liveaquaria experience

[ca1ore]

Yes, good memory. They just wore me down .....

 

[vetteguy53081]

This looks like a fish that can and will come around. I have ordered from them with no issues.
Call/email them. Their customer service is superb and you will at minimum get refund of shipping costs. remember they have changed a little ever since acquisition from PETCO.

 

[4FordFamily]

I'm not sure how that has anything to do with anything, particularly since Petco des not own Quality Marine. I wonder, does LA have a set of acceptability standards that QM must meet in a shipped animal; or do they rely on QM to make that judgement? Unless LA does, and they have 'relaxed' them over the last 3 years, hard to see how its meaningful. I think veteran fish keepers would probably say that the overall condition of the reef fish supply chain is in worse shape today than it has ever been.

I have heard from some local companies that order from QM that they’re experiencing the same thing from QM and many others and also another that seems to get “better stock” from QM than what comes from LA. But in fairness they report issues from other vendors as well. I’m sure some companies get better picks of the fish. Who knows. I can’t imagine my local company getting better pics on LA unless LA’s cost engineers got to them.

 

[Chiefmoor]

just got this on sale from LA as well, never seen one that tiny!

 

[JumboShrimp]

Oh. My. Word. Keep your windows closed— one tiny puff of wind, and...

 

[badsmitty]

I have been a customer of LiveAquaria for over 30 years but ever since Petco bought them and they started using Quality Marine to ship out of LA they have gone downhill fast over the last 2 years 80% of what I purchased from them have died I will give LiveAquaria credit, because they do honor their warranty and will refund your money or give you store credit. The thing that has upset me with them is the way that things are shipped now the Heat or the ice packs are laid directly on top of the livestock instead of being taped to the top of the styrofoam box which is how everything was shipped by them before Petco bought them.
Every time I got a shipment in there were issues and I would call them right away and I would let them know what the problem was at one point they started blaming me and my water levels which were spot-on I have over 100 SPS corals but because of their new procedure of laying the Heat or the ice pack on top of the livestock everything comes in bad I would let them know that this was what the problem was but nothing ever changed. I agree with most people's opinion where do you buy something from Wisconsin you tend to not have any problems at all it's only from there other facilities

 

[Mrx7899]

I recieved a Scopas tang on Tuesday from LA. He looked good a little skinny but now has marine velvet. Treating him with copper now see how he does.

 

[Mrx7899]

I recieved a Scopas tang on Tuesday from LA. He looked good a little skinny but now has marine velvet. Treating him with copper now see how he does.

Just checked on him he didn't make it.

 

[Firemanreefkeeper]

We constantly ask, how do we advance the hobby? Well..... stop buying from online retailers that get fish in and send them out just as fast. Tell the online stores we want you to buy fish from wherever, quality marine, ECT, and hold them for 2 to 4 weeks so they can settle down and recover from being in a plastic bag from the time they are caught until they reach our house. If these were puppies and they were being treated like this, we wouldn't buy from them. Yes they are fish but they deserve to be treated better than they are.

 

[Fishfinder]

We constantly ask, how do we advance the hobby? Well..... stop buying from online retailers that get fish in and send them out just as fast. Tell the online stores we want you to buy fish from wherever, quality marine, ECT, and hold them for 2 to 4 weeks so they can settle down and recover from being in a plastic bag from the time they are caught until they reach our house. If these were puppies and they were being treated like this, we wouldn't buy from them. Yes they are fish but they deserve to be treated better than they are.

If they did this the price of fish would skyrocket from dead loss

 

[Coral Newbie]

I only purchase from blue zoo. Never had any issues

 

[Ento-Reefer]

I would rather pay more for a properly quarantined and conditioned fish.

 

[Firemanreefkeeper]

If they did this the price of fish would skyrocket from dead loss

Why? If a fish dies now they give you your money back anyway. You can literally kill the fish yourself and tell them it just died and they give you your money back. And that's the other problem. People want the cheapest they can get. Thus quality goes down so companies can turn a profit. It's time we change they way we do things and demand better practices for our hobby.

 

[Fishfinder]

I agree that better practices would be awesome. I'm not arguing that at all. But in order to do that prices will go up. I take better care of my fish than anyone ever will. I would rather pay less for fish and fix them in Qt. Because no matter what vendors do they won't eradicate the disease

For the quality of fish to get better your talking about wholesalers doing prophylactic treatments, hosing less fish per tank, better water quality, better feedings, longer holding times. That is a huge cost increase

 

[DSC reef]

Why? If a fish dies now they give you your money back anyway. You can literally kill the fish yourself and tell them it just died and they give you your money back. And that's the other problem. People want the cheapest they can get. Thus quality goes down so companies can turn a profit. It's time we change they way we do things and demand better practices for our hobby.

If people killed the fish on purpose then that's on them. I can see both sides but I'm sure there are plenty of fish that live that you have no idea about. I've had no issues from divers den but I never bought from LA.

 

[Firemanreefkeeper]

I would be happy with a baby step, but a step in the right direction. I'd like to see them at least get the fish in and let them rest for a couple of weeks. Not a full QT, just feed them and get them more used to being in an aquarium. It's my feeling that a lot of fish end up sick because they get little chance to rest once caught until they reach our aquariums.

 

[User1]

@celebrityovernight how is your purple doing?

 

[4FordFamily]

A lot of LFS source their fish from the exact same place as LA and many other online retailers— it’s just another stop before your home. Sometimes this is good and they get it feeding, more often than not it’s just another disease-ridden system they’re exposed to with poor water quality.

Great LFS do exist, but IMO buying online isn’t so bad. The distribution system is horrendous across the board.

 

[60CubeReefer]

Liveaquaria = Quality Marine
Fishybusinessaquatics/Saltwaterfish = Sea Dwelling Creatures

 

[roberthu526]

I have had good experience in general but the past few shipments this year have not been good. DOA on almost all orders and the live ones all looked pretty rough. Not sure if something have changed.