GRADE THEM! Do they get an A+ or an F- or somewhere in between?

[MnFish1]

So sick of it all I am considering just getting out completely. Sick of the hobbyists and the vendors price gouging and as you mentioned bugger-sized frags (not that I am in need of anything). Everyone has the right to do as they please. But like you they will not get my money due to their practices.

Fish sales are the worst. Every vendor should only ship a fish if it is eating period!!!!! At least at that point we would have a much higher success rate to keep them alive.

Its maybe the best decision for you.... I dont know about price gouging. If anything - the internet environment allows everyone to choose with whom they want to do business

 

[ChrisB4]

I ordered from three different online vendors (fish, inverts, macro algae) this summer. I had mostly good experiences. My main complaint (with mostly one vendor) is packaging. They used inadequate packaging and ice packs, so my overnight delivery in the summer arrived warm and water from the macro algae had leaked everywhere. I'm probably not going to order from them again. The two companies I'd give an "A" are KP Aquatics and Seahorse Savvy. Great packaging and fish and inverts arrived healthy and all survived.

 

[spiraling]

I don't think its fair to lump them all together. It's like saying hey, how do you rate reefers in general? There are too many who do different things, different ways, some are successful, some are not, some are caring, some are not.

I have ordered online quite a bit. There are very few (but they are there) A's
One in particular F (total rip off)
Many in between, and those can change their ratings based on so many factors (selection, size, price, pests, specific experience with a product, etc)

 

[vetteguy53081]

I’d say a B. I think that frags are def shrinking in size. I’ve received a few frags recently that were tiny compared to the pic. I’ve only had two DOA’s. As for packing the venders that use the specimen cups for corals instead of bags get a huge A.

The last time i ordered frags, I couldn’t believe the size which about the dimensions of a jelly bean. Now try try placing that in a 660 gallon system and see how small it really looks !!

 

[Dolphins18]

I feel a lot of vendors who post wysiwyg corals use applications which make the colors appear to "pop" a lot more than they really do. Tons of small online vendors that sell corals do this all the time. I like to see things in person.

 

[Reefman71]

I gave it an A. I live in the middle of nowhere so I have no choice and I’ve come to find many of them are very reputable and easy to work with. I’ve even bought things from here and have been really happy with it. Online is where it’s at. Especially for me I don’t have an LFS within three hours

 

[Pistol Peet]

I give it a b as there are still problems with shipping i have ordered from multiple online vendors only 1 or 2 DOA always was refunded. Except when it came to shipping delays which are a huge pain in the butt. Had another 1 or 2 DOA DUE TO SHIPPING 1 of which actually refunded was very pleased as its not there fault once it leaves the store. I will however give an a+ to a few select for there very awsome service Algee barn A+ WWC A+ TOP SHELF A+... SHOUT OUT AND THANKS FOR THE ABOVE AND BEYOND ATTENTION TO DETAIL WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE AND PROVIDING SOMEVOFVTHE VERY BEST THE INDUSTRY HAS TO OFFER. IN MY OPINION. Definitely recommend

 

[BrandonS]

Corals or fish? I think we do well with coral not so much with fish.

 

[aalhait]

I’ve been ordering online for more than 25 years. Liveaquaria was my main source and still is the main source. But I’ve added a few vendors over the years. Cherry Corals. WWC TSA caliKid to name a few. I’ve been more than delighted from all of them. I give an A grade because every once in a while I do get DOA but I usually get credit back especially from LiveAquaria which I trust. But in the past year or two they’ve gotten more annoying red-tape in getting credit back

Still better than any local shop here and cheaper.

 

[stephen wyard]

I do not buy fish online because of the shipping.They will guarantee live arrival but if it is just kicking a little they say its your fault.I only buy corals online and the vender I use does a great job.

 

[BlennyTime]

I feel a lot of vendors who post wysiwyg corals use applications which make the colors appear to "pop" a lot more than they really do. Tons of small online vendors that sell corals do this all the time. I like to see things in person.

This got me a few times when I started ordering online this year. I’m much more careful about where I order from now, and the questions I ask.

 

[Bob Escher]

I have had my tank for 7 years. Have had two accidents where I lost six fish each time due to my fault. ( two years apart ) never have had a desease in the tank. I’ve never ordered a fish online. Have ordered inverts though.
my LFS has been great . The last year they started a 28 day QT program. With copper and other treatments. But before that they were doing a great job as well.
but I would bring fish home and put them in Hydroplex.
maybe that’s been my luck.
have been tempted to buy from liveaquria but also shy becau of shipping prices

 

[wolfthefallen]

I have done a lot of online ordering due to my location not having a LFS.

Tidal Gardens, WWC, AquaSD, AlgaeBarn, LiveAquaria (Done Fish only for LiveAquaria), Reef Cleaners.. Have done a fantastic job on shipping and only have lost one coral and one fish due to the stress of shipping then a new tank.

Clean up orders have been a little rougher, I always loose some snails.. I think alot of the snails I loose is due to my hermit crabs declaring and easy meal while they are still weak and in a dormant state from shipping and being out of water for a couple of days.

 

[smallfry]

Today let's hand out some grades! The quiz has been taken now let's see if they passed!

What the heck am I talking about? Today let's talk about OVERALL ONLINE LIVESTOCK orders. Fish, coral, snails anything living what grade would you give them? So I know you might be ready to grade each individual online vendor but today I was thinking about grading them as a whole, as ordering livestock online overall.

1. If you were to give a grade to the whole class of online vendors, what would you grade them?

2. What kinds of things impact the grades positively and negatively?

3. What has vendors done to get an extra credit grade with you?

**Please don't call out any vendors as this is not what this is about and we want the discussion to stay on topic! Thanks.

I started my tank once this pandemic hit, so I have only ever order my gear and livestock online. I actually have no experience purchasing livestock from individuals or a LFS. Thus far I have purchased fish and inverts from two different vendors. One is a major online supplier, and i did receive 1 DOA fish and the packaging in most order is sub par but the fish did arrive alive (and stay alive mostly - I’ll take the blame for new tank/dead fish after a few weeks). I’ve ordered corals from three different online vendors (different vendors than whom I ordered the fish through) and have had excellent success.

I would like to call out a few vendors that provided really excellent customer service. First and foremost LuckyCoral.com was awesome. I ordered a couple torches from them and they texted me along the way with the process. They bumped up my delivery date, they told me what good specimens the corals I ordered were, they followed up the next day to ensure the corals were OK, etc. It was white glove service all the way, I really appreciate that.

The other two online vendors that are definitely worth calling out due to excellent experience is bluezooaquatics (for fish from them) and SDCoral (excellent deal on super healthy corals). I also got some amazingly colored zoas from zoanthids.com which have been thriving in my tank.

Yes, it’s all super expensive that with every order there is a $30 overnight shipping fee and most have a $10 box fee, however I knew that going into this and deciding to only order online. The most expensive part was when i started ordering fish, because I added them little by little so those shipping costs added up. Especially when I can’t seem to keep Banggai Cardinals alive for more than a few weeks.

SC

 

[H3rm1tCr@b]

I've only ever ordered from one place: TBS. It was absolutely perfect. The creatures look impeccable, they through in extras, everything had water, and there were very few if no leaks! I ordered rock, some sand to seed the substrate, and a decorator crab. Man, the biodiversity is fantastic! There are tons of barnacles, clams, a turkey wing, etc. that have lived and are thriving. Since I haven't ordered anything else anywhere else, I think I may be a bit biased, but from the research I've done on other saltwater websites, a lot of them are at least decent.

 

[tweeter]

I have probably bought somewhere around 30-40 coral/fish/inverts online. I made sure to do some research first but have only had 1 negative incident. Not totally sure I can blame the vendor either. It was probably something that happened in shipping. Anyway, the majority of my purchases were from @WWC and @AquaSD. Everything was bagged and secured well. I would recommend them to anyone inquiring.

Me to!

 

[Anthony Scholfield]

At work and will elaborate more later but the grade I determined is based on a few factors:

- Smaller size than shown and I believe many vendors are progressively making frags smaller and smaller while charging market price
- coloration. I understand that photoshop is more common and filters used to sharpen contrasts but by golly, show the customer what they’re getting for their hard earned money. If you’re using certain lights- perhaps mention lights used for photos
- if youre going to put on a sale and offer a discount.....OFFER A DISCOUNT!! We are much smarter than vendors realize when they jack up prices, then offer a discount. We didn’t just fall off a turnip wagon and lost our memory as to how much that same piece was 1-2-3 weeks ago
- stop sending us aptasia, red bugs and plugs with some sort of eggs on them!!
- quit blaming high prices on COVID . We get it that shipping has gone up but to take advantage and add 25-50% ; not my money which none have seen for at least 6 months.

Agree with this and just wanted to bring it back to the front in hopes maybe vendors will take note. I don’t support vendors, just my fellow hobbiests.

 

[toadstool_paradise]

I’ve ordered a decent amount of soft corals and all of them have arrived live and well. Ordered a fish once arrived DOA. Have ordered from various vendors but I would have to say A+ to @TopShelfAquatics as the packaging is superb! They come with plenty of water and in a cup to prevent them from being squished in the bag or bumping around. My favorite packing from any vendor so far!

 

[tweeter]

I have been reefing for the past 9 years, and I would say that 98 percent of my tank is from online vendors. That includes fish, corals, equipment, inverts, I guess everything. I have purchased from probably 12 different places, and I would have to say that I have not really had a bad experience, other than from UPS and FedEx!! UPS has been spot on for about the last couple of years though.

 

[mike550]

I haven't bought a lot online and only have experience with LiveAquaria and WWC for livestock. I've been relying more on LFS since it's easier for me to see what I want to buy. That said, my experiences haven't been good or bad -- although WWC was very helpful in the pre-sale process.

I'm also a newbie so I'm not looking for certain exotic / hard to find species of fish and corals that might be hard to find locally.