Safe place to buy reef fish

Do not assume that any online vendor, including DD quarantines. It is just not the case.

We treat fish with multiple medications, but I still QT all of our personal fish :)

Don't trust anyone but myself to QT fish. Call me paranoid...
 
Some people have bad experiences. It happens. I've received fish that were in bad shape and required a credit from LA. I hope it works out well for you. Let us know how it goes

Got the order in today. All alive on arrival. Did the drip acclimation and now they are in the tank. They are a bit sluggish, most have been hiding
 
Do you treat all fish or only when showing signs? And what do you use?

All fish are treated with general medication during acclimation and in the fish systems.

Then remove fish to QT if anything visible is seen that needs further attention.

Still you need to QT everything regardless of what they have been treated with. We're not individually treating fish for 4-6 weeks and giving each fish the attention they would get in your home QT system.

I personally QT all our fish for 6-9 weeks after they get to our house :)
 
All fish are treated with general medication during acclimation and in the fish systems.



Then remove fish to QT if anything visible is seen that needs further attention.



Still you need to QT everything regardless of what they have been treated with. We're not individually treating fish for 4-6 weeks and giving each fish the attention they would get in your home QT system.



I personally QT all our fish for 6-9 weeks after they get to our house :)


Yeah I qt everything at my house regardless, I was just curious what your protocol was.

To the op, glad all the fish came in alive! Good luck with them
 
In the past year, i have ordered from:

LA
Divers Den
Petco.com
Coral Imports
BlueZoo

and all were acceptable, however none were without issues.
 
Got the order in today. All alive on arrival. Did the drip acclimation and now they are in the tank. They are a bit sluggish, most have been hiding

Glad they arrived alive. For future reference, drip acclimation can actually cause more harm than good for mail-order livestock. Best to match your QT salinity to that of the transport bag. Then, just float the unopened bag for 20 minutes to temperature acclimate, and release the fish into the QT.
 
Glad they arrived alive. For future reference, drip acclimation can actually cause more harm than good for mail-order livestock. Best to match your QT salinity to that of the transport bag. Then, just float the unopened bag for 20 minutes to temperature acclimate, and release the fish into the QT.

I was wondering that. I have never tried it before an the drip kit came with the fish so I thought id try it. Next time I think i'll just float em
 
I was wondering that. I have never tried it before an the drip kit came with the fish so I thought id try it. Next time I think i'll just float em

Well, no. Blue Zoo ships at SG about 1.017 so your receiving water must be the same SG.
 
I've ordered all most of my fish from Live aquaria except of yesterday's two blue chin triggers.
For the most part really happy no sick fish had one wrasse come so beat from shipping it was dead 1hr after. Every thing else was pretty nicely packaged. But sometimes since its a big site before I could get my $225 free shipping the fish I what is gone since someone else buys it. Just sometimes wish they would get more in stock of the rares.
 
Most online livestock retailers keep their SG around 1.017. I have a C. exquisitus from LiveAquaria in QT right now, and it arrived in a SG of 1.018. One exception is Diver's Den, which is at 1.025 typically.
 
Yeap our water for fish is around 1.020.

Coral 1.025-1.026.

Really no need to waste money on salt for fish only systems.
 
Yeap our water for fish is around 1.020.

Coral 1.025-1.026.

Really no need to waste money on salt for fish only systems.

Which is why most LFS and online vendors do it. The side benefit, however, is it is easier for fish to osmoregulate at about 1.017.
 
Steve,
Would you mind elaborating on not using the drip method. I always thought you had to use the drip method to avoid ph shock.
Thanks,
Myles
 
Steve,
Would you mind elaborating on not using the drip method. I always thought you had to use the drip method to avoid ph shock.
Thanks,
Myles

Simply place your fish in the same SG water as it was shipped in after temperature acclimation in the bag for 15 minutes. For those doing tank transfer, simply have the first tank at the same SG as the shipping water.
 
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