WARNING - DO NOT BUY FROM VIOLET AQUARIUM

[Wolf89]

About 2 week weeks ago, I placed an order for 18 fish from Violet Aquarium.
When I opened the box, EVERY SINGLE bag had NO oxygen. All fish were either dead or gasping for air. It's as if the bags were filled with water and the fish, then tied shut. Not a single bag had any supplementary air, like the other 20 places I have ordered fish from. As a result of this, there were several DOAs and I watched another 12 fish gasp for air on my sand bed until they died. Their gills were red and inflamed due these extremely poor shipping practices. Whoever packed these fish at Violet Aquarium doomed them to die, these fish were never going to survive the shipping process due to the ineptitude.
I am trying to fight for my money back, but the company is only offering store credit for the few DOA. Mind you, I never want to order from this place again, as they will literally send these fish to their death.
Please, never order from this company. They clearly don't care for the wellbeing of these wild-caught fish.

 

[slingfox]

Sounds like someone from Violet severely messed up packing your order. I hope you can get things resolved!

I live within driving distance from Violet Aquarium and can confirm they have several large tanks of oxygen onsite. I have ordered several fish on multiple occasions from Violet without any issues. I only do local pickup. Every time they have filled the bags I received with oxygen (I can see and hear them doing it).

 

[SeaWolf95]

I am trying to fight for my money back, but the company is only offering store credit for the few DOA. Mind you, I never want to order from this place again, as they will literally send these fish to their death.
Please, never order from this company. They clearly don't care for the wellbeing of these wild-caught fish.

That sounds like a charge back. Take pictures and send to CC that item not as described . Dont ever beg for your money back.

 

[Largeangels]

I've ordered from them before. In fact one order was delayed because of UPS by another day and they still made it.

Must have been a new employee that shouldn't pack fish ever again.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

TSM Aquatics in NJ qt's with copper and does 30day observation. I watch them pack their livestock with O2 and very well packed.

 

[JumboShrimp]

They have some 'not common' fish that I almost ordered. So this is very concerning. If they give you a reply as to what they claimed happened, post it and let us know how this story ends.

 

[zack1110fish]

The guy that runs Violet Aquarium LLC is a hot-headed lunatic with a NASTY attitude problem! He sent me a really nasty email response because I had called them yesterday regarding whether or not their copper band butterflies were eating, and they said “oh yeah, they are eating pellets” and that they were gladly send me a video of them eating. The next day, when I requested the video, they said that they don’t train them to eat, and that they weren’t eating.

When I messaged back and told the guy that I didn’t appreciate being lied to, he went off on me and I will attach a screenshot of the message. I got back from him. If you look at his Google reviews, you will see he responds like this to anyone that gives any kind of feedback that he doesn’t like. The guy really needs a psychological check and shouldn’t be allowed to talk to customers like that.

 

[BryanM]

I wish I could say something nice, but I can't. I think I work walking distance from them, but already have had a bad experience.

 

[Üter]

????

WYSIWYG !!!

https://www.violetaquarium.com/products/copperband-butterflyfish-cb042701-wysiwyg-size-m-3

 

[slingfox]

????

WYSIWYG !!!

https://www.violetaquarium.com/products/copperband-butterflyfish-cb042701-wysiwyg-size-m-3

I got my Copperband from Violet Aquarium and it ate right away. I did not depend on Violet to train it—I picked it up within 24 hours of them importing the fish and it went straight into my QT tank.

If you want trained Copperband it’s better to go with Dr. Reef’s, HighTide Aquatics, or Marine Collector’s. I would not expect Violet to train any fish in the same way I would not expect Petco to train any fish. That is not part of their business model.

 

[Üter]

I got my Copperband from Violet Aquarium and it ate right away. I did not depend on Violet to train it—I picked it up within 24 hours of them importing the fish and it went straight into my QT tank.

If you want trained Copperband it’s better to go with Dr. Reef’s, HighTide Aquatics, or Marine Collector’s. I would not expect Violet to train any fish in the same way I would not expect Petco to train any fish. That is not part of their business model.

I'm only referring to the fish out of water pics.

 

[ReefED!]

I’ll call bullcrap on anyone claiming they’ve got their Copperbands eating pellets at an LFS

I’ve had my copperband for around 3 years now and he won’t even look at a pellet

I agree with the poster who said use the nuclear option - charge back.

 

[ScottF]

About 2 week weeks ago, I placed an order for 18 fish from Violet Aquarium.
When I opened the box, EVERY SINGLE bag had NO oxygen. All fish were either dead or gasping for air. It's as if the bags were filled with water and the fish, then tied shut. Not a single bag had any supplementary air, like the other 20 places I have ordered fish from. As a result of this, there were several DOAs and I watched another 12 fish gasp for air on my sand bed until they died. Their gills were red and inflamed due these extremely poor shipping practices. Whoever packed these fish at Violet Aquarium doomed them to die, these fish were never going to survive the shipping process due to the ineptitude.
I am trying to fight for my money back, but the company is only offering store credit for the few DOA. Mind you, I never want to order from this place again, as they will literally send these fish to their death.
Please, never order from this company. They clearly don't care for the wellbeing of these wild-caught fish.

Thanks for the heads up. I appreciate these kinds of posts. Hopefully it doesn't get banished to the vendor feedback forum.

I'm a fan of Dr Reef. Their customer support has always been pretty great in my experience.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

The guy that runs Violet Aquarium LLC is a hot-headed lunatic with a NASTY attitude problem! He sent me a really nasty email response because I had called them yesterday regarding whether or not their copper band butterflies were eating, and they said “oh yeah, they are eating pellets” and that they were gladly send me a video of them eating. The next day, when I requested the video, they said that they don’t train them to eat, and that they weren’t eating.

When I messaged back and told the guy that I didn’t appreciate being lied to, he went off on me and I will attach a screenshot of the message. I got back from him. If you look at his Google reviews, you will see he responds like this to anyone that gives any kind of feedback that he doesn’t like. The guy really needs a psychological check and shouldn’t be allowed to talk to customers like that.

someone should teach him how to spell. How embarrassing