How many Hobbyist are having fish shipped?

[dh350twin]

The prices on DD and LA don't look to me to be any higher on average than any other reputable online dealer, including TSM Corals. :shrug:

Guess it all depends on the fish i tend to buy higher end stuff.

 

[Forsaken77]

One place you should NOT buy from is saltwaterfish.com. I ordered a 3 inch Magnificent Foxface from them and what arrived was a 7 inch adult that was too big for my tank.

They ignored my emails until I filed a Paypal dispute. Then they said they were working on relocating the fish and would send me another, but only if I dropped the Paypal dispute of which they had 10 days to rectify the situation. All they had to do was send Paypal the tracking number of the replacement.

So I told them that being they ignored my previous emails, and they had 10 days, that I would not drop the dispute because once you close a dispute it cannot be reopened, leaving me with no recourse if they didn't follow through. And this was a $140 fish.

So that same day, without even trying to rectify things, they refunded my money and left me with a fish they knew I couldn't house at the time. That shows to me that they care little for their customers and even less about the well being of the animals. Then they told me we can't get you anything smaller than 5 inches, yet a week after this they still had the 3 inch Magnificent Foxface listed as in-stock, waiting to scam someone else.

They don't even stock the fish. They take your order and have another place that's across the country from them ship the fish. The funny thing is that whoever shipped the fish wrote "3-inch Magnificent Foxface" on the bag with an enormous fish inside.

Then I wrote a review on their site and they took it down. Very dishonest, care nothing for the animals involved, and just trying to play middle man without even seeing what they're selling. Avoid them at all costs!

 

[dh350twin]

One place you should NOT buy from is saltwaterfish.com. I ordered a 3 inch Magnificent Foxface from them and what arrived was a 7 inch adult that was too big for my tank.

They ignored my emails until I filed a Paypal dispute. Then they said they were working on relocating the fish and would send me another, but only if I dropped the Paypal dispute of which they had 10 days to rectify the situation. All they had to do was send Paypal the tracking number of the replacement.

So I told them that being they ignored my previous emails, and they had 10 days, that I would not drop the dispute because once you close a dispute it cannot be reopened, leaving me with no recourse if they didn't follow through. And this was a $140 fish.

So that same day, without even trying to rectify things, they refunded my money and left me with a fish they knew I couldn't house at the time. That shows to me that they care little for their customers and even less about the well being of the animals. Then they told me we can't get you anything smaller than 5 inches, yet a week after this they still had the 3 inch Magnificent Foxface listed as in-stock, waiting to scam someone else.

They don't even stock the fish. They take your order and have another place that's across the country from them ship the fish. The funny thing is that whoever shipped the fish wrote "3-inch Magnificent Foxface" on the bag with an enormous fish inside.

Then I wrote a review on their site and they took it down. Very dishonest, care nothing for the animals involved, and just trying to play middle man without even seeing what they're selling. Avoid them at all costs!

Thank you for letting us know. You just saved someone the same hassle [emoji106]

 

[Forsaken77]

Thank you for letting us know. You just saved someone the same hassle [emoji106]

That's the first, and only time, I bought a fish online. My biggest gripe about the whole thing is that you can't see what you're buying, you can't closely inspect it, or see if it readily eats. The closest place is Divers Den.

I have numerous places around me to buy fish from. But at the time (last year) it was impossible to find a Magnificent Foxface anywhere. That prompted my online searching. I mean they ended up sending me a $200 fish, because of the size, and then had to refund the money. But it was more unfair to the poor fish that was shipped in a 12 inch wide bag (fish was 7 inches long, 4 inches tall) from California to New York. The poor thing thought my 12 gallon QT tank was spacious after that. They actually wanted me to measure the fish! The only way to do that is to take it out of the water because the fish won't swim up to the ruler and pose to have its size taken. I told them the photos I sent were proof enough that the fish was nowhere near 3 inches. I'm not going to suffocate an already stressed fish just so you can get an exact measurement.

I view fish as pets, with personalities. Not decoration.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Just went there and clicked around a little. Looks to me like they're unusually out of stock on most of their listings. Is your experience any different?

ZoaCollector is on vacation until the end of July, so won't have stock until then.

The reason there customer service is good is they charge twice as much as they really should be to cover any DOA's however we all are paying for your replacement. The key is to find a place with a proper protocol on QT that sells for a little bit higher then non QT so we're paying then for there efforts of proper qt not twice or sometimes 3-4-5 times the price just to cover there guarantee. How do you think they can afford to employ so many customer service agents lol. Not a kick on them as they try more then most. But there are a very small select that do qt properly and only charge for that not replacing the fish or there own mortality rate because they can't even keep there own stock alive long enough to sell.

They can employ so many customer service reps, because claims are handled by Drs Foster Smith, which does much more volume with dry goods and supplies, not just for aquariums but also for dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, small mammels, and horses.

 

[ThunderGoose]

My closest reef specialists LFS is over an hour away and their fish selection is limited and never looks good. I've bought a few corals there but I get my fish from LA, DD and KP Aquatics. The selection at KP is very small but the quality is great. Yes, shipping is high but customer service and quality are also high.

Although now that I know Petco will special order I may start doing that - my local Petco has a really knowledgeable fish guy. Their tanks look better than some of the reef specialist stores I've been to.

 

[Sharvey103]

I have ordered several times from NYAquatics and they have been excellent to deal with. No diseases and only ever had one die which they quickly credited.

 

[jasonrusso]

Wart skin?

Yup, from Live Aquaria.

I covered up the name on the box because every person that walks by my bay at work has to ask "is there really a fish in there?"

Then I always say "How do you think the aquarium store gets them?"

 

[Bruce Burnett]

Well there is not a single LFS within 2.5 hours of me, so most everything I buy is online now. The problem is over night shipping to where I live is by end of day as late as 8:30 pm. Most of my fish came from a LFS before I moved and a few came from Unique Corals. My corals came from LFS and AquaSD. All my purchases from LFS in the last two years were made while visiting family. When we leave to go home I would stop by the fish stores I had already picked stuff out and then make the drive home could be 2.5 - 5.5 hours but much less than time than UPS or Fed-X and there is no next day mail.

 

[lariat8099]

Liveaquaria I've had bad luck the last few times ordered med fish got tiny fish. But agree on there customer service

 

[jasonrusso]

Liveaquaria I've had bad luck the last few times ordered med fish got tiny fish. But agree on there customer service

I got a small one time when I ordered a medium. I just called them up and they refunded me the difference.

 

[madweazl]

I haven't been concerned with cheaper but our selection is fairly limited (small shops) so I've got specific species I wanted online.

 

[125mph]

I buy from tsmcorals.com for the same reasons I used to buy from live aquaria. They give a quarantee on there qt fish. My experience is that tsm has nicer quality then DD

I looked at tsm before but it seems like their stock is very limited.. most items are out of stock or "call for availability"

 

[125mph]

The prices on DD and LA don't look to me to be any higher on average than any other reputable online dealer, including TSM Corals. :shrug:

Agreed.. Their prices are very reasonable even compared to my LFS. I also use $40 coupons all the time.. and they always have deals.. for example, purple tang right now in their CA facility is $108.

I have found the quality for regular Live Aquaria (Quality Marine) to be very close to Divers Den. I got a 3" yellow belly regal angel on sale for $170 from Live Aquaria (QM) a few months ago and he was very fat and ate very well from the get go!

 

[dh350twin]

Well there is not a single LFS within 2.5 hours of me, so most everything I buy is online now. The problem is over night shipping to where I live is by end of day as late as 8:30 pm. Most of my fish came from a LFS before I moved and a few came from Unique Corals. My corals came from LFS and AquaSD. All my purchases from LFS in the last two years were made while visiting family. When we leave to go home I would stop by the fish stores I had already picked stuff out and then make the drive home could be 2.5 - 5.5 hours but much less than time than UPS or Fed-X and there is no next day mail.

What state do you live in federal express guarantees by 10:30 am

 

[dh350twin]

I looked at tsm before but it seems like their stock is very limited.. most items are out of stock or "call for availability"

I actually visited there today which is about 1.5 drive for me. I talked with Ray about many things his store should do to cater to the hobbyist. Livestock was one of the topics we discussed.
I do agree with you however, they have much more then there website shows. Best thing to do is call them. Or heck pm me and I will find out for you. I truly believe they have the potential to be one of the best stores us hobbyist have at our disposal. Ray truly cares about doing things right and will listen to all suggestions.

 

[Forsaken77]

The prices on DD and LA don't look to me to be any higher on average than any other reputable online dealer, including TSM Corals. :shrug:

In my area, Live Aquaria & Divers Den are on average almost double the price of the fish locally, and that's without shipping included. I have about 5-6 local stores within a 30 minute drive, 4 within 15 minutes. There's one store that charges a lot more, but their quality is excellent. The main reason I avoid LA or DD is because it's ridiculously expensive.

I guess if you have 1 lfs that's an hour away, then you must live in a very rural area. So online is feasible. But I can assure you that their prices are very high for most fish.

I guess if you live in, or close to, a coastal state that you have more options locally. The further inland you go, the less stores there are and the prices go up. Because LA wanted $110 (not including shipping) for the same fish that a local place was selling for $40. Plus I get to inspect it and see it eat.

I think LA & DD are high priced because they're doing free overnight shipping on a bunch of orders and have to make up the price difference. Just my guess. But compared to my lfs's prices it's like their selling gold plated fish.

 

[dh350twin]

In my area, Live Aquaria & Divers Den are on average almost double the price of the fish locally, and that's without shipping included. I have about 5-6 local stores within a 30 minute drive, 4 within 15 minutes. There's one store that charges a lot more, but their quality is excellent. The main reason I avoid LA or DD is because it's ridiculously expensive.

I guess if you have 1 lfs that's an hour away, then you must live in a very rural area. So online is feasible. But I can assure you that their prices are very high for most fish.

I guess if you live in, or close to, a coastal state that you have more options locally. The further inland you go, the less stores there are and the prices go up. Because LA wanted $110 (not including shipping) for the same fish that a local place was selling for $40. Plus I get to inspect it and see it eat.

I think LA & DD are high priced because they're doing free overnight shipping on a bunch of orders and have to make up the price difference. Just my guess. But compared to my lfs's prices it's like their selling gold plated fish.

I totally agree. Powder blue tang- medium/small $130 is crazy

 

[iemsparticus]

In my area, Live Aquaria & Divers Den are on average almost double the price of the fish locally, and that's without shipping included. I have about 5-6 local stores within a 30 minute drive, 4 within 15 minutes. There's one store that charges a lot more, but their quality is excellent. The main reason I avoid LA or DD is because it's ridiculously expensive.

I guess if you have 1 lfs that's an hour away, then you must live in a very rural area. So online is feasible. But I can assure you that their prices are very high for most fish.

I guess if you live in, or close to, a coastal state that you have more options locally. The further inland you go, the less stores there are and the prices go up. Because LA wanted $110 (not including shipping) for the same fish that a local place was selling for $40. Plus I get to inspect it and see it eat.

I think LA & DD are high priced because they're doing free overnight shipping on a bunch of orders and have to make up the price difference. Just my guess. But compared to my lfs's prices it's like their selling gold plated fish.

Of note, I said not more expensive on average than other online dealers, not LFS.

 

[iemsparticus]

I totally agree. Powder blue tang- medium/small $130 is crazy

The Tang on DD that is $130 is 4.5", which is medium large, not medium small... the fishes max size is 9".

The prices on LA Powder Blues:

So the DD fish is only $30 more than the LA equivalent.

Look... I don't want to come across as a DD/LA apologist, because I'm not... but it sure seems to me that you're out to get them... you obviously really like tsmcorals, and that's great. I think it awesome to have a place you know and trust, and in turn try and advertise for them. Just be careful you aren't doing it by making iffy statements about other vendors. I'm glad you mentioned tsmcorals... I will certainly keep my eyes on the fish there.