Where to order rare/unique inverts?

[mndfreeze]

I'm a bit of a weird animal lover.  Fish are boring IMO so I tend to keep strange things like Mantis shrimp, for example.

 

Anyway, it seems all the LFS's here all carry the same generic inverts you can get anywhere else.  Does anyone know of a place that carries more oddball or rare inverts?  

 

Also does anyone know where I can order seeder life?  Micro brittles, bristle worms, etc?  I started with mostly base and cured live rock that basically had no life on it.  Certainly there has to be a company out there that sells the sort of good hitch hikers people want,without the risk of picking up the bad ones from a local reefer or something.

[Red_Blenny]

Liveaquaria Diver's Den has some unique inverts that pops up once in awhile.

 

KP Aquatics would be my second choice.

 

For seeder life, this website instantly popped up in my head: http://www.ipsf.com 

 

[mndfreeze]

Ugh, I checked ispf, ultra expensive for very little.  I guess if no one else knows of any other more affordable places I'll just have to harass the locals and hope for the best.

[RayWhisperer]

Try Tampa bay saltwater. You can get a pound of sand loaded with life. You can also ask for some inverts. They will usually look for you on a dive. I’m sure gulf live rock would do the same, if asked.

 

another that comes to mind, though a bit more expensive, is gulf specimen marine lab. They’ve got crap loads of unique inverts.

 

[mndfreeze]

Yeah, I've ordered from Tampa Bay years ago when I ran a tank.  The problem with them is Richard doesn't do small orders really.  I can order a pound of sand but air freight has a minimum 100lb charge order haha.  So it will be the most expensive pound of sand ever.  The first thing I did was hop on RC and ask him haha.

 

I'll check out gulf live rock and the marine lab one. thanks!

[BustytheSnowMaam]

SealifeInc has mantises.  

[OPtasia]

@RayWhisperer's suggestion of Gulf Marine Lab is a good one. They stock a lot of oddball stuff. We've been planning to get over there in person in the next few weeks. They regularly stock limpets and chitons and I want a few for our tank. 

[mndfreeze]

Yeah I went through and checked their stock.  Looks good just really expensive.  Worth it for something on the rarer side though!

[Tamberav]

Contact these guys and see if they are still collecting/selling, maybe not much is up right now due to season. I got stars and sea grass from them years ago.

 

http://floridapets.com/

[Tamberav]

Also bluezoo has a nice collection of mantis shrimp and inverts. Sign up for the email list, they do pop up eventually.

[mndfreeze]

Yeah I'm not sure if I want to get another mantis or not.  I really loved the one I have but it severely limits me on what other inverts I can have.  At this point I think I'm going to go for more a general community reef tank.  

 

Thanks for the links.  If anyone comes up with any more do post em!