As the title states, I don’t know where are good places to buy saltwater fish online if I want to. What are your recommendations and can you share any personal experiences with them? Ditto for locations you’d suggest I avoid. Thank you!
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Another retailer going on my, do not buy from, list.I've had saltwater fish almost 50 years. I've ordered from live aquaria many times and always been happy until today.
My fish usually live long so I don't order that often. I lost a couple fish a few weeks ago when my power was out for 2 days. (I have a generator but didn't get it going until about 12 hours after).
So I ordered 3 fish. A longnose butterfly, an eibli angelfish they call red striped and a bluehead wrasse. I also ordered some snails.
So the FedEx lady knocked on my door at 9:30 am and said the box was leaking. It was damaged and she opened it because it said live fish. She was trying to help. She said the yellow one was dead and she proceeded to take each fish out and the butterfly had both bags it was in popped. It had barely any water in and was upside down looking dead. She then took out the angel and it had some water in it but it was cloudy and the fish was dead. It was leaking a little. The wrasse and snails were ok.
I brought everything in and was inspecting it. All of a sudden I saw the butterfly gasp for a breath. I quickly put it in a plastic container but had to put some water from my tank so it had enough to swim. I acclimated it and it was ok so far but who knows with all the stress. The angel is dead.
What I am really mad about is these fish were just thrown into a cardboard box. I paid a $9.99 box charge. They were always in a styro box before when I ordered.
I called them and they said yeah we don't use a styro box anymore just a cardboard one. First of all what did I pay a $9.99 fee for? and second anybody knows if you get cardboard wet it falls apart. Plus a styro box protects it from getting crushed. The butterfly was in a double bag that was popped with like a 5 inch gash in it.
I have never had fish shipped to me without a styro box. I wonder how many losses they are having now without them. It's ridiculous to me especially when they charge you for one.
Wow…. Sorry to hear that. I’ve bought from them before also but I’d never expect a fish or coral delivery in nothing but cardboard!I've had saltwater fish almost 50 years. I've ordered from live aquaria many times and always been happy until today.
My fish usually live long so I don't order that often. I lost a couple fish a few weeks ago when my power was out for 2 days. (I have a generator but didn't get it going until about 12 hours after).
So I ordered 3 fish. A longnose butterfly, an eibli angelfish they call red striped and a bluehead wrasse. I also ordered some snails.
So the FedEx lady knocked on my door at 9:30 am and said the box was leaking. It was damaged and she opened it because it said live fish. She was trying to help. She said the yellow one was dead and she proceeded to take each fish out and the butterfly had both bags it was in popped. It had barely any water in and was upside down looking dead. She then took out the angel and it had some water in it but it was cloudy and the fish was dead. It was leaking a little. The wrasse and snails were ok.
I brought everything in and was inspecting it. All of a sudden I saw the butterfly gasp for a breath. I quickly put it in a plastic container but had to put some water from my tank so it had enough to swim. I acclimated it and it was ok so far but who knows with all the stress. The angel is dead.
What I am really mad about is these fish were just thrown into a cardboard box. I paid a $9.99 box charge. They were always in a styro box before when I ordered.
I called them and they said yeah we don't use a styro box anymore just a cardboard one. First of all what did I pay a $9.99 fee for? and second anybody knows if you get cardboard wet it falls apart. Plus a styro box protects it from getting crushed. The butterfly was in a double bag that was popped with like a 5 inch gash in it.
I have never had fish shipped to me without a styro box. I wonder how many losses they are having now without them. It's ridiculous to me especially when they charge you for one.
The butterfly is full of ich or velvet. It makes me want to cry.I've had saltwater fish almost 50 years. I've ordered from live aquaria many times and always been happy until today.
My fish usually live long so I don't order that often. I lost a couple fish a few weeks ago when my power was out for 2 days. (I have a generator but didn't get it going until about 12 hours after).
So I ordered 3 fish. A longnose butterfly, an eibli angelfish they call red striped and a bluehead wrasse. I also ordered some snails.
So the FedEx lady knocked on my door at 9:30 am and said the box was leaking. It was damaged and she opened it because it said live fish. She was trying to help. She said the yellow one was dead and she proceeded to take each fish out and the butterfly had both bags it was in popped. It had barely any water in and was upside down looking dead. She then took out the angel and it had some water in it but it was cloudy and the fish was dead. It was leaking a little. The wrasse and snails were ok.
I brought everything in and was inspecting it. All of a sudden I saw the butterfly gasp for a breath. I quickly put it in a plastic container but had to put some water from my tank so it had enough to swim. I acclimated it and it was ok so far but who knows with all the stress. The angel is dead.
What I am really mad about is these fish were just thrown into a cardboard box. I paid a $9.99 box charge. They were always in a styro box before when I ordered.
I called them and they said yeah we don't use a styro box anymore just a cardboard one. First of all what did I pay a $9.99 fee for? and second anybody knows if you get cardboard wet it falls apart. Plus a styro box protects it from getting crushed. The butterfly was in a double bag that was popped with like a 5 inch gash in it.
I have never had fish shipped to me without a styro box. I wonder how many losses they are having now without them. It's ridiculous to me especially when they charge you for one.
I ordered from LA a week ago, and my animals (filefish, bunch of CUC) were packed in a foam laminate box that looked a lot like a cardboard box until I looked more closely. Foam layer (~1/4") sandwiched between a paper outside layer and foil/mylar inner layer. It wasn't good packaging, not even close, but wasn't cardboard.were just thrown into a cardboard box. I paid a $9.99 box charge. They were always in a styro box before when I ordered.
I called them and they said yeah we don't use a styro box anymore just a cardboard one. First of all what did I pay a $9.99 fee for? and second anybody knows if you get cardboard wet it falls apart. Plus a styro box protects it from getting crushed. The butterfly was in a double bag that was popped with like a 5 inch gash in it.
I have never had fish shipped to me without a styro box. I wonder how many losses they are having now without them. It's ridiculous to me especially when they charge you for one.
Agree, Biota is advancing the hobby and aggregation of aquaculture options is probably the future of the hobby due to a variety of factors. Any fish that I can get from Biota (or other similar aquaculture), I will, even if it is more expensive. This is a luxury hobby and I prefer a healthy and tank-adapted aquaculture fish when practical, even if I need to save a while longer to afford it. YMMV, depending on your personal circumstances, certainly when I was a student etc cost was a more important factor.thebiotagroup.com for captive bred fish.
Avoid liveaquaria. Repeated bad orders and experiences, and I'm definitely not the only one. Dead and diseased fish shipped in horrible packaging, and it has only gotten worse over the years. Their horrible advertising trying to get people to buy fish pretty much impossible to keep in the average home aquarium seals the deal for me, preying on inexperienced aquarists with something cool and flashy and costing those fish their lives, should be something that gets a company shunned in this hobby.As the title states, I don’t know where are good places to buy saltwater fish online if I want to. What are your recommendations and can you share any personal experiences with them? Ditto for locations you’d suggest I avoid. Thank you!
Ok it did have the thin layer of foil wrapped around one side of the box but that does nothing for getting crushed or leaking. It might help with cold but probably not because it's not even on all sides or sealed like a styro box. When I have to pay $9.99 for a box I expect a styro box inside a carboard box.I ordered from LA a week ago, and my animals (filefish, bunch of CUC) were packed in a foam laminate box that looked a lot like a cardboard box until I looked more closely. Foam layer (~1/4") sandwiched between a paper outside layer and foil/mylar inner layer. It wasn't good packaging, not even close, but wasn't cardboard.
Wow. I'm sorry. Bad news bears man. When I read about moving from Styro to cardboard with your situation, I flashed to a news feed I saw a few days back. In Washington State, we are moving from Styro to other modalities of transport. Very soon, for example, we are not going to get food packaged in styro cause it'll be illegal. Granted, the food industry is pretty far removed from livestock transport, but I'm wondering if this issue is going to translate to our hobby as well.The butterfly is full of ich or velvet. It makes me want to cry.