Livestock Shipping & Legal Compliance

At Royal Reef, the health of our corals and the integrity of our service are our top priorities. We operate in full transparency with UK livestock transit laws to ensure every inhabitant reaches your reef safely.

1. Authorized Transit
We do not use standard postal services for live organisms. All aquatic invertebrates and corals are dispatched via Royal Mail Special Delivery, a service fully authorised for the carriage of live aquatic animals. This ensures your order is prioritised and handled with the necessary care to guarantee arrival by 1 pm the following day.

2. Temperature & Welfare Standards
In compliance with REACH regulations and following OATA (Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association) industry-leading best practices:

• Insulation: All livestock is shipped in professional-grade insulated packaging to maintain a stable internal environment.
• Climate Control: We use 40-hour+ heat packs (or cold packs in summer) to regulate water temperatures during transit, regardless of the British weather.
• Secure Packaging: Corals are securely housed in watertight pots with foam inserts. This ensures the frag remains suspended and secure, preventing contact with the container walls and eliminating leaks.

3. Pre-Dispatch Verification
To meet our "Arrive Alive" guarantee and UK animal welfare standards, we never ship livestock without prior confirmation. Once you place an order, our team will contact you via email to agree on a specific delivery date. This ensures a responsible adult is present to receive, inspect, and acclimatize the livestock immediately upon arrival.No orders will be posted until a mutually agreed delivery date is arranged between both parties. This can be done by either putting the day & date you would like to receive the item in the ‘notes’ section in the check out. Sending us an email or otherwise we will email you to confirm.  

 You MUST make sure someone is at the delivery address to accept the delivery ready to get the coral inspected and acclimatised as quickly as possible. Any failure to accept the delivery on first attempt will VOID the DOA policy. 

In extreme temperatures where we feel it is not safe to post corals (hot or cold) we will email you to put a provision in place and arrange an alternative delivery date.