Where to buy my fish
- Thread starter moneymm
- Start date
Always popular and most around here have had overall good success with them.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/
http://www.liveaquaria.com/
because of the quality or b/c the selection is better than the LFS?
You can ask your lfs to order specific fish for you: this saves on shipping, bigtime. There's a big book of marine fish---your lfs may have it. Pay attention to adult max size. They DO grow that big and will die early after killing their tankmates if your tank is too small.
Online shippers will send overnight air, fastest express, for a standard charge, which is not cheap. Don't order in deep winter and bad weather in your area. Winter is just hard to get fish in safely. This would be a time to rely on your lfs, who probably has an understanding with their regular driver that their freight needs earliest delivery to avoid problems of cold.
Online shippers will send overnight air, fastest express, for a standard charge, which is not cheap. Don't order in deep winter and bad weather in your area. Winter is just hard to get fish in safely. This would be a time to rely on your lfs, who probably has an understanding with their regular driver that their freight needs earliest delivery to avoid problems of cold.
Ive bought all my fish from them and they have come in healthy and as advertised. I dont have as much experience as some around here but L.A is always a popular spot to buy online.
Regardless of where you get the fish from remember to quarantine all fish IMO for at least 6 weeks. You can do a few fish together at once, just make sure they stay in the QT for the same amount of time and dont bring in one here and one a week later. Each new fish starts the 6 week ticker. If you want to fully commit to the QT make sure each fish is QT'd for 3 months.
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wooden_reefer
New member
For fish, I never buy online.
The individual matters in terms of health and beauty.
The individual matters in terms of health and beauty.
m0nkie
Well-known member
depends where you live... I'd prefer LFS just because you can see the fish, it's behaviors, and less stress in acclimation.
I live in Los Angeles.. we have tons of LFS around with quality fish. I bought all my fish at LFS at a fraction of Liveaquaria's price and no shipping.. the ones I cannot find, my LFS can order. You won't get all the fish you want right away, but they come eventually.. (for a pair of premium Snowflake Ocellaris, web sell for $250... our LFS sell for $60)
a lot of folks here have no access to LFS beside Petco, so they depend on website orders.
I live in Los Angeles.. we have tons of LFS around with quality fish. I bought all my fish at LFS at a fraction of Liveaquaria's price and no shipping.. the ones I cannot find, my LFS can order. You won't get all the fish you want right away, but they come eventually.. (for a pair of premium Snowflake Ocellaris, web sell for $250... our LFS sell for $60)
a lot of folks here have no access to LFS beside Petco, so they depend on website orders.
edinphilly
New member
Is there a local reef club in your area? If so they likely have their own sub-forum in reef central. You may find someone local who breeds, or at the least local people who can tell you which stores to go to and which to avoid.
SGT_York
New member
buying a lot of fish at once online is a great tool. the above are all great their fish seem to be better quality than LFS in terms of health but that is highly subjective and just my experience. buying just a few fish LFS is much more economical. for just a pair of clowns a LFS is your best bet.
Size is also a factor you can't see the sizes unless identified on their website so If you order a I.E. shrimp it may be tiny.
Size is also a factor you can't see the sizes unless identified on their website so If you order a I.E. shrimp it may be tiny.
shesacharmer
New member
No local fish stores near me...within one hour...and those which exist in the state have no guarantee on livestock period. Liveaquaria and Bluezoo both have excellent guarantees and stand behind their customer service. For me, it was a no brainer.
After having just placed my first online order from Live Aquaria, I can now comment on both approaches. My LA order went great, and I now have a carberryi anthias and a blue star leopard wrasse -- neither are fish I've ever seen at a LFS. However, I also ordered a starry blenny that didn't make it more than 1 day. Poor guy was lethargic when he arrived, and I'm assuming the shipping stress did him in.
Went to the LFS the next day and picked out a starry blenny (because I'm already doing TT on the anthias I wanted to have a second fish in there to take advantage of it). Got to see the blenny eat and swim around -- and actually the store had 3 that we got to choose between. It was a much more enjoyable process, as it has been with all of the other fish I have previously purchased from the LFS.
So, yeah, LFS gets my vote for any of the common fish that you can find there. OTOH, LA is a fantastic vendor, refunded my money for the blenny right away, and I am happy with my overall purchase. Just realized that I really like to see my fish in person before I buy, and will probably only shop online for fish that are hard to source locally, and will use Diver's Den whenever possible.
Went to the LFS the next day and picked out a starry blenny (because I'm already doing TT on the anthias I wanted to have a second fish in there to take advantage of it). Got to see the blenny eat and swim around -- and actually the store had 3 that we got to choose between. It was a much more enjoyable process, as it has been with all of the other fish I have previously purchased from the LFS.
So, yeah, LFS gets my vote for any of the common fish that you can find there. OTOH, LA is a fantastic vendor, refunded my money for the blenny right away, and I am happy with my overall purchase. Just realized that I really like to see my fish in person before I buy, and will probably only shop online for fish that are hard to source locally, and will use Diver's Den whenever possible.
fearyaks
New member
Monkie - question - which LFS do you go to in Los Angeles? I know of the 'top three' - Vivid, Jim's and Age. Am I missing any I should check out? (such as the LFS which sells the snowflakes for $60)?
To answer OP's post - I've also had great success with Live Aquaria. Also done an order through Blue Zoo and those fish are in the QT now (but so far, so good).
I went in and talked to my shipping company since I live outside their delivery area and would rely on them phoning me to pick up a shipment as soon as it arrived. It set my mind at ease just knowing what their process was. You could enquire where on the deliver route you lie, etc. Even being able to shorten shipping time by 4-6 hours must be of benefit to the critters in bags being shipped.
m0nkie
Well-known member
well I'm near Orange County.. there's tons of shops there, each having their own unique stuff..
but I HIGHLY recommend Ellis Aquatics in Compton. it's a garage shop, but they have just about everything at the cheapest price. Each week has different stuff. I picked up clams, anemones, starfish, corals and fish.. all doing great in my tank. https://www.facebook.com/EllisAquatics
I found the clownfish in a store called Happy Fish Pets. a very small store, not a lot of selection. But his fish are healthier. Owner is an old Chinese man. really cares about his fish. He always carry a pair of snowflake clowns http://www.yelp.com/biz/happy-fish-pets-brea
Brea Tropical Fish has a few selections.. Mike gets a nice variety of fish weekly.. not much coral, mainly fish http://www.yelp.com/biz/breas-tropical-fish-and-pets-brea
Pasadena Tropical Fish has a huge selection of fish and corals weekly.. I always find carpet anemones and rare fish here. http://www.yelp.com/biz/pasadena-tropical-fish-pasadena
Ocean Marine Sales. small local fish store right next to my house. (only place in LA I know of that carries Nutramar Ova
if you ever have picky eaters. give them a call to order some) I try not to hype this store too much.. I go once a month to clear out their inventory of Nutramar. They also have live brine and live pods.. http://www.yelp.com/biz/ocean-marine-sales-covina
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