OK Liveaquaria. What's the deal with this Feminus Wrasse?

[Aquarist76]

OK @LiveAquaria

https://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden/itemdisplay.cfm?c=2733+3&ddid=542021&utm_medium=email&utm_source=TR&utm_campaign=LA_All&utm_content=DDDaily_PRDCT

So this description clearly says "Male" in two different places but the picture is clearly of a Female. The price is also more in line with what male Feminus wrasses have sold for in the past ($1500-2000) than what females have sold for (1200ish).

I took the plunge and bought it because I want a male one, I just want to know which is the mistake: the picture or the description.


Male:

Female:

Wrasse in question:

 

[Thaxxx]

Well if it comes in female. You've got a refund coming. The picture is the mistake. Imo.
For that $$ of a purchase, I would of made a phone call to confirm.

 

[Aquarist76]

Well if it comes in female. You've got a refund coming. The picture is the mistake. Imo.
For that $$ of a purchase, I would of made a phone call to confirm.

True, but they are not open right now and I wasn't going to miss out on it by waiting; especially since there's actually a new DD coupon right now. I figure if it's a female then I'll cancel the order. I'd love a female too, but not at that price. Here's hoping its a male though.

 

[Thaxxx]

Call them in the A.M. When they open.
DD in Wisconsin has better customer service than California in my experience.

 

[Aquarist76]

A male would go great with my 2 year old female Lennardi (Leo) (currently in re-QT prior to our big move to Hawaii:




6 inches, fat, and very happy

 

[Thaxxx]

Nice.
What makes them "expert only"?
PA. to Hawaii? That's too bad. I hear they have a ban there.. Haha. And that dang great weather is depressing.

 

[Aquarist76]

Nice.
What makes them "expert only"?
PA. to Hawaii? That's too bad. I hear they have a ban there.. Haha. And that dang great weather is depressing.

They are rather difficult to get acclimated and eating and very disease prone. Also they really need to be fed several times a day. That being said I've had pretty good luck except for the the disease part. My Lennardi has been doing great for 2 years now. I had a female Feminus wrasse that did great in QT for 3 months without any disease. Then I put her in my main tank and after a month got some disease and was dead within 48 hours (all the other fish in the tank including Leo did fine). I had a male Feminus that was in QT for 2-3mo with an illness I was never able to get control of and he died one week when I was sick too and couldn't properly stay on top of his care (I still feel terrible about that but I could barely get off my couch for 10 days). Even though no other fish have gotten sick in the main tank since I've never been able to rid myself of the thought something potentially bad disease-wise is still lurking in there. Hence the re-QT prior to the move just to make sure they're as healthy as possible prior to the move.

I'm trying to get all the "rare" fish I've always wanted now before the move. Since no one online ships to Hawaii I figure I'm better bringing them with me than trying to find them there. When I visited Honolulu a couple of months ago I went to the local fish stores and asked them if they could get certain types of fish in and they looked at me like I had three heads.

 

[MrTaleb]

When it comes to diver's den you are buying what's in the photo, so you will definitely be getting that female. They will tell you the same thing when you call them and probably won't even cancel your order. Sorry and I hope I am wrong but the description is definitely wrong and not the photo.

 

[polyppal]

Semi-off topic: how do you plan on transporting the fish to Hawaii? On the plane w you? That seems like a difficult move for live fish

 

[Aquarist76]

When it comes to diver's den you are buying what's in the photo, so you will definitely be getting that female. They will tell you the same thing when you call them and probably won't even cancel your order. Sorry and I hope I am wrong but the description is definitely wrong and not the photo.

The price is way high for a female. I don't exclude that maybe they just raised their prices again, but that with the description would be odd (1199 to 1899 would be a huge jump, especially since as of 2 days ago they were selling non-DD females for 1199 but are now OOS). There's no way they can list a wrong description and not allow the cancel of the order. IF they did try that then I'd contest it with my CC company; but I don't expect it will be an issue.

In general DD specimens tend to go for about 10-20% more than their non-DD counterparts of similar size and age/sex. 1899 vs 1199 is a huge mark up if this is for a female. Also, I'm pretty sure I have seen them list with the wrong photo before a couple of times.

I've been keeping my eye on the non-DD ones for weeks because I really wanted one of these before I move. But given how non-DD are kept in CA and not WI and are in my experience more prone to illness, I didn't really want to risk it on a fish that's only "Live Arrival Guarantee" only.

 

[Aquarist76]

Semi-off topic: how do you plan on transporting the fish to Hawaii? On the plane w you? That seems like a difficult move for live fish

So, good question. I keep hearing mixed info on if you can check packaged fish on a plane. Several places/people say you can but TSA says fish are only allowed in the plane cabin. A fish like this would definitely come on the plane in the cabin with me given it's small size and price. If I can't check fish that will be a severe limitation of what I can bring. If that's the case I'm going to have to look at shipping (I'm not sure overnight is available to HI so it may have to be 2-day which should still be fine if packed well but makes me nervous). Worst case scenario I have a friend or relative care for the ones I really want and I can go back and forth and take them in batches on the plane with me. Either way it's going to be quite expensive I expect but my fish are my babies and I'm not leaving them behind (at least not my favs).

 

[MrTaleb]

Yeah you are probably right about them letting you cancel your order if it's mislabeled as male. I personally only buy DD fish and that has worked out for me so I understand why you willing to pay a premium for their fish. I just still think that odds are you bought the fish in the photo and they mislabeled it as male.

 

[Bepis]

Did you contact them? I’m interested in the outcome of this predicament. Also wow all the way to Hawaii... transporting those fish is going to cost more than my whole tank! Lol

 

[LiveAquaria]

@Aquarist76 Thank you for making us aware of the description error for the Blue Striped Tamarin Wrasse Male. We sincerely apologize, we did confirm the Blue Striped Tamarin Wrasse is a female. Please contact us at your earliest convenience to advise us how you wish to proceed with your order. We have submitted a request to attempt to acquire a male, as we currently do not have any available in our WI facility.

 

[Aquarist76]

OK, so LA customer service was great. They are going to try to find a male for me at that price but are not sure if they will be able to find one. The price for the female listed would be $1499 which is a bit of an increase from the $1199-1299 they had gone for before. That being said with the 15% off coupon it would be $1275. So I decided to go with the female because I've really been wanting one. If they can still find a male then I'd take that as well but that would just be gravy (and given the rarity of the males in the trade I think unlikely).

So I'm happy and glad I made the purchase.

 

[Rubberfrog]

OK, so LA customer service was great. They are going to try to find a male for me at that price but are not sure if they will be able to find one. The price for the female listed would be $1499 which is a bit of an increase from the $1199-1299 they had gone for before. That being said with the 15% off coupon it would be $1275. So I decided to go with the female because I've really been wanting one. If they can still find a male then I'd take that as well but that would just be gravy (and given the rarity of the males in the trade I think unlikely).

So I'm happy and glad I made the purchase.

Outstanding

 

[Aquarist76]

So for anyone wondering why these are considered "Expert" level fish, as mentioned above they are notoriously bad shippers. My gal arrived on Thursday and even though properly packed in several gallons of water, and the water being a reasonable 70 F on arrival still (considering Central PA temps), I though this guy was dead when I first opened the packaging.




Then I got her into a buck and she swam a bit but then went back to playing dead and pretty much wouldn't move on her own.




Well after a slow 12 hour drip acclimatization she was still alive. Took a couple of days to get used to her settings but wasn't eating mysis or bloodworms. But today she started coming out of hiding more and began eating the Masstick I offered her (my Lennardi loves this stuff). She got a liking for that stuff pretty darn quick. My new Blue Line Angelfish I got at the same time is doing great too and they are getting along wonderfully (that loud background sound is my RO/DI permeate pump doing its thing).




Angelfish is eating too when she lets him have a go.

 

[Huskymaniac]

So, good question. I keep hearing mixed info on if you can check packaged fish on a plane. Several places/people say you can but TSA says fish are only allowed in the plane cabin. A fish like this would definitely come on the plane in the cabin with me given it's small size and price. If I can't check fish that will be a severe limitation of what I can bring. If that's the case I'm going to have to look at shipping (I'm not sure overnight is available to HI so it may have to be 2-day which should still be fine if packed well but makes me nervous). Worst case scenario I have a friend or relative care for the ones I really want and I can go back and forth and take them in batches on the plane with me. Either way it's going to be quite expensive I expect but my fish are my babies and I'm not leaving them behind (at least not my favs).

Many years ago I actually brought fish home from Hawaii. I caught them diving at night with a local collector. I just checked them with live cargo and picked them where you get the live pets at the airport.

 

[jamie1210]

So, good question. I keep hearing mixed info on if you can check packaged fish on a plane. Several places/people say you can but TSA says fish are only allowed in the plane cabin. A fish like this would definitely come on the plane in the cabin with me given it's small size and price. If I can't check fish that will be a severe limitation of what I can bring. If that's the case I'm going to have to look at shipping (I'm not sure overnight is available to HI so it may have to be 2-day which should still be fine if packed well but makes me nervous). Worst case scenario I have a friend or relative care for the ones I really want and I can go back and forth and take them in batches on the plane with me. Either way it's going to be quite expensive I expect but my fish are my babies and I'm not leaving them behind (at least not my favs).

Wow, now that's dedication! Very admirable.

 

[Tamberav]

I thought you needed a permit to bring fish into Hawaii? Idk how hard it is to obtain. Just that a friend could not bring theirs with when they moved there due to laws. They probably worry someone might bright a nonnative fish or pet and release it. Hawaii is pretty strict about things. Last I checked, I can’t even move there and bring my domestic bengal cat.