Best Online Store for Fish

[IamJoHo]

Just getting back into the hobby and looking to pick up a few fish for my Evo. My local store has beautiful fish but are extremely expensive. What are some of the better online shops that have quality fish and good prices?

[HarryPotter]

LiveAquaria?

[seabass]

Yeah, for fish, I agree with HarryPotter; LiveAquaria is a favorite (especially LiveAquaria's WYSIWYG Diver's Den).  People also seem to like Blue Zoo Aquatics.  There are more choices when it comes to corals.

[deetu]

I ordered a Royal Gramma, snails, hermits and 3 sexy shrimp from www.liveaquaria.com.  I added a feather duster and Court Jester Goby to get free shipping.

 

The Royal Gramma was upside down in the bag and died the next day (I believe it was because the shipper put the box on porch sideways ignoring "this end up".  His bag was laying on top. I think he got stuck in a corner of the bag. I suggested to them to reverse the bags so it doesn't happen in future shipments)  Feel so bad for the guy. 

They refunded the cost.

 

The Court Jester came in sad condition which was surprising because it was captive bred. I thought that it maybe just needed to be fattened up because it's stomach was a bit recessed but at the end of the two weeks (14 day guarantee), it did not look any better.  I contacted them and they asked for a picture and all the stats on my tank.  They extended the guarantee another week.  Every time I sent an email about him, even if it was for advice, someone would quickly answer.  At their suggestion, I tried treating for internal infection.  After another week, the fish did not get better so they again refunded my money.  He died two days later.

 

I replaced the Royal Gramma at a fish store while visiting relatives but replacing a captive bred Court Jester...I wasn't going to pay $30 for shipping a new one.  I was disappointment they they did not replace the fish. 

 

That being said...

The Royal Gramma that came was healthy looking and gorgeous. 

The sexy shrimps are amazing and truly a delight.

The snails were a little smaller then advertised but growing.

The feather duster is beautiful.

They come with a 14 day guarantee.

And customer service was amazing and helpful.

 

Would I order from them again... yes.

[IamJoHo]

13 minutes ago, deetu said:

I ordered a Royal Gramma, snails, hermits and 3 sexy shrimp from www.liveaquaria.com.  I added a feather duster and Court Jester Goby to get free shipping.

 

The Royal Gramma was upside down in the bag and died the next day (I believe it was because the shipper put the box on porch sideways ignoring "this end up".  His bag was laying on top. I think he got stuck in a corner of the bag. I suggested to them to reverse the bags so it doesn't happen in future shipments)  Feel so bad for the guy. 

They refunded the cost.

 

The Court Jester came in sad condition which was surprising because it was captive bred. I thought that it maybe just needed to be fattened up because it's stomach was a bit recessed but at the end of the two weeks (14 day guarantee), it did not look any better.  I contacted them and they asked for a picture and all the stats on my tank.  They extended the guarantee another week.  Every time I sent an email about him, even if it was for advice, someone would quickly answer.  At their suggestion, I tried treating for internal infection.  After another week, the fish did not get better so they again refunded my money.  He died two days later.

 

I replaced the Royal Gramma at a fish store while visiting relatives but replacing a captive bred Court Jester...I wasn't going to pay $30 for shipping a new one.  I was disappointment they they did not replace the fish. 

 

That being said...

The Royal Gramma that came was healthy looking and gorgeous. 

The sexy shrimps are amazing and truly a delight.

The snails were a little smaller then advertised but growing.

The feather duster is beautiful.

They come with a 14 day guarantee.

And customer service was amazing and helpful.

 

Would I order from them again... yes.

I will definitely give them a try. Obviously shipping a bag of water with something living inside has its risks but I like hearing that their customer service was good and they stood behind their guarantee. 

 

Almost ordered from them this morning but to make it worth my while and get free shipping i would have been ordering 4 fish and 3 shrimp along with some hermits. Felt that it might have been a little much since the tank is a week old with online live sand and live rock that had quite a few hitchhikers. Tank levels seem good but would hate to shock the system and lose everything.

[Militant Jurist]

I typically do liveaquaria for fish and https://vividaquariums.com for coral. Vivid has fish as well, but liveaquaria usually has the better fish selection.

[Tamberav]

I use DD and LA a fair amount, sometimes fish show up DOA, and sometimes they do get disease so I use a QT for all new fish, you need a pic to get a refund and sometimes a CUC will eat it, so a QT helps prevent that also. There guarantee is what has me coming back. The captive bred ones from ORA are shipped directly from ORA and seem to do really well through the whole shipping process. It is a great way to get some clowns that will be disease free. 

 

I recently got a royal gramma as well and he was very stressed laying on the bottom of the bag but he turned right around after a day and is eating well and being a punk in QT. 

 

Be sure to check salinity... Fish from LA come in at 1.020 and DD usually 1.025ish.

[mcarroll]

On 12/27/2018 at 4:34 PM, IamJoHo said:

Just getting back into the hobby and looking to pick up a few fish for my Evo. My local store has beautiful fish but are extremely expensive. What are some of the better online shops that have quality fish and good prices?

Don't confuse "cheap" for "value".  If you have a local store offering healthy fish for sale, there's no online place that can compare – there's a good argument for patronizing your local store(s) even at prices which may seem "high".   High and low are relative terms, of course.  🙂   

 

As the buyer, you have total power in the local case....you can talk to the people caring for the fish to find every detail you need...you can observe the fish first-hand for as long as possible, etc.  You can make sure that you come home with healthy fish, no surprises.

 

By comparison....with no means to tell how the online fish was being kept or what conditions in general were like before it was packed, and with the added UPS trip to stress the fish back out like it was fresh from wholesale, you are largely powerless and really have to be ready to pamper your online fish, including possible extended stays in QT and/or hospital tanks.  An added wrinkle that makes this hurt is that you can't just come home with the 1 or 2 fish you really want when you shop online, thanks to shipping costs....or at least it doesn't make sense to.   So you end up rolling the dice and trying to acclimate and save a larger number of fish just to "save on shipping".  This increases risks across a whole range of fronts.

 

So cost comes in a lot of shapes....not just in the price on the tag.  🙂 

[IamJoHo]

4 hours ago, mcarroll said:

Don't confuse "cheap" for "value".  If you have a local store offering healthy fish for sale, there's no online place that can compare – there's a good argument for patronizing your local store(s) even at prices which may seem "high".   High and low are relative terms, of course.  🙂   

 

As the buyer, you have total power in the local case....you can talk to the people caring for the fish to find every detail you need...you can observe the fish first-hand for as long as possible, etc.  You can make sure that you come home with healthy fish, no surprises.

 

By comparison....with no means to tell how the online fish was being kept or what conditions in general were like before it was packed, and with the added UPS trip to stress the fish back out like it was fresh from wholesale, you are largely powerless and really have to be ready to pamper your online fish, including possible extended stays in QT and/or hospital tanks.  An added wrinkle that makes this hurt is that you can't just come home with the 1 or 2 fish you really want when you shop online, thanks to shipping costs....or at least it doesn't make sense to.   So you end up rolling the dice and trying to acclimate and save a larger number of fish just to "save on shipping".  This increases risks across a whole range of fronts.

 

So cost comes in a lot of shapes....not just in the price on the tag.  🙂 

Completely agree. My lfs isn’t actually as expensive as I thoughtand very healthy quality fish.  I am also starting to get to know the owner and employees a bit. Going to be most likely buying from them and a bit slower helping to also not shock the tank with a big online order.