How bad really is liveaquria

[The_ReefB0y_FOX24]

I cant beleive R2R but that in!

 

[mtraylor]

If you need fish. This is the place to go

Home | Quarantined Fish

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see videos of livestock! https://www.youtube.com/@drreefsquarantinedfish Enjoy the best quality Healthy Livestock QT&#03 ...

drreefsquarantinedfish.com

They currently have 15% off till the end of the month

 

[sarahgo]

I’ve only ever bought from Divers Den, and dry goods. I’ve never had an issue with shipping or fish disease.

 

[Dr. Reef]

If you need fish. This is the place to go

Home | Quarantined Fish

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see videos of livestock! https://www.youtube.com/@drreefsquarantinedfish Enjoy the best quality Healthy Livestock QT&#03 ...

drreefsquarantinedfish.com

They currently have 15% off till the end of the month

Thats me, i wasnt trying to promote myself. but thank you.
Problem with LA is that etropicalfish that is their parent company and wholesaler as well has their own divers and port in Sri Lanka where they get most of his fish from. I have many indirectly related sources in common with them thats why i know little more in detail about their business. for example i buy my bags from smal company in china as they do. we have same box printer mannufacturere and same source for styrofoam as well. etc.

 

[albano]

It’s the odd thing, live aquaria has always and still drop ships from the importer if says ships from CA (quality marine it used to be before AND after petco bought them)

I had heard that after Petco bought LA, they dropped Quality Marine!

 

[N1tew0lf1212]

I asked this question myself here is the thread.

Live Aquaria do's and dont's

So thank you r2r team for the gift card and i am truly grateful for it. With that being said i have seen a lot of negative posts lately when it comes to the site. I would like everyones honest opinion on what i should do with the card. I have heard nightmares about doa lately and would never...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Dr. Reef]

I had heard that after Petco bought LA, they dropped Quality Marine!

That is true they have their own wholesale company in california by name of etropicalfish

 

[fish farmer]

I bought from Liveaquaria ONCE.

It was a long time ago, spring 2006. One box of 44 lbs of Haitian live rock. The web pictures looked decent, I wanted to try "locally sourced" rock assuming it would be fresher. I had good experiences with other vendors for Fiji and cultured Florida so I knew what to expect. First the packaging was a joke, at least it was a styro, but the 5 big pieces of rock were just stuffed in a plastic bag, the bag wasn't knotted or taped so the rock had rolled around and trashed the box. I was lucky to get it in somewhat of a complete package, no newspaper padding it. They maybe were moist at one time, no seaweed or marine life attached....just some fruit flies. I literally think the rock was picked up along the beach.

 

[t5Nitro]

I am probably going to try DD for stocking my new build. I fortunately have the ability to pickup locally though. Shipping anything these days seems rough.

 

[DanTheReefer]

In the past I would have used for ORA orders, since Live Aquaria is pretty much a middleman. But now saltwateraquarium.com is an ORA middleman, so probably best to go there

 

[frydaddy]

In the past I would have used for ORA orders, since Live Aquaria is pretty much a middleman. But now saltwateraquarium.com is an ORA middleman, so probably best to go there

Everything ORA is out of stock on LA, wonder if they have separated from ORA now.

 

[hart24601]

Up That is true they have their own wholesale company in california by name of etropicalfish

Good to know! Ty!

 

[Tired]

I am probably going to try DD for stocking my new build. I fortunately have the ability to pickup locally though. Shipping anything these days seems rough.

I would suggest not doing this. I ordered from DD and got a badly packed, visibly sick, underweight clown goby that still won't eat prepared foods. You're not actually guaranteed to get a healthy fish, or even one that's eating. Try Dr Reefs instead- if he doesn't already have it listed on his website, he can probably get it for you. Or TSM Aquatics/TSM Marine (I forget which it's called).

 

[t5Nitro]

Is it worth shipping in an unreliable delivery age or pick up on site and load a DD fish into my own aerated bucket and go?

 

[Tired]

If you can inspect the fish in person, avoid the overnight transport stress, and get it into a proper QT as fast as possible, that's definitely the best option. Though, at that rate, better to go to a decent LFS and avoid giving any money to somewhere with standards like theirs.

 

[LilsReefTank]

I have heard that liveaquaria used to be a legend but, they were bought by Petco and turned into trash. Are they beginning to recover are they still somewhere you buy or are they lost?

I've bought 3 fish from them (2 clowns and a wrasse). All of them seemed fine and are doing well. One clown died (but for a separate reason unrelated to LA). I have purchased 2 more (powder tang and foxface). My experience so far has been good.

I did go back and forth when debating to buy another fish. I purchased and then canceled and asked for a refund. They fulfilled my wish swiftly and smoothly.

All these purchases were made in the last 3 months. So ime, I still feel LA is reliable. None of the fish were DD.

 

[ReefEco]

I've had good experiences with Diver's Den, not so much with CUC or regular fish. Their customer service still remains top notch, as they have always made good, but after the 3rd order of the wrong snails (literally) and most dying in 24hours, even their 7 day guarantee doesn't excuse the death. I've gotten a really great Copperband from DD that was a model specimen. When I was going through my snail debacle with them, their customer service admitted they were having staffing issues, which has been pretty common during the pandemic. Short staffed, and new staff that didn't know the snail species. I've ordered from TSM and Dr. Reef as well, with mixed success. Got great tangs from both, but a recent order of expensive pre-QT fish was 2 for 6 -- 2 were DOA, one arrived blind (apparent ammonia blindness that didn't resolve) and they just didn't ship one fish without telling me. So out of $550 in fish I ordered, I ended up with a flasher wrasse and royal gramma. To their credit, they refunded everything and offered to re-ship the fish, but honestly I had lost faith by that point. I just hate getting DOA fish - breaks my heart a little bit. I used Pre-QT fish in order to add all my tangs at once, and it worked, but from now on I will QT all my fish like I did my Copperband - buying local or maybe Diver's Den. I like getting them fat and strong before going into my display anyway. When paying the premium for pre-QT fish like TSM or Dr. Reef, everything should be in A+ shape in my opinion, fat, happy with no issues - that is what we are paying for. Anything other than that, then I would guess their QT process and general care is not as "premium" as they would have us believe...