wait until that shipment arrives so I get the full shelf life. I do agree that the expiration date is conservative and I've used RN products past it w/o any noticeable difference.
 
Gah I wish this was somethign we had control over. It sounds like some local stores are buying too much at one time. If they were in another state I would understand off setting the shipping cost, but locals get the best deal out of all our customers world wide.

We want YOU to have the shelf life in your fridge, not the LFS in theirs.

Please do let me know and I will see how I can work with them. At least they didn't try to sell you one after the "best before" date :)

FWIW 1 month left means it's been there for ~3 months as it is shipped the week, sometimes second week, after bottling. Most have a 4 month (accept Tigger-Pods, Macro-Feast, Fuzzy-Phytes and Phyto-Feast LIVE... all the live stuff in other words)
 
Gresham you got PM's. :) So does the LFS just leave the bottles that have been expired and hopes somebody buys them without checking the dates or do they get thrown away when a new shipment comes?

They told me that they'd be receiving a new shipment of Tigger Pods next week but I didn't ask if they'll get new bottles of Phyto Feast.

I guess I'll have to check another LFS for more "newer" products.
 
In theory they'd use it in house once it hits the Best Before date and not keep it on their shelf for sell. Selling old product gives them a bad name, and it reflects poorly on our product :( We do not want them selling old product, but, we really have no control over that. We truly want it gone in the first month at the LFS. .
 
Gresham can answer better "because he works there" but at my LFS when their RN prduct gets close to the date they pull it from the sales fridge and will just use it in their tanks. SO i have to assume that they don't get a credit for returning product.
 
FWIW, I went to a LFS and bought some RN products recently that were close to their expiration date. They sold it at a discount because it was close to the expiration date but I was told it lasts for many months after the actual date. Was a little skeptical but the price break was enough motivation to give it a shot.
 
many months? Did they give an actual number? Arcti-Pods fall apart at about 6 months. They have an enzyme in them that acts like an auto-destruct and make them leak all their fatty acids out leaving them an empty "shell" basically. PF is fine for a month or two, OF and RF are fine for a few months. It's also dependent on how they've been stored and handled.

Brian, that's what we want them to do. IF they've been a customer longer then a year they will not get credit for it. We'll work with them for a year to get the order down right. I know of no other MO feed manufacturer that does this, even for a month :D
 
Don't remember an actual number. I ended up buying PF, OF and RF so I'll be sure not to use them beyond a couple months after the date. Thanks for the estimate in how long they last after the expiration date. Good to know!
 
GreshamH said:
Arcti-Pods fall apart at about 6 months. They have an enzyme in them that acts like an auto-destruct and make them leak all their fatty acids out leaving them an empty "shell" basically.
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Hmmm, I've had my Arcti-Pods for a few months now and it seems to be oily and leave a greasy residue on the container when I mix with tank water. I take it it's time to get rid of the bottle? I did not see a date on the bottle.
 
Look closer on the left side on the front label panel. The Best Before is in black on AP. We're making the transition slowly towards having them all printed by the UPC but as of right now it's only one one bottle.

No that does not mean they are going bad. Some oils are released in the mixing. You'll see just empty shells with no color when you dose it if they have leaked all their oils. :)
 
Expiration date on my bottle of AP is back in 01/10. Would they be ok to use still?

If I order directly from RN will the product I receive be "newer" compared to what they sell at LFS?

Do you have a free shipping coupon code I can use? :D
 
1/10 is a bit old. I suspect they have all been broken down by now. At least that is what my shelf life shows for that batch. I keep 2 bottles of every batch of everything we make.

If you order directly from us you get what we ship to the stores. No free shipping. GROUND is cheap, that is all you need to use.
 
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