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07/30/2019, 10:38 PM | #1 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Lancaster PA
Posts: 405
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Where are buying livestock now.
Since the majority of the members appear to be unhappy with LiveAquaria, as I am, where do you feel is a good safe place to purchase livestock?:
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07/31/2019, 09:41 AM | #2 |
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Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Fremont, CA
Posts: 9,555
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If you are already unhappy with LiveAquaria, you will likely be even more unsatisfied with most of their competitors.
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Pairs: 4 percula, 3 P. kauderni, 3 D. excisus, 1 ea of P. diacanthus, S. splendidus, C. altivelis O. rosenblatti, D. janssi, S. yasha & a Gramma loreto trio 3 P. diacanthus. 2 C. starcki Current Tank Info: 200 gal 4 tank system (40x28x24 + 40B + 40B sump tank + 20g refugium) + 30x18x18 mixed reef + 20g East Pacific biotop + 20g FW +... |
07/31/2019, 03:38 PM | #3 | |
SALTWATER since '73
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Katonah, NY/ San Fernando Ca./ Sea Isle City NJ
Posts: 6,210
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Quote:
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______________________________________ Jan. '11 TOTM Manhattan Reefs Current Tank Info: 500g & 200g acrylic DTs/2 separate reef systems |
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07/31/2019, 03:38 PM | #4 |
Moving on Up
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Southern NJ
Posts: 5,167
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07/31/2019, 03:39 PM | #5 |
Moving on Up
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Southern NJ
Posts: 5,167
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Where are buying livestock now.
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07/31/2019, 06:29 PM | #6 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: NW Indiana Valparaiso
Posts: 505
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Are you kidding about not finding decent Frags? How about Jason Fox for one? The list of extremely professional & passionate reefers that sell online is long..................I often rescue (ill call it that), corals from my LFS,s that surround me due to the fact they all starve their corals so i buy them skinny & shrunk down & take a lot of fun & pride bringing them back to a noteworthy growth status again, its 1/2 the fun! Never thought id hear about not having someplace to find quality frags let alone run of the mill ones may have to pay a tad more but....... , LOL. Really?
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07/31/2019, 06:33 PM | #7 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: NW Indiana Valparaiso
Posts: 505
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Tidal gardens is another great place to shop.
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07/31/2019, 07:00 PM | #8 | |
Registered Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Fremont, CA
Posts: 9,555
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Quote:
The "regular" part of LiveAquaria has always been just an online retail outlet for Quality Marine ("California Facility") and ORA ("Florida Facility") and all the fish, inverts, and corals bought through LiveAquaria were always directly shipped from those independent suppliers. So if the LiveAquaria livestock quality went down then it is actually the fault of QM and ORA. The only LiveAquaria facility that is under full Petco control is Diver's Den. Customer support may of course be a different story, but so far, despite some issues, I find it still the best I have dealt with so far.
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Pairs: 4 percula, 3 P. kauderni, 3 D. excisus, 1 ea of P. diacanthus, S. splendidus, C. altivelis O. rosenblatti, D. janssi, S. yasha & a Gramma loreto trio 3 P. diacanthus. 2 C. starcki Current Tank Info: 200 gal 4 tank system (40x28x24 + 40B + 40B sump tank + 20g refugium) + 30x18x18 mixed reef + 20g East Pacific biotop + 20g FW +... |
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07/31/2019, 07:48 PM | #9 |
Bubbletrousing
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Posts: 1,872
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Nothing beats LA's warranty.
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07/31/2019, 08:36 PM | #10 |
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Alabama
Posts: 2,912
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Divers Den is number one, Blue Zoo can be very good too.
If you buy from LA, it is just a drop shipment from Quality Marine, no one else to blame. Did you look at getting a generator first? I saw that you lost your fish to power outage, sorry, that really hurts.
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OK, but where does the meat go! ------------------------------------------------ 120g SPS, 125g mix, 56g FOWLR, 20g qt |
08/01/2019, 02:11 AM | #11 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 28
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Another vote for TSM corals.
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08/02/2019, 07:07 AM | #12 |
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Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 1,765
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Petco bought Dr. Foster and Smith/liveaquaria in November of 2014, almost five years ago. Most of the negative reviews I have seen have been people that hate petco for fish and not specific to LA itself.
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“In wine there is wisdom; in beer there is freedom, in water there is bacteria.” - Benjamin Franklin Current Tank Info: 90 gallon reef. Biocube 29 lionfish tank. Mantis tank. |
08/03/2019, 04:30 PM | #13 | |
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Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: CTX
Posts: 2,904
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Quote:
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Beware of recommendations by those who don't actually use their recommendation!! The search function actually works quite well!! Tanks:Planet Aquarium 150g LPS, Planet Aquarium 90g Softie |
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08/04/2019, 10:48 PM | #14 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 6
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I just got a great pack from live aquaria and they were in very good shape and doing well in my tank. Ymmv
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08/05/2019, 07:45 AM | #15 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 1,867
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I personally have NO complaints with Live Aquaria or Divers Den. Both have terrific customer service, the animals are packed with plenty of water, shipping is fast and 99% of the time arrives at exactly the time promised. I've bought a lot of nice things from them. Yes they are a bit pricier than some places, but you get a fabulous guarantee. Do they have everything I'd like to get? Nope, but then no one does.
And if you had any idea how many DOA's suppliers/retailers get, you'd understand the pricing. I've bought boxes of corals from over seas in the past only to have 2-3 survivors. And since MOST of the price is your shipping costs, even if the seller guarantees stuff, you'll get back 50-100 bucks at best in most cases. Granted, I've bought more than once and had several successful deliveries with no losses, but it only takes ONE to hurt, especially if you're only buying ONE box.
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"The good thing about science is that it's true whether you believe it or not." Neil deGrasse Tyson Current Tank Info: 90 gallon reef tank |
08/06/2019, 04:42 AM | #16 |
Moved on
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Coastal Texas
Posts: 16,000
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I got a lot of animal from LA. Not so much from DD unless there are significant discount. That is becasue I am cheap. the two week warranty is second to none. I recently got two Gigas clams, one Derasa, one Maxima (all ORA). I am getting 3 flame angel that should arrive Wednesday. I got 2 Flame Fairy Wrasses recently that did not make it, but they refund the full amount of money, including shipping (since I shipped for free).
Rarely, I get sub standard fish from LA, either they died and I get refund or I was able to nurse them back to health. Due to the warranty, I rarely MO fish from somebody else. If I get a fish to live for 2 weeks, they will live a long time under my care.
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Minh My homepage is my album here at Reef Central Current Tank Info: Reboot 320 anemones reef. Angels: Yellow Chest Regal(2), Flame (2). Copperband But. Tangs: Yellow, Purple. Wrasse: about 20 wrasses various species. Anemones: Giantea X4 (Breen, Blue, Purple and Multicolors), Haddoni X1 Red, Magnifica X1 Purpletip |
08/06/2019, 05:45 AM | #17 |
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Zuehl, Texas
Posts: 4,460
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NO1Bubba hopefully the team didn't scare you off but although LA and DD are not perfect, they are pretty close. The Petco connection has not not hurt them, they still ship out great fish most of the time. Missing in this picture is my second flame and sub adult blueface. Except for the wrasses, everything else came from LA (Black Tang came from DD) Sorry about the look of my tank, I just recently tore it apart to get two purple tangs out that came from NYA that are being re-homed.
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08/06/2019, 07:35 AM | #18 |
Bubbletrousing
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Posts: 1,872
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Ive always done LA. I just placed my first order from saltwaterfish.com ever.
I miss reefer madness..lol
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Waterbox Peninsula 5526 l Ecotech Radion XR30w G4 l Ecotech Vectra M1 l MP40QDW l Vertex Omega 180i l Tunze ATO l Apex Fusion l DOS l Trident l Ice Cap Scrubber |
08/06/2019, 12:22 PM | #19 | |
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Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Lancaster PA
Posts: 405
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Quote:
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08/08/2019, 06:07 AM | #20 |
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Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Surprise, AZ
Posts: 6
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It’s hard to buy from a place when they are always sold out of fish. Many places I look at other than live aquaria are always sold out.
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08/08/2019, 07:10 AM | #21 |
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Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Glocester, RI
Posts: 3,336
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My build thread: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2548422 Current Tank Info: 65 gallon mixed reef, Eshopps sump and HOB overflow, RO-110int skimmer, Reefbreeder 32" photons V1. |
08/08/2019, 08:14 AM | #22 | |
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Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Lancaster PA
Posts: 405
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Quote:
Can’t even find a few fighting Conchs that are more than 3/4”. |
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08/08/2019, 09:06 AM | #23 |
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Wichita KS
Posts: 2,621
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I buy corals mostly from local hobbyists. I ask my local LFS to bring in a fish I want and keep it in the shipper's bag. I try to be very specific about what I want and don't crab too much about price. Once it arrives, I look at it and if acceptable, I take it home to QT. If it isn't acceptable, I leave it for the LFS to sell to someone else. It doesn't always work out. Sometimes the fish just isn't available or the fish that arrives doesn't meet my needs. I ask that it be kept in the shipper's bag to isolate the fish from the LFS's system. One less variable to worry about.
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John, Current Tank Info: In-process, 90 Gallon SPS Reef |
08/08/2019, 02:30 PM | #24 | |
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Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: NW Indiana Valparaiso
Posts: 505
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Quote:
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Montipora Digitas, Cyphastrea, Blastos, different Leptoseris, Green Stylo, GSP, gorgonions, Ricordea mushrooms, psammocoras, Birdsnest coral, Clownfish, Watchman goby, Royal gamma. Current Tank Info: Nano Reef tank |
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08/08/2019, 03:55 PM | #25 |
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Alabama
Posts: 2,912
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https://www.kpaquatics.com/product/fighting-conch/
This is a good store. I've ordered many times. Supposedly they keep inverts and fish in separate systems.
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OK, but where does the meat go! ------------------------------------------------ 120g SPS, 125g mix, 56g FOWLR, 20g qt |
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