Best coral buying websites?
- Thread starter Max H.
- Start date
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Anthony Scholfield
Valuable Member
I would search here on the R2R selling forum and buy from other hobbiests.
MNFish
Valuable Member
I have 4 orders so far from AquaSD and every time have been impressed. The pictures match what you get and the frags are always larger than expected. I have done other live sales but theirs are the best managed and lest gimmicky in my opinion. They also send a freebie with every box....
Anthony Scholfield
Valuable Member
HA ya beat me to it!! Lol
ATAquariums
Active Member
Do you know what kind of stuff you are interested in, or budget?
MaxTremors
2500 Club Member
If your budget is 100, you’re not going to get a lot buying online, shipping will eat up a third to half of that. Coral.coṃ is a reputable online vendor (I’ve ordered from them 3 times with no issues) with cheap shipping (I think it’s either $25 or $30) and free shipping if you spend $150.
OP
OP
Max H.
Active Member
I meant up to 100 for each coral
rtparty
2500 Club Member
I've recently bought from Tidal Gardens and AquaSD during their sales. Tidal Gardens stuff came in amazing with zero issues. I'd give TG an A-. Prices were slightly high IMO and I didn't love the live sale format. It was fun but looking back I'll wait for the sale to end and just pick up stuff. Trying to snipe the $5 and $10 stuff was a waste of time in the end. My time is more valuable than wasting those hours.
AquaSD gets a B from me. Frags were small, freshly cut and one died overnight. Customer service was amazing though and they're sending me a replacement coral on my next order. On the plus side, their prices were way better than TG. They also didn't have nearly as many stupid names.
I plan to try out Battlecorals at some point soon.
I'm opposite the posters above. I avoid local because I know 95% of them have pests I don't care to deal with. The better online vendors QT their stuff heavily.
AquaSD gets a B from me. Frags were small, freshly cut and one died overnight. Customer service was amazing though and they're sending me a replacement coral on my next order. On the plus side, their prices were way better than TG. They also didn't have nearly as many stupid names.
I plan to try out Battlecorals at some point soon.
I'm opposite the posters above. I avoid local because I know 95% of them have pests I don't care to deal with. The better online vendors QT their stuff heavily.
Haha well then do i have some deals for you!!
Just joking. Especially being new i would suggest staying away from live sales. They are largely overpriced marked up corals put on a fake "sale". The good deals will be gone before you know you wanted it..... Other hobbyists are good option. I would suggest buying cheaper corals initially though if you are new. Get a handful of moderately priced frags and see how they do first.
define "best"
Before I found a local LFS I trust and love, I shopped at the following online sites:
- LiveAquaria.com - Okay. Well packaged, and healthy specimens. Concerned about their size as a company.
- UniqueCorals.com - Better. Not too fancy of shipping , but healthy specimens and selection and competitive prices. Good customer relations
- TidalGardens - Best. Considers transit route weather before shipping, great customer relations, nice selection, best packaging that clearly tries to protect specimens. Than seems to care allot about his operation and posts detailed care guide videos on the listing pages of specimens as well as on YouTube. Free shipping with orders over 250$.
- AustinAquaFarms
- Zoanthids.com
- Corals.com
monkeyCmonkeyDo
7500 Club Member
Cherry corals.
D
D
monkeyCmonkeyDo
7500 Club Member
Sexy corals.
Both used to be pretty high end about 5yrs ago. Lol!
Dosent seem that way anymore though.
D
Both used to be pretty high end about 5yrs ago. Lol!
Dosent seem that way anymore though.
D
Opus
2500 Club Member
Honestly I think local frag swaps are the best way. If you are paying cash and buying more than 1 or 2 corals from a vendor then you can make some great deals. Unfortunately swaps are still hard to find. We had our first local one about 6 weeks ago, first one in about a year.
Depends on what you are calling a softie on where to shop. If you are looking for zoas, then zoanthids.com is great. Brandon knows his stuff and makes a lot of the frag swaps. If you are wanting leathers then there isn't much to choose from other than marinefarmers.
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