Online Stock?

[ajayjack]

Hello all,

 

I just joined the nano-reef yesterday, after a couple of weeks of perusing forums, and getting my nano reef set up! I haven't done saltwater aquariums in years - since the early 90s, before you could get stock online.

 

My tank has been up for over two weeks now and finished cycling about a week ago. I've got a 29 gallon set up with about 35 lbs. of live rock, and added the first few inhabitants over the last week - some of my cleanup crew (a couple cerith snails, and a few hermit crabs).

 

I want to start looking at good online sellers for marine stock as opposed to the LFS ... just for some more variety. Any suggestions?

[gutterguy]

Any of the sponsors on here, also you can get a lot of nice stuff from members on here for good prices.

 

Also Welcome to N-R

[rdahlke1105]

Live Aquaria on Dr. Foster and Smith is suppose to be really good and the Diver's Den section is a WYSIWYG.

[paneubert]

Make sure you are really done with the cycle. My math tells me your cycle took a week? Lucky you if that is really the case.

[yardboy]

Take your time. No tank is truly cycled in a week. Nothing worse than spending good money for stuff then having it die because the "cycle" you thought was done is alot more fragile than you thought. It takes time to build up the proper populations of microbes required to resist nutrient changes.

In addition, the only downside to buying online is that you end up buying more than a single specimen to help alleviate the shipping costs, and putting a bunch of stuff in a newly cycled tank all at once will really show you that your tank wasn't really cycled.

Finally, look at where you live and try to find the closest reputable online vendor. The shippng charges will be lowest that way.

[OClownsandNanos]

When you say "marine stock" do you mean just fish or fish and corals? I've honestly had better luck with fish when I've purchased them from LFS. I bought 3 Vanderbilt Chromis from LiveAquaria several months ago. One was DOA (which I did get an immediate refund for, BTW). The other two lasted for a while, but I just lost my last one about a month ago. I bought the rest of my fish from local LFS and they are still going strong (two ocellaris clowns and one blenny). I've also bought all my shrimp locally and have had no losses yet (knock on wood).

 

If you've got decent LFS near you, I honestly think that's the best way to go UNLESS you are trying for a fish they cannot stock. I think Diver's Den is probably a better bet than LiveAquaria for fish between the two (both are Foster's and Smith) because they go through several weeks of QT at DD before they are put up for sale. LiveAquaria just gets stuff in from various wholesalers and pretty much sells them immediately. The nice thing about buying locally is you can make sure the fish are eating, you can see them live to see how they behave, and you can often have them hold the fish for a little while to make sure it is doing okay. All big pluses in my book.

 

There are quite a few coral places online that are good. We don't have as much coral selection over here, so I often buy my stuff online, though I have also gone to frag swaps at my local reef club.

[ajayjack]

Thanks for all of the replies. To answer some questions (and ask some more myself):

 

• Where do I find the nano-reef sponsored vendors?
  
• I monitored my tank throughout the whole cycle. The LR I got had sat in the LFS LR holding tanks for several weeks, so it was pretty much "cured". Checked my ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels through the whole thing. Saw the spike in ammonia, then came the nitrites with ammonia down, then the nitrites down and nitrates up, and now nitrates are between 0 and 25 ppm after doing a water change post-cycle.
  
• When I say marine stock I mean fish and corals, and invertebrates! :-)
  
• Definitely taking my time! Not going to add fish for a few weeks yet. Maybe a mushroom coral or two. Just trying to start planning out the rest of my stock, and want to take vendors and prices into consideration!
  
• Yeah, I definitely have some good fish stores where I'm from (Austin Texas... Fishy Business, Aquatek). I know there will be stock that I want that they don't carry and they would have to offer, so I am assuming that it may be cheaper to just order it myself. i.e., I want to get a pom pom crab eventually!
  
• "the only downside to buying online is that you end up buying more than a single specimen to help alleviate the shipping costs, and putting a bunch of stuff in a newly cycled tank all at once will really show you that your tank wasn't really cycled. " -- Great point!!
  
• I found a reef club here in Austin Texas. I was hoping that would be a good place to get some coral frags... buy, trade, or charity! lol.
  

 

Let me answer one of my own questions. The sponsors link is at the top of the page, labeled 'SPONSORS'.