How's everyone experience with Live Aquaria Diver's Den in 2021?
- Thread starter chousecat
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I've used it several times and the only bad experience was fed ex killing my fish
tjohnson3
Valuable Member
Agreed… but I was only referring to DD for which the thread was started. I think we’ve beat it to death and can put it to sleep now
LPS Bum
Well-Known Member
They quarantine for a minimum of two weeks. Says so on their site. As in it might be 3 or more, but 2 at a min. Seachem specifically states to run their Cupramine product for 2 weeks to eradicate Crypt and Velvet.They use the word QT incorrectly, it doesn’t matter what meds they use if they don’t treat for the whole life cycle of said parasites.
What they do is hide parasites or repress them enough, to appear illness free.
you are incorrect
I have never once experienced the problems you seem to have experienced, and I’ve ordered a dozen fish from DD. What makes you right and me wrong, besides your opinion of course?
OneSockERock
Community Member
I've made a couple purchases from LA this year. As others have mentioned, it depends on which facility you're getting the order from.
I've had good success with their Wisconsin facility (Divers Den, and Biota captive bred ime) on multiple shipments and I recommend them. Among other fish, these orders included a ruby longfin fairy wrasse and a ruby red dragonet, so fairly "bad shippers" that showed up on time, healthy and active in the bag. It probably helps that I'm located only a state away from the DD facility.
I haven't had good luck with the Los Angeles facility though. I got a male carpenter wrasse from them in March that was banged up and really skinny in the bag, wouldn't eat, and then died the next morning in observational QT. I will give them credit for quickly accepting my request for a refund (store credit) no questions asked. Same shipment they also sent me 5 of the tiiiniest narcissus snails I've ever seen. Three of them died within the first week and the 4th a week or two later. I never bothered requesting a partial credit. The final one is kicking around to this day but still tiny. I think I'm done with the Cali facility after that order.
My understanding is that the Los Angeles facility is a high throughput wholesaler facility so the care for the animals is not as good as the Wisconsin facility. I would definitely order from the Wisconsin facility (DD) again with confidence.
I've only gotten a captive bred Derasa clam from their Florida facility. Arrived on time, healthy with no pests, and is still alive and growing going on 5 months now so I have no complaints on their handling down there.
I've had good success with their Wisconsin facility (Divers Den, and Biota captive bred ime) on multiple shipments and I recommend them. Among other fish, these orders included a ruby longfin fairy wrasse and a ruby red dragonet, so fairly "bad shippers" that showed up on time, healthy and active in the bag. It probably helps that I'm located only a state away from the DD facility.
I haven't had good luck with the Los Angeles facility though. I got a male carpenter wrasse from them in March that was banged up and really skinny in the bag, wouldn't eat, and then died the next morning in observational QT. I will give them credit for quickly accepting my request for a refund (store credit) no questions asked. Same shipment they also sent me 5 of the tiiiniest narcissus snails I've ever seen. Three of them died within the first week and the 4th a week or two later. I never bothered requesting a partial credit. The final one is kicking around to this day but still tiny. I think I'm done with the Cali facility after that order.
My understanding is that the Los Angeles facility is a high throughput wholesaler facility so the care for the animals is not as good as the Wisconsin facility. I would definitely order from the Wisconsin facility (DD) again with confidence.
I've only gotten a captive bred Derasa clam from their Florida facility. Arrived on time, healthy with no pests, and is still alive and growing going on 5 months now so I have no complaints on their handling down there.
piranhaman00
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Seachem also says therapeutic range is 0.2-0.8. With 0.5 is generally what is recommended on these forums. They list their dose at 0.15 so it wouldn't even be the correct dose. Why would you leave that part out?
It's pointless to bring up Cupramine though as it doesn't appear to be what they are using.
It's not based on opinions... people are basing stuff on treatments and life cycles. They call it evidence based practice in health care.
You can have a dozen healthy DD fish... it still doesn't mean that their QT procedures eradicate disease. That is all anyone is saying here but you seem to take it personally.
I would still buy fish from them if it was something unusual I could not find somewhere else.
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LPS Bum
Well-Known Member
No. Not taking it personally at all. I literally have zero skin in this game. As I’ve said, I don’t particularly care for Live Aquaria.
But it does strike me as odd that what you’re stating is essentially tantamount to your opinion, and you’re putting it out as fact. You’re saying they don’t QT properly, that they don’t offer healthy fish, etc, but you’ve offered no actual evidence to support your theory. I suppose you could be right, but you could just as easily be wrong.
And to be clear, I never said their QT procedures eradicated disease. I said that they do in fact quarantine their fish, which is clearly stated on their website. You snd a couple others disagreed with that statement, but offered no evidence to support your claims. That’s what I find incredulous.
LPS Bum
Well-Known Member
I have absolutely gotten rid of Crypt in 2 weeks. Raise the tank temp into the low 80s to speed up the life cycle of the parasite while treating at full strength with Cupramine.Haha! The fact that you think it takes two weeks to eradicate crypto and velvet
At that temp the cysts fall off the fish and burst open within a week. At that point the free swimming stage is highly susceptible to copper treatments and is quickly eradicated. That’s called science.
Why is that funny?
I linked their page. How is that not evidence? I never said the fish were not healthy.
All I am saying is their procedures do not lead to disease free fish, they offer what most would call conditioned fish. Conditioned fish are arguably healthier than drop shipped fish.
The thing is the term QT is generally supposed to be reserved for a fish that has gone through a very specific protocol to render it free of parasites. While conditioning is generally everything else.
It is the play on words. Much like how a LFS may say "we QT fish" which may just be two weeks in subtherapeutic copper. It is not really a TRUE QT and why so many beginners show up saying... "my fish is sick but my LFS QT's their fish". They were mislead thinking that their fish should be free of disease since the LFS told them they QT.
This is why calling everything a "quarantine" leads to confusion and disappointment from some.
LA's page has been the same for years and years but the definition of "QT fish" has began to evolve because the hobby and the quality of fish have also changed. Fish were a lot different health wise 10 years ago than now. This is why venders like TSM, FisHotel, Dr Reef, etc have suddenly popped up.
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Hi I am from Tampa bay area as well! Just wondering where you buy fish and corals? I am trying to buy a tang from DD but I cant even get to the cart on their website! No one answers their phone either! I am looking for a yellow tang and my LFS wont sell me on e since I only have a 36 gallon as of now! I have a 75 in my garage just not set up yet but I do plan to set up soon, so I will be transferring the tang! How has you experience been with divers den? The price for a tang is only 75 bucks so I havnt seen them that cheap anywhere!
danieyella
unfriendly local swamp witch
Hey, I honestly haven't added any fish to the collection in quite some time because I'm moving up to Hernando county soon and don't want the added livestock transfer stress past what I already have. My last purchases were DD though. I'm not a fan of the "big" LFS over here for a variety of reasons..... I'm guessing you can't add it to cart because it probably already sold and just hasn't caught up yet??
danieyella
unfriendly local swamp witch
There's a small shop in NPR with an online webfront that you can visit in person by appt, salty bottom reef company, I picked up 2 filefish from them about a month ago - forgot about that. The fish they had looked happy. When I'm looking to buy corals I usually check coral corral before looking online, they have a small fishstock. There's another place on hillsborough called corals and fins that I went to a few years ago and had success with, they're just a hike.
danieyella
unfriendly local swamp witch
tsm aquatics
c_healy
Valuable Member
They aren’t quarantined and as far as I know, never were.
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