Not the time of year for Live Aquaria

[Bustyraker]

Same happened to me about a year ago. Ordered 2 SPS colonies off of divers den and the bags felt like they spend the night in alaska. Of course both of the corals were dead and completely white. Had to make several phone calls/emails to get it made right. Still refused to refund me but applied a full credit instead. I used my credit to buy dry goods from Dr Foster/Smith and havent done business with LiveAquaria Since.

 

[tqpolo]

I just got a shipment from LA this week. Sorry but what you got look nothing like LA's packaging. They always black out the bottom half of the bag. They would be triple or quadruple bagged and oversize. Popcorn filling to the rim along with documentation.

 

[wkscott]

I just got a shipment from LA this week. Sorry but what you got look nothing like LA's packaging. They always black out the bottom half of the bag. They would be triple or quadruple bagged and oversize. Popcorn filling to the rim along with documentation.

Did your shipment come from Liveaquaria or Diver's Den?

 

[4FordFamily]

Did your shipment come from Liveaquaria or Diver's Den?

Yup because Divers dem blacks the bottom of the bag, Live Aquaria does not except for some easily stressed fish species.

 

[Jerry Barnes]

Got six fish last week from LA. All triple wrapped and black bagged with styro and heat packs. No DOA's

 

[wkscott]

Got six fish last week from LA. All triple wrapped and black bagged with styro and heat packs. No DOA's

Same question as above: Were they from LIVEAQUARIA or DIVER'S DEN (WYSIWYG?)

 

[reeferfoxx]

I just got a shipment from LA this week. Sorry but what you got look nothing like LA's packaging. They always black out the bottom half of the bag. They would be triple or quadruple bagged and oversize. Popcorn filling to the rim along with documentation.

That is what last weeks shipment looked like. Minus the adequate amount of heat packs.

 

[JOKER]

Divers den has always been packed well. Live aquaria not so well. I think live aquaria is worse now since percolating took over.

Coralreeftn does a great job and they have some healthy fish. I have a pair in QT now from them.

 

[tqpolo]

Did your shipment come from Liveaquaria or Diver's Den?

Liveaquaria. I had a handful of shipment from LA and they all look the same. DD is the same as well if i remember correctly.

 

[Steve Fast]

Was talking to a LFS today about why their stock was so low. They said shipping at high travel times and/or high volume shipping seasons is really unreliable. So they simply wait to order anything until the shipping gets better. Also my local UPS delivery person said to ship only to business addresses as they will deliver those by 10:30 while home deliveries can get pushed to late in the day. Further for UPS their delivery route and schedule is not up to the driver. I learned this when accepting my LA day before Thanksgiving end of the day (5 PM) UPS delivery that was not so fortunate and the bags were quite cool. The driver also said that Petco always has their boxes held at the UPS receiving center for pick-up. For FedEx I'd recommend shipping to the local pick-up. Don't use UPS Stores for pick-up as they are privately owned franchises and will charge you a fee to have them receive your delivery... or at least that is what mine local one told me when I did that... cost me $10. I took advantage of a Algae Barn black Friday deal and the shipment just got held in route for 5 days because of shipping volume was so high. USPS wasn't even able to fulfill their promised Priority Mail speed as paid for my the shipper. Thankfully pods are not as sensitive as other livestock and were held indoor so it turned out OK. .. Apparently LA, SaltwaterFish, and others may or may not know about the shipping vagrancies and will often run some "deals" that correspond with bad shipping times. So it is up to our community to be cognizant not these issues and plan accordingly. Anyway just my experiences and lessons learned.

 

[Nano Reef Q]

I ordered recently but they didn't send me the correct fish & I told them not to ship new fish out because cost higher than fish cost for them....some fish ship from FL & some CA warehouse. I have purchased from them because I am supporting farm produced stock only at this point-the more I dive the more I see the importance of this. LA amazingly let me keep the incorrect fish & refunded my $$ w/out any problem.

 

[Snookster]

Couple of years ago, I went through the shipping nightmare with LA. Ordered coral, came dead. I'm in Florida and the temp was in the 80s and they shipped with 4 heat packs. Cooked the coral. Going from the cold midwest to a warm Florida just never worked out. I only got credits and decided to wait until spring. But it still took 3 shipments/replacements to still get a live specimen. I now only get coral through the local reef club auctions, the LFS or other local reefers. I'm done with the shipping of the coral. I don't need anything out there that bad.

 

[h8edpurdie]

Had this happen to me last year. Did a big purchase from divers den and more than half the fish came frozen. I never had problem before Petco bought them. Now I'm afraid to order again.

 

[evmibo]

I just got a shipment from LA this week. Sorry but what you got look nothing like LA's packaging. They always black out the bottom half of the bag. They would be triple or quadruple bagged and oversize. Popcorn filling to the rim along with documentation.

Got six fish last week from LA. All triple wrapped and black bagged with styro and heat packs. No DOA's

I've orderedfive fish, two nems, and a clam from LA as well (within the last month), same experience, good packing. Two of those fish came under a week ago.

Someone obviously messed up OP's package, but I've always had good experiences with LA's packing, even after being bought by Petco.

Same question as above: Were they from LIVEAQUARIA or DIVER'S DEN (WYSIWYG?)

LA = Live Aquaria

 

[Lowstorm]

Same thing happened to me last week. Everything was held up by ups, so I didn't expect much. I think the fish from divers den would have made it but the anemone from live aquaria was literally slush. One heat pack that was frozen, slush in the bag, it was awful.

I'm trying again. Everything from DD this time. As long as ups doesn't f-up, I'll know by the end of the day. Plus the outside temps will be higher than last week, so even if it's a day late I hope all is well.

Gonna go check my status again!!!!

..still in Minneapolis. Stupid ups. I want it now!

 

[Lowstorm]

Yup, once again ups dropped the ball. My package is literally 6 miles from me but they're so busy they can't do anything until...









Tomorrow. Yay. 50/50 the fish survive this.

 

[reeferfoxx]

LA sent me an apology email. They are crediting my shipping costs in addition to the loss of livestock. I'm very thankful for that and still rather disappointed.

I did place an order with Blue Zoo since temp are above 40deg. However with increased volumn, my fish is stuck in Memphis till further notice. Im very worried but Blue Zoo sent me a message explaining the delay and reassuring me they package their fish for 2-4 days of travel. Although i dont think the little guy will arrive alive, I do appreciate their efforts in making things less stressful. We will see...

 

[Lowstorm]

Yeah last week mine was held overnight. LA called and said it's was packaged for 72 hours. Just couldn't hold up to the cold.

 

[nonstopfish]

I ordered two fish from LiveAquaria last week and had delivered to my office where UPS always shows up by 1030a. Well UPS did show up but didn't have the package, by the time it showed up after 3pm the fish were super cold despite a very well packed box. Just couldn't handle being on the truck for 8 hours when it was 0 degrees out. Both fish went into my 120 gallon QT and neither made it a week. Customer service has been great as usual, but agree with many above, tough time of year to order.

 

[reeferfoxx]

Yeah last week mine was held overnight. LA called and said it's was packaged for 72 hours. Just couldn't hold up to the cold.

Last week was bitter cold around the nation. Though, neither one of my packages from them would have survived 15 hours worth of shipping. One little heat pack just isn't enough, sometimes. And I understand too that too many heat packs could cook the fish, but...