Liveaquaria - going downhill fast or just a coincidence

[Malcontent]

I doubt the sticker on the box means much. Fedex says they don't ship live animals. They only ship boxes.
I'm sure there are lots of unrelated stickers on boxes being shipped these days.

When I ship stuff I put a "job applications--bulk" sticker on the box to discourage theft.

 

[HomebroodExotics]

I’ve had the same terrible experiences with live aquaria as well. It’s very disappointing.

 

[mehaffydr]

The fish in cold water seems to be a issue with the delivery from FedEx or whatever. FedEx thought it was a great Idea to send me a mandarin by loading it in a freezing truck at 5am and delivering it AT 5 PM. Did they think the caution live animal label meant that I was ordering a penguin? Why would they think it to be a smart idea to put a live animal in a freezing delivery truck for half a day? Live aquaria was nice and immediately gave me a refund. I've had only great experiences with their customer service. I only order from divers den as I don't have time to QT fish (nothing enters my tank without QT)

One thing that I do no matter who I order from whether its fish, coral or inverts is to contact Fed Ex or UPS whoever they use and have the order held at the facility and I go pick it up. This way it does not ride around on a cold truck and it is typically in the shipping box 4-8 hours less time. To expect a shipper to alter their route for any of our deliveries would be unreasonable.

 

[attilak]

Where are you located?
For 3 Bangai cardinals LFS is your better bet. Why use online retailer.
Between shipping price and this being such a common fish it could be prevented.

Just a friendly advice. Save your online orders for more expensive fishes. I see these are tank bred for 109 for three. They must have shipped from Wisconsin facility. You also get a free coral. 109 plus tax plus 30 shipping almost 155 dollars for 3 cardinals.

Your LFS could have helped.

I've had bad experience with my LFS to be honest... but maybe I should have. I have recently lost an entire tank of very expensive fish to velvet. Right now I am starting over slowly and no more rare fish for me ... I learned my lesson. I QT my stuff too and just one mistake, like taking a fish from a friend and assuming it is ok caused my entire stock lost.

 

[attilak]

They’ve been lousy for a while, and thier prices often aren’t even competitive anymore. I’d put them in the same ‘bottom of the barrel’ category as saltwaterfish

interesting you mention saltwaterfish.com! I never used but was going to try... I asked this in my post and no one recommended who they use for online live fish order.

 

[hllb]

interesting you mention saltwaterfish.com! I never used but was going to try... I asked this in my post and no one recommended who they use for online live fish order.

I have had good luck with Bluezoo. The specimens may be slightly small, but good health, excellent packaging, and an acclimation kit included. I’ve ordered several fish (4 maybe?), a pistol shrimp, and an urchin

 

[OneSockERock]

I'm done with their California facility (Quality Marine) as well. Nothing but problems coming out of there.

I bought a red scooter dragonet a few weeks ago during their recent Sri Lanka sale, and then to make it worth the shipping cost I grabbed a skunk cleaner shrimp and 5 nassarius snails as well. The day it's supposed to ship I never received the shipping info or any email so I knew something was up. 10pm that night they sent me an email letting me know they were out of stock of the red scooter dragonets.

Not a problem though, in the email it mentioned they won't ship an order that's under 75% fulfilled. Alright cool, well the dragonet was 43% of the order value so I can wait until they get another in, all good. Two days later I get an email saying they just shipped out the cleaner shrimp and snails and refunded the scooter...

$75 including shipping I paid for a cleaner shrimp and 5 nassarius snails... LFSs around here sell cleaners for 30 and nassarius for 2.50.

I sent them an email politely asking why it was sent out below 75% fulfilled - the fish was the whole point of the order and why had they not reached out to see if I wanted to sub a different fish in or cancel altogether. Apparently the 75% fulfillment hold doesn't apply to the California facility, you get what you get when they decide to send it. Liveaquaria has no idea what is getting shipped and when until Quality Marine tells them. No substitutions or cancellations allowed after check out either so they couldn't do anything about it even if they knew beforehand. I walked away from the CSA interaction pretty sure they have next to zero oversight on how the California facility operates.

To their credit they did give me a $15 store voucher for complaining, and the box showed up with a heat pack in the foil bag with water temps still in the high 60's.

I still have faith in the Liveaquaria Wisconsin facility, they haven't done me wrong yet.

As for alternatives, haven't used them yet but I've heard Bluezoo Aquatics is good and they actually have the fish on their website in hand, not drop shipped like LA California or Saltwaterfish.

 

[Theulli]

Not going to rant here on the bad experience I am continuously having with ordering fish from liveaquaria - but have been using them for years but now I am to a point of completely removing them as an option to order from... lost fish, to not updating if fish is shipped, to DOA arrival due to no heat pack! Take a look at the picture of the fish I just received with a heat pack that is not hot any more - the previous order from last week had no heat pack and fish lost.

This is 3 DOA cardinals - temp. at around 55 degrees.

Anyone else having negative experience with them?

I have had hugely variable experiences with LiveAquaria. It seems like some of their packers give a dang and others don’t, for example I have had nicely packed boxes get delayed and take two days to arrive, with live fish in them, and I have had improperly sealed bags show up in a dripping box with a bone dry fish inside. They desperately need some quality control

 

[Theulli]

I have had good luck with Bluezoo. The specimens may be slightly small, but good health, excellent packaging, and an acclimation kit included. I’ve ordered several fish (4 maybe?), a pistol shrimp, and an urchin

small specimens mean a bit unimpressive out of the bag but you have the fish longer. I have not ordered from blue zoo but am really happy with the stripey I got from saltwaterfish.

 

[areefer01]

Most of us who reply here are just providing our own opinions and experience. I'm no different other than to share mine which is vastly different than what I'm reading here tonight. My experience has been nothing but exceptional with every order using LA and DD. Past before Petco and more recently after. The most most recent going back to October of 2021 when I ordered a Zoster Butterflyfish and a Pyramid Butterflyfish via Divers Den.

1. FedEx was the carrier of choice.
2. FedEx lost the package.
3. FedEx showed it at the sorting facility.
4. I call FedEx but I'm not able to go to sorting facility even though it is near me, and I explained live fish.
5. I email DD and explain what is going on, they respond within an hour, and ask me to still accept the box.
6. I called FedEx again, and they again say no, I can't pick it up because they can't find it yet it was scanned. They also tell me that DD already filed a claim and to accept the box.
7. 72 hours go by, FedEx arrives, drops the package off, doesn't knock. Dog barked to alert (German Shepherd), and I received the box.
8. I emailed LA/DD again, sent pictures of the box, they again replied within 1 hour, and asked for pictures but to open the box in low light as if they are alive the light would cause stress.
9. Close shaded on window, turn off lights on display, dim lights in room, look inside, both fish are alive but Zoster is on side struggling.
10. Snap a few pics, send to LA/DD, then reply within 2 hours this time as it was later, and said I have a good chance that they will make it but update them in 24 hours.
11. Letting bags warm up to room temp, not in water, nor open bag (still closed) I double check my methylene blue bath (can't do dip in this case due to stress so 15 minutes is what I have).
12. Go through my MB bath pyramid is great, zoster is on side, stiff, but gills moving. Timer set for 15 minutes.
13. Zoster gills stop moving about 7 minutes in, I remove, rinse, and place in isolation tank, on its side floating gently in current. I have to adjust to lower, turn off lights, and hope - it is in Mother Natures hands now.
14. Pyramid is chilling and would have done 30 minutes, remove at 15, rinse, place in isolation, no lights.
15. Go to bed
16. Wake up in morning both fish are doing laps in the display like it is 1999.

If you are with me at this point LA/DD was responsive, asked me to accept the package, reached out to FedEx to start a claim, packaged extremely well, heat packs worked to the best of their ability, blacked out lower bag, and in the end survived FedEx mess up. I give them a 10 out of 10 and told them so via a follow up email.

Couple rules I have with regards to winter and covid and carriers. We are still in Covid transportation mode with no guarantees. That is the first risk. Second FedEx is burdened and going through some issues in my area. I've read others are seeing similar. This is the second risk. I mitigate now by not using them nor buying from venders who do unless it is dry goods. Third, winter. I typically do not buy and will check weather routes before I do. I assess then decide if it is worth it. Lastly I check what I'm buying and how well they ship. Some fish I will not try until the spring to be safe.

TL; DR - my experience via the wall of text has been great. Copperband, Zoster, Pyramid butterflies. Yellow assessor (captive raised). BIOTA sapphire damsels. Matted filefish (also from BIOTA), and Surge Damsel. Scopas tang. Lt. Tang. Lavender tang. Only fish that didn't make the MB bath and died was a purple tang from them. They credited me within 48 hours.

Sorry about your experience and others. I may be an outlier I don't know.

 

[hllb]

Most of us who reply here are just providing our own opinions and experience. I'm no different other than to share mine which is vastly different than what I'm reading here tonight. My experience has been nothing but exceptional with every order using LA and DD. Past before Petco and more recently after. The most most recent going back to October of 2021 when I ordered a Zoster Butterflyfish and a Pyramid Butterflyfish via Divers Den.

1. FedEx was the carrier of choice.
2. FedEx lost the package.
3. FedEx showed it at the sorting facility.
4. I call FedEx but I'm not able to go to sorting facility even though it is near me, and I explained live fish.
5. I email DD and explain what is going on, they respond within an hour, and ask me to still accept the box.
6. I called FedEx again, and they again say no, I can't pick it up because they can't find it yet it was scanned. They also tell me that DD already filed a claim and to accept the box.
7. 72 hours go by, FedEx arrives, drops the package off, doesn't knock. Dog barked to alert (German Shepherd), and I received the box.
8. I emailed LA/DD again, sent pictures of the box, they again replied within 1 hour, and asked for pictures but to open the box in low light as if they are alive the light would cause stress.
9. Close shaded on window, turn off lights on display, dim lights in room, look inside, both fish are alive but Zoster is on side struggling.
10. Snap a few pics, send to LA/DD, then reply within 2 hours this time as it was later, and said I have a good chance that they will make it but update them in 24 hours.
11. Letting bags warm up to room temp, not in water, nor open bag (still closed) I double check my methylene blue bath (can't do dip in this case due to stress so 15 minutes is what I have).
12. Go through my MB bath pyramid is great, zoster is on side, stiff, but gills moving. Timer set for 15 minutes.
13. Zoster gills stop moving about 7 minutes in, I remove, rinse, and place in isolation tank, on its side floating gently in current. I have to adjust to lower, turn off lights, and hope - it is in Mother Natures hands now.
14. Pyramid is chilling and would have done 30 minutes, remove at 15, rinse, place in isolation, no lights.
15. Go to bed
16. Wake up in morning both fish are doing laps in the display like it is 1999.

If you are with me at this point LA/DD was responsive, asked me to accept the package, reached out to FedEx to start a claim, packaged extremely well, heat packs worked to the best of their ability, blacked out lower bag, and in the end survived FedEx mess up. I give them a 10 out of 10 and told them so via a follow up email.

Couple rules I have with regards to winter and covid and carriers. We are still in Covid transportation mode with no guarantees. That is the first risk. Second FedEx is burdened and going through some issues in my area. I've read others are seeing similar. This is the second risk. I mitigate now by not using them nor buying from venders who do unless it is dry goods. Third, winter. I typically do not buy and will check weather routes before I do. I assess then decide if it is worth it. Lastly I check what I'm buying and how well they ship. Some fish I will not try until the spring to be safe.

TL; DR - my experience via the wall of text has been great. Copperband, Zoster, Pyramid butterflies. Yellow assessor (captive raised). BIOTA sapphire damsels. Matted filefish (also from BIOTA), and Surge Damsel. Scopas tang. Lt. Tang. Lavender tang. Only fish that didn't make the MB bath and died was a purple tang from them. They credited me within 48 hours.

Sorry about your experience and others. I may be an outlier I don't know.

I have had relatively good experiences with LA as well. However, the change in packaging is a problem (and I suspect it happened after your last order perhaps?). I'm certainly not writing them off at this point, but hopefully they switch back to the old packaging for the safety of the animals.

 

[DaddyFish]

@areefer01 I believe your experiences with LA may have a lot to do with your location (CA)?
Things can be very different from the east coast.

 

[hllb]

@areefer01 I believe your experiences with LA may have a lot to do with your location (CA)?
Things can be very different from the east coast.

Location doesn't have much to do with customer service, and much of their experience was around excellent customer service. I myself am in Michigan and have ordered from both LA and WI and had mostly good experiences.

 

[Quietman]

Man, you guys are worrying me. I just ordered a white tail bristletooth tang late last week. It shipped Monday for a delivery yesterday and was delayed in Memphis overnight. Expecting it today before noon. Luckily I only live a couple miles from the airport so usually stuff arrives early in the day.

Have had pretty good luck up to date with LA...knock wood, fingers crossed, turn around three times and spit...

 

[SlugSnorter]

thanks... yea. they used to even give 2 weeks of warranty on fish, which has changed now to a week and credit only. What is the best and most reputable online place these days? a buddy of mine turned me onto https://reefbeauties.com/. seems like he had luck so far and reasonable prices too. NYAquatics is hit/miss too.

best place is Dr. Reef, good value, fast shipping, very communicative and responsive

 

[hllb]

best place is Dr. Reef, good value, fast shipping, very communicative and responsive

I have this place bookmarked, but never ordered from them. Good to hear positive feedback

 

[areefer01]

@areefer01 I believe your experiences with LA may have a lot to do with your location (CA)?
Things can be very different from the east coast.

Yes, I am. Northern area.

 

[FishyFishFish]

best place is Dr. Reef, good value, fast shipping, very communicative and responsive

Fast shipping maybe, but 2 months after ordering. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the wait for QT’d fish, but I ordered conditioned fish and have no idea when they might arrive.

 

[Tamberav]

Most of us who reply here are just providing our own opinions and experience. I'm no different other than to share mine which is vastly different than what I'm reading here tonight. My experience has been nothing but exceptional with every order using LA and DD. Past before Petco and more recently after. The most most recent going back to October of 2021 when I ordered a Zoster Butterflyfish and a Pyramid Butterflyfish via Divers Den.

1. FedEx was the carrier of choice.
2. FedEx lost the package.
3. FedEx showed it at the sorting facility.
4. I call FedEx but I'm not able to go to sorting facility even though it is near me, and I explained live fish.
5. I email DD and explain what is going on, they respond within an hour, and ask me to still accept the box.
6. I called FedEx again, and they again say no, I can't pick it up because they can't find it yet it was scanned. They also tell me that DD already filed a claim and to accept the box.
7. 72 hours go by, FedEx arrives, drops the package off, doesn't knock. Dog barked to alert (German Shepherd), and I received the box.
8. I emailed LA/DD again, sent pictures of the box, they again replied within 1 hour, and asked for pictures but to open the box in low light as if they are alive the light would cause stress.
9. Close shaded on window, turn off lights on display, dim lights in room, look inside, both fish are alive but Zoster is on side struggling.
10. Snap a few pics, send to LA/DD, then reply within 2 hours this time as it was later, and said I have a good chance that they will make it but update them in 24 hours.
11. Letting bags warm up to room temp, not in water, nor open bag (still closed) I double check my methylene blue bath (can't do dip in this case due to stress so 15 minutes is what I have).
12. Go through my MB bath pyramid is great, zoster is on side, stiff, but gills moving. Timer set for 15 minutes.
13. Zoster gills stop moving about 7 minutes in, I remove, rinse, and place in isolation tank, on its side floating gently in current. I have to adjust to lower, turn off lights, and hope - it is in Mother Natures hands now.
14. Pyramid is chilling and would have done 30 minutes, remove at 15, rinse, place in isolation, no lights.
15. Go to bed
16. Wake up in morning both fish are doing laps in the display like it is 1999.

If you are with me at this point LA/DD was responsive, asked me to accept the package, reached out to FedEx to start a claim, packaged extremely well, heat packs worked to the best of their ability, blacked out lower bag, and in the end survived FedEx mess up. I give them a 10 out of 10 and told them so via a follow up email.

Couple rules I have with regards to winter and covid and carriers. We are still in Covid transportation mode with no guarantees. That is the first risk. Second FedEx is burdened and going through some issues in my area. I've read others are seeing similar. This is the second risk. I mitigate now by not using them nor buying from venders who do unless it is dry goods. Third, winter. I typically do not buy and will check weather routes before I do. I assess then decide if it is worth it. Lastly I check what I'm buying and how well they ship. Some fish I will not try until the spring to be safe.

TL; DR - my experience via the wall of text has been great. Copperband, Zoster, Pyramid butterflies. Yellow assessor (captive raised). BIOTA sapphire damsels. Matted filefish (also from BIOTA), and Surge Damsel. Scopas tang. Lt. Tang. Lavender tang. Only fish that didn't make the MB bath and died was a purple tang from them. They credited me within 48 hours.

Sorry about your experience and others. I may be an outlier I don't know.

They recently changed the packaging to not include a styrofoam box and a thin insulating foam instead. So if your fish are delayed, they are probably dead. Although posts here suggest many are dying even when on time due to new packing. Still charge packaging fee.

I did a recent order of some hardy stuff and it all came in a thin foam bag except the fish directly from ORA.

 

[FiddlersReef]

best place is Dr. Reef, good value, fast shipping, very communicative and responsive

I'm glad you had a good experience. I ordered once, tried several times to communicate with him and never got any response. Two small clowns packaged in a limp bag with barely any water, squashed under a large bag with a foxface. Clowns lived a couple hours. Foxface was in bad shape, laid on the same for a couple days looking dead, but did finally recover.

Maybe the clowns were an outlier, but the absolute lack of communication turned me off from ever using them again.

TSM Aquatics is the only place I'll order online from nowadays. Their packaging and care is outstanding.