My experience with NY Aquatic's Gem Tang sale...

[Aquarist76]

So I'm here just to give my negative experience. Just signed up specifically for this.

I bought one of NYAquatic's Gem Tangs a few weeks ago. I had worked out with the owner me coming there to pick it up since I live only a few hours away (wanted to decrease shipping stress as much as possible). Several days later I get a FedEx notice that I had a package coming from him that day. Turns out he accidentally shipped my order out when he wasn't supposed to (he admitted to his mistake of mixing it up with someone else's order). Fish had to wait a bit longer than I liked to get acclimated as I was at work and this was an unexpected shipment. Got a healthy looking 3" Gem Tang. Put him in a brand new Red Sea Reefer Deluxe 250 (55G). Had a derasa clam and some coral in there in quarantine but no other fish in there or ever in there. Did fine for 8days. Last night started noticing white dots on fins and tail. Moved him into a 30gal hospital tank and started with one low dose of Paraguard as I had no Cuparmine on hand. This morning I woke up and he was agonally breathing and almost dead. He died just about an hour ago. Water parameters were on point.

I've been keeping reef tanks for 2yrs now. By no means an expert buy I've cared for several tangs and other finicky things. Never had a fish die this quickly. Spoke with NYAquatic owner about what happened. Had him cancel another order I had pending for a purple and yellow tang. He seemed very uncaring, basically implied it must have been something I did; not even a sorry. Of course no offer what so ever for even a partial refund even since it was only guaranteed to arrive alive. Of course I'm very upset. I know what I'm doing. I've successfully treated other tangs for ich.

Given his screw up on shipping my order when it was supposed to be a pickup and complete lack of customer service I cannot recommend buying from him. Take from this what you may.


PS. I had to keep from laughing when he told me Tangs as a group are some of the heartiest fish there are. Hmmm, I know several respected people and sources that would disagree.

 

[Bruno516]

Wow, sincerely apologize for your loss. The fact that he was unapologetic makes this case even more. He made a mistake by shipping the fish when you were going to go in and pick it up + got the orders mixed up. Either he is lying and creating an excuse or he truly wasn't paying attention..
Nonetheless, I appreciate the feedback and I hope you stick around the R2R community to contribute and help others.

Hope the best!

 

[NY_Caveman]

Sorry to hear that. A terrible experience for sure. Thank you for coming here to share it and welcome to R2R!

 

[DancingShark]

That's very unfortunate. I keep tangs and I always QT and have cupramine on hand at all times and treat proactively.
Good luck resolving this.

 

[Lollipop]

i just received a purple tang from NY aquatics and i wonder whether i should keep this. it has some fin rot (i am not an expert and i have never had tang with such appearance). i ordered 4 electric blue hermits too but received ordinary blue zebras with little blue tone (ha). i emailed about the issues but never heard anything during last 24 hours. should i call and 'return' this?

 

[DarthSimon]

Michael is usually very good with replacement. Have you spoken to him about getting another... I recall a few years back I had ordered a Lineatus Wrasse super male from him. Died within 24 hours in tank. He replaced it...

 

[Thomashtom]

Need to QT fish before putting in DT.

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

I've bought from NY Aquatics as well: a purple tang that unfortunately died within a day or two. Michael sent a replacement with no issues and it went through QT and into the DT strong and healthy. I've seen several people who seem to have a problem with his personality, but I did not experience it and never got a feeling that he didn't care.

 

[blue.flyzz]

I'm a bit confused....if the fish looked good after acclimation and did fine in your tank for 8 days, I assume it looked healthy and ate well, how is this an issue with the vendor (other than the seemingly poor customer service experience)? In the future, you may want to buy from vendors who give 14 day stay alive guarantees rather than just an arrive alive guarantee? I've been keeping saltwater fish since 1986, I always QT, and I've seen healthy looking fish crap out in 3 days, 5 days, 10 days, 15 days....it happens...they are sensitive animals.

 

[Bay]

Just got a Gem from NYAquatic and a Goldenback Trigger. The Gem ate within 30 minutes and is in perfect condition, the trigger hid like they all do but is eating with no problems a few days later. I chatted with Michael a few times before and after I made the purchase and he is a pretty cool with advice on acclimation and circumstance of your tank. FWIW, we all live in different time zones so it's understandable to not get back in a timely manner if it's a one man show. I will definitely buy from NYAquatic again.

 

[Aquarist76]

I'm a bit confused....if the fish looked good after acclimation and did fine in your tank for 8 days, I assume it looked healthy and ate well, how is this an issue with the vendor (other than the seemingly poor customer service experience)? In the future, you may want to buy from vendors who give 14 day stay alive guarantees rather than just an arrive alive guarantee? I've been keeping saltwater fish since 1986, I always QT, and I've seen healthy looking fish crap out in 3 days, 5 days, 10 days, 15 days....it happens...they are sensitive animals.

2 issues.

1. Just poor customer service.

2. This fish had no exposure to any other fish. It was a brand new tank. That means the fish had to come with disease. I find it a little shady to sell sick fish and then cop out because it was only a "live arrival guarantee". That would be fine if it was a legit vendor selling properly quarantined livestock but that doesn't seem to be this vendor so hence this post.

 

[Lollipop]

I'm a bit confused....if the fish looked good after acclimation and did fine in your tank for 8 days, I assume it looked healthy and ate well, how is this an issue with the vendor (other than the seemingly poor customer service experience)? In the future, you may want to buy from vendors who give 14 day stay alive guarantees rather than just an arrive alive guarantee? I've been keeping saltwater fish since 1986, I always QT, and I've seen healthy looking fish crap out in 3 days, 5 days, 10 days, 15 days....it happens...they are sensitive animals.

if you get an accident, even if you are ok without a scratch and able to eat for a few days, it doesnt mean you are fine! you may get disabled or die in week in a related cause.

 

[Lollipop]

The primary interest of all businesses is profit, yet the trend is towards total care rather than one time selling. These days, you arent able to be on top of the game unless you are genuinely caring for the customers. I am a professor sometimes supervising interns, i say this to every intern. Face it, this isnt the only place to buy fish in the mail.

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

I don't know why this bugs me more than it should. Maybe I've been reading too many negative threads lately. Anyway, my 2 cents:

In your original post there are a few things that potentially throws a red flag as to why something happened:

• Fish had to wait to be acclimated. This could be an issue depending on how long. I understand the shipment was unexpected and not your fault.
• You said yourself the fish was healthy looking upon arrival, and remained so for eight days.
• If your DT had a clam and corals "in quarantine", the tank was not empty. You don't have to have other fish in there; you could very well have brought disease in through those frags, clam, or clamshell and being a new tank they could have been active if 76 days had not passed since they were introduced.

I'm only pointing this out because there may be other possibilities as to why it became ill. Three people in this thread have had opposite experiences with the same vendor (including myself) but those comments were blown off. Instead the vendor is declared shady, sells sick fish and is not legit - that conclusion seems a bit of a stretch. I have no allegiance to or know Michael @ NY Aquatic beyond my purchase and I get that your upset about the experience and wanted, maybe even deserved, a different outcome. But it doesn't seem completely fair to the business owner in this particular case, in my opinion.

Regardless, I am sorry you lost such a beautiful and expensive fish and hope you have a better experience with your next addition.

 

[Wildreefs]

Reason I tend to stay away from businesses in and around New York. Too many places over there have too many good deals or know too many good sources, sometimes the story is too good to be true .