Anyone ever use Fingerlakes Live Rock?

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Dratini

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I just got two black and white ocellaris clowns with what was supposed to be a bubble tip anemone. Ended up with a heteractus aurora. Sent them an email a couple days ago but no reply yet. Was wondering if anyone else had any experiences with them.
 
I'm positive of my ID. Knew instantly, Reddish blotching on foot. Green Patterning on oral disc. Slight beading of tentacles. He's resting on a large live rock right now but I may move him to the sand so he can dig in and get comfortable.
 
Never ever use fllr

Never ever use fllr

I did a lot of orders with them... maybe like 4? and they never really fully completed my orders. Some fish were missing, or they were outta stock, and half the time the livestock came dead. I was in charge of some group buys, and it's a pain to tell ppl that their stuff came dead. The guy, Josh Goodman, doesn't even have a store. He calls places like Sea Dwelling Creatures and other wholesalers, buys them from them via plane, and then DRIVES them to you. They've never been quarantined or placed in a tank other than the ocean. NEVER EVER use Finger Lakes Live Rock. Please spread this to everyone you know. I almost went into a lawsuit with them for having false advertisement.

On the other hand... completely random. But does anyone have some of Todd's Torch? I have a nice collection of torches, but todd's would complete it :)
 
Never dealt with them personally, but (IIRC) I've heard good things from RC member Aww_419. Pecman- Everyone is looking for Todd's, good luck!
 
I have ordered from him as well a few times. I paid for everything upfront and when he brought the items, half were missing or dead.. He still has not replaced these items or issued me a refund, and this was like 6-8 months ago. He now ignores my emails and phone calls and I cannot get ahold of him... Avoid this guy!!!
 
it's a no-brainer!

it's a no-brainer!

if a person knows how the supply chain works and especially because of the goods being handled in this case (ie:living animals) I don't know why anyone would go through a retailer that doesn't hold the animals once they arrive.

what good is it to save a few bucks to get a sickly animal or (worse yet) the wrong animal? (Misidentification and fillers often happen in this hobby.)

Livestock for the reef aquarium trade is best purchased through an established LFS with QT/ holding facilities and an ongoing relationship with the big wholesalers.

Let your LFS deal with DOA's and fillers.
This gives the consumer the chance to go and pick out healthy and properly identified livestock at a LFS.
Using a service like FLLR screws all the serious reefkeepers and LFS's in our area. DUH!
 
Well it seams like these guys actually have good customer service because today they got a hold of my friend whom I ordered through and intend on making good with my purchase. I have to say that I'm at least going to be satisfied with my service.
 
Nothing beats a lfs all day long. Consider this. If all we had to deal with is drop shippers the hobby would not be as strong as it is in this area. I don't mind paying more to get the personal attention i get from the stores in our area. good luck to you.
 
I use LFS quite a bit. Just wanted to try these guys out and see how their stock was.
where does FLLR get their livestock?

(it's the same livestock that's available to a LFS!)

What happens if the fish you order through FLLR arrives sickly?
What happens if you get the wrong type of fish?

(Compare to what would happen if your LFS received same).

What ended up happening to the Heteractus aurora anemone that you received instead of the BTA?
 
I bought 50 lbs of Tukani live rock from them when I first set up my 75G for $200 (delivered) when they were running a special. I actually received ~52 total. The rock was pest free and reasonably nice. ~30 lbs was 3 large pieces, another ~12 lbs in medium sized pieces, ~ 5 lbs was in smaller pieces that were suitable for filling spaces, the rest were smaller pieces, many nicely sized for attaching frags. I tossed about 1 lb of rubble that might have been useful in a sump but I just didn't want to deal with it. I had a few snails come in with this rock.

Before this, I had purchased ~23 lbs of Premium rock, and ~7 lbs of base rock from a LFS for $250. The premium rock was really nice rock with several clams, feather dusters & occulina. I also had 2 baby sea urchins crawl out of the rock after it was in the tank for a couple weeks. The rock from the LFS also had mojanos and aiptasia that I didn't notice when I bought it. It tooks several weeks to get them under control and I still find one of them occasionally.

Overall I was mostly satisfied with my purchase from fllr. My order was placed on a Tuesday and Josh told me he would be delivering it on Friday. He called on Thursday evening to tell me it wasn't coming. He told me he could order it for delivery the next Friday. He told me he would give me a pair of clowns and a GBTA for my inconvenience. Well, The rock arrived but the "Bonus" never did. When I asked about it at delivery I was told that the livestock never arrived and that he'd call me the following week if they came in. I never heard from him again.

The biggest drawback (and is the same for any mail order purchase) was that I couldn't hand select the pieces that I wanted, though I did get several nice pieces. I will consider purchasing from fllr in the future for nicer rock to make the base structure and hand select some from the LFS as show pieces.

I've never bought livestock from fllr and will continue to support my LFS with these types of purchases as well as food and supplies. I plan to shop around, both local and online when I purchase my next lighting system though.
 
I have nothing but good things to say about our lfs'. I think we are really lucky to have such great shops in our area. The 1 on 1 customer service is needed in this hobby. That being said I ordered my first order from fllr a year ago when trying to get a few specialty items that ive never seen in an lfs and if even possible to order through the lfs would have been far out of my brothers price range especially for such finicky specimens, so we gave fllr a shot. I was extremely impressed by the level of customer service i received from josh and he personally delivered the items (not fed ex or ups) and waited while i inspected them and everything was and is still great and saved a ton of $. This made me feel good about trying another order with him. There was one small hiccup on the second order and i was given a refund for that item on the spot. I dont know one person in this hobby that hasnt ordered something that could have been purchased at an LFS.
 
I dont know one person in this hobby that hasnt ordered something that could have been purchased at an LFS.
yes you do!

there's a big difference between ordering livestock and drygoods online. I've never ordered any livestock online. The closest I've come to an online livestock purchase was to trade/purchase corals/anemones with other reefkeepers.

I get drygoods online that aren't available at my LFS's. If it's available at my LFS I get it there.
 
i'm not a fan of wholesalers. whenever possible, i give my buisiness to lfs or locals. the better lfs will be able to speacial order at a very reasonable rate. i've had a few that will discount heavilly, if they don't have to acclimate fish in their tanks.
 
Gary, chill, we all understand the point you're trying to get across. Me using these guys and talking about my experience is no excuse for you running a crusade in my thread. I respect you as a reefer and respect your years of trials and tribulations beyond mine. I use LFS, this is the first time I used fllr, was just asking if anyone else ever used for insight on customer service. Not for a book on the subject matter.
 
I'm chill

I'm chill

my apologies.
IMO one must evaluate what's more important to them: ethical practices that sustain reefkeeping or upsetting the integrity of this thread.

The way that FLLR peddles livestock is bad for everyone and everything (ie:the reef animals) involved.

I realize that URS is an informal club and you can usually "join" simply by posting here in the URS Forum... but don't come into the kitchen without expecting some heat.

If anyone doesn't "get it" I'd be happy to take it to another thread in order not to sidetrack this one anymore.
 
fllr

fllr

i have just resently started buying from finger lakes live rock and so far i have no complants josh has been great i bought a 18" banded bamboo shark.

i had a problem with it eating what i had offered so i called josh asked him what his suppler was feeding the shark he called me right back and told me what they were feeding the shark. josh told me the closest place to get it and even offered to bring it to my house to get the shark eating.

and as for the dratini not getting an email back that was part my fault he went through me to make his order and josh had asked me to email dratini and i thought he said he did so that was my bad sorry dratini

as of right now josh is going to make right on the mix up
 
my apologies.
IMO one must evaluate what's more important to them: ethical practices that sustain reefkeeping or upsetting the integrity of this thread.

The way that FLLR peddles livestock is bad for everyone and everything (ie:the reef animals) involved.

I realize that URS is an informal club and you can usually "join" simply by posting here in the URS Forum... but don't come into the kitchen without expecting some heat.

If anyone doesn't "get it" I'd be happy to take it to another thread in order not to sidetrack this one anymore.

Ditto X2
 
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