whats your thoughts on LiveAquaria and Divers Den

[Big G]

This makes me nervous. I recently placed a order from live aquaria that came last week. The fish they sent me haven’t ate. I’ve tried multiple foods to see what they would eat. I emailed them and haven’t heard anything back from them eventhough everyone claims there customer service is so great. I happened to look on there site and they have a fish I really want on sale. It’s kind of a expensive fish($300) and I’m now not sure I’m willing to take the chance. If there giving people the run around for 14 days until guarantee is no longer good. I just recently went through this with another online vendor who waited and gave me the run around for 21 days which voided my warranty. Don’t wanna go through this again

I always call them (LA) on fish problems and they have credited my card within a couple of days or so. I have emailed them for inverts, corals and they have responded by the next day.

 

[Big G]

Any recommendations on a brand or trusted site that carries NFG? Maybe a pic of what I'm looking for? TIA

I've always bought mine from this place. Was recommended to me by a hobbyist that raises koi. Zero problems.
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/closed.cgi?view_archive_item&medications1447890607

 

[PDR]

Calling works best with LA imo. I have emailed in the past and it took longer to get a response and in certain cases, they were not as forthcoming on offering a refund or discount. On the phone, they have always been very nice and have not hesitated to credit my account for different issues.

 

[B-ridge]

I will call them first thing Monday morning then. I have emailed them 3 times already. First time asking about the size of my fish. Second time asking them about 1 of my conchs and 2 of my snails not moving. Third time was asking what they were feeding there fish(if they were eating) cause none of the 3 fish will eat

 

[Reef Box]

Well I couldn’t pull the trigger on the $300 clowns but I did order a powder blue and a melanarus wrasse from LA I’m in CA and they are coming from CA so we will see how it goes

 

[B-ridge]

I just got off the phone with live aquaria. Calling them definitely does wonders. Everything was taken care of right away. They gave me the option of reshipping or store credit on my inverts. Choose option of refund. No questions asked. No pictures or videos needed. Also gave me info on what they were feeding the fish. Customer service is awesome. Thanks

 

[Reef Box]

Well I couldn’t pull the trigger on the $300 clowns but I did order a powder blue and a melanarus wrasse from LA I’m in CA and they are coming from CA so we will see how it goes

I really wish @LiveAquaria would consider different shipping options. As expected UPS delayed my shipping again! (happens pretty much every time) so now my "overnight shipment" will be sitting here in CA overnight in a warehouse while it's expected to be over 105 degrees for the next two days. Ice packs will be useless and I'll be surprised if my fish are alive if and when they finally arrive tomorrow. I HAD THEM SHIPPED FROM LA, CA TO PASO ROBLES,CA. 4 HOURS AWAY!?!?!?!? Last order I paid the $15 extra for Saturday delivery so it'd be here while I was off work and the "TRANSIT DELAY" caused them to be delivered Monday as dead as could be. I just don't get why a shipment from 4 hours away takes a minimum of 2 days to happen. sure I'll get my money back but I WANT FISH NOT A REFUND!

 

[lolgranny]

I really wish @LiveAquaria would consider different shipping options. As expected UPS delayed my shipping again! (happens pretty much every time) so now my "overnight shipment" will be sitting here in CA overnight in a warehouse while it's expected to be over 105 degrees for the next two days. Ice packs will be useless and I'll be surprised if my fish are alive if and when they finally arrive tomorrow. I HAD THEM SHIPPED FROM LA, CA TO PASO ROBLES,CA. 4 HOURS AWAY!?!?!?!? Last order I paid the $15 extra for Saturday delivery so it'd be here while I was off work and the "TRANSIT DELAY" caused them to be delivered Monday as dead as could be. I just don't get why a shipment from 4 hours away takes a minimum of 2 days to happen. sure I'll get my money back but I WANT FISH NOT A REFUND!

Good ole ups lol

 

[hart24601]

LA/DD is still my top vendor overall. I have bought thousands if not 10s of thousands from them over the years and never had any more losses than any other vendor, they would be on the lower side of loss for me over the years.

Keep in mind regular LA uses quality marine, in fact I think the CA facility might be QM directly. Petco before the buyout also uses QM as does many, many other vendors. DD hand picks some QM along with few other places like ORA. Live aquaria now also ships directly from ORA in FL as well now. You can decide if you would rather get directly from the whole seller/breeder/importer or get from DD.

I have not noticed any decrease in quality since petco bought them and for sure since they use the same supplier the quality of fish is dependent on QM, not LA/Petco and I have not seen any changes in packaging.

As for the clams, I have gotten a few poor clams from DD. However remember that clams are tough to tell how they are doing. If sick they don't show it like fish until it's too late. The stay alive guarantee is very important for clams. I have gotten clams from many vendors like pacific east, cherry corals, pieces of the ocean, ebay vendors, lfs and such.

I recently placed order for clams through LA, but from the ORA Florida facility. The came in good shape and seem healthy. FWIW I have never ordered a clam that a vendor cut from the rock/gravel. The ones from ORA came with gravel, the ones from cherry corals came attached (separated in bag) as well so don't use that as a knock against them. It's far harder to take a razor blade and cut those clams loose. Not saying they were in good health, however it's not the rocks that were the issue. If anything the fact they had been attached shows the clam were healthy.

 

[Reef Box]

Shipment arrived alive. Both fish were FW dipped with no sign of flukes. They seem to be pretty healthy which likely contributed to the survival over the second day. I introduced some food treated with Seachem's metroplex and focus, both fish seem to be eating well and acting normal. YAY!!

 

[Tphill]

All the fish currently in my tanks are from liveaquaria, except for 3 clowns and a melanurus wrasse. I've had no problems with them, no fish has come in with anything that has 'wiped out' my system, no DOA's, except for 1 kind of fish twice. I ordered a female bellus angelfish that arrived gasping for air at the top of the bag, and had a sore on one of it's gills. The fish made it through acclimation, but died overnight. I selected to have another shipped, and this one arrived in the same condition, but didn't make it through acclimation. I decided not to buy anymore bellus from them, and just took store credit. I have purchased a few butterflyfish that have perished after 6 months or so in the display (all from Indonesia) but other than that, all fish are alive and healthy in my tanks, and I have 4 in QT, which is a 39 gallon with sump, cheato, and skimmer, and has been set-up for over 2 years.
Fish from liveaquaria are: in 75G) Eibli angelfish, royal gramma, in 120G) firefish, yellow accessor, male carpenter's flasher wrasse, pajama cardinalfish, in QT) central pacific blue/green reef chromis, canary blenny, male lyretail anthias, and ruby head fairy wrasse.

 

[408Dartfish]

All the fish currently in my tanks are from liveaquaria, except for 3 clowns and a melanurus wrasse. I've had no problems with them, no fish has come in with anything that has 'wiped out' my system, no DOA's, except for 1 kind of fish twice. I ordered a female bellus angelfish that arrived gasping for air at the top of the bag, and had a sore on one of it's gills. The fish made it through acclimation, but died overnight. I selected to have another shipped, and this one arrived in the same condition, but didn't make it through acclimation. I decided not to buy anymore bellus from them, and just took store credit. I have purchased a few butterflyfish that have perished after 6 months or so in the display (all from Indonesia) but other than that, all fish are alive and healthy in my tanks, and I have 4 in QT, which is a 39 gallon with sump, cheato, and skimmer, and has been set-up for over 2 years.
Fish from liveaquaria are: in 75G) Eibli angelfish, royal gramma, in 120G) firefish, yellow accessor, male carpenter's flasher wrasse, pajama cardinalfish, in QT) central pacific blue/green reef chromis, canary blenny, male lyretail anthias, and ruby head fairy wrasse.

What are your thoughts on the central pacific blue/green chromis in comparison with the regular blue/green color wise? Is it a big difference? Dustin

 

[Tphill]

Not a big difference, but the one I have now seems to be a bit more blue and the regular chromis I see in lfs is more green.

 

[Keith Burns]

I bought a yellow tang, carpenter's wrase, and flame angel, in addition to a bunch of snails and crabs I ordered on LA.
Some of snail were aquacultured and came from Wisconsin. I don't know for sure where other stuff came from but it was all shipped together in one box and I received it two days after order so I suspect all came from Wisconsin facility.
Today is only day 4. The fish are in a 10 gallon QT and look great. All three are eating. I am feeding them frozen brine and flake spirulina treated with Seachem Focus and garlic guard to treat for internal parasites. Five day with Prazipro, and then ten days Paraguard.
Still too early to say for sure but very happy with LA order so far.

 

[Reef Box]

Fish are doing pretty good. I observed them for about 5 days while feeding some treated mixed frozen foods. Started ramping up copper late last week. Doing a WC today (planned weekly) we’ll see how everything goes. Looking pretty good so far (fingers crossed)

 

[ReefWithCare]

I have 5 fish from DD. All came in great condition, ate well, etc. All were QT’ed. It was two clownfish, an orchid dotty, and two wrasses. I got my Tangs locally because DD hardy ever sells common tangs like Yellows on DD which is a shame. I won’t order anything that ships from CA.

No LFS around me has guarantees for SW fish so DD is my go to for the condition the fish come in and the guarantee.

 

[Rython]

I actually have a better survival rate coming from regular LA than from DD. I wonder if it's because the older wrasses (terminal phase) i get from DD just don't ship as well as the younger ones I get from LA.

LA anthia have done better for me than DD too, so that would require a different explanation.

 

[Rython]

I just called LA about a fish that died. They said they have a new policy and I had to send them a photo of the dead fish. So I looked up their new policy and gone is their old statement that they believe a good relationship is built on trust. Here's the new policy:

Every aquatic life order is backed by our arrive alive and stay alive for 14 days guarantee:

In the case of a loss, please contact our Customer Service Department here as soon as the loss occurs (including any loss upon arrival). To take advantage of the guarantee, follow the steps outlined below within your guarantee timeframe:

• • Attach a digital photo of the loss. The specimen should be photographed out of the shipping bag or aquarium and on a white background.
  • Include your name, order number, and item number of deceased specimen.
• Please preserve the deceased specimen by placing it in a plastic bag, sprinkling a teaspoon of salt over it, and then freezing, in the event we would ask for the return of your specimen. You may discard the remains after we have processed your claim and sent you a verification email.

When their reputation for quality is on the decline, it seems like a bad plan to make the customer service experience a pain too.

I predict LA is about to lose enormous market share.

 

[lolgranny]

I just called LA about a fish that died. They said they have a new policy and I had to send them a photo of the dead fish. So I looked up their new policy and gone is their old statement that they believe a good relationship is built on trust. Here's the new policy:

Every aquatic life order is backed by our arrive alive and stay alive for 14 days guarantee:

In the case of a loss, please contact our Customer Service Department here as soon as the loss occurs (including any loss upon arrival). To take advantage of the guarantee, follow the steps outlined below within your guarantee timeframe:

• • Attach a digital photo of the loss. The specimen should be photographed out of the shipping bag or aquarium and on a white background.
  • Include your name, order number, and item number of deceased specimen.
• Please preserve the deceased specimen by placing it in a plastic bag, sprinkling a teaspoon of salt over it, and then freezing, in the event we would ask for the return of your specimen. You may discard the remains after we have processed your claim and sent you a verification email.

When their reputation for quality is on the decline, it seems like a bad plan to make the customer service experience a pain too.

I predict LA is about to lose enormous market share.

Enormous market loss because they want a photo? I doubt it. If people feel taking a photo (which takes less time then making a post on here) and sending to them is too much to ask for a refund they should go somewhere else. “Trust” is a hard thing within the internet. It’s so easy to scam them. i think they should ask for a photo. That’s the least you could do.

I’m a business owner as well as a customer of LA. This only makes sense to me.

 

[Rython]

Enormous market loss because they want a photo? I doubt it. If people feel taking a photo (which takes less time then making a post on here) and sending to them is too much to ask for a refund they should go somewhere else. “Trust” is a hard thing within the internet. It’s so easy to scam them i think they should ask for a photo. That’s the least you could do.

I’m a business owner as well as a customer or LA. This only makes sense to me.

You're right, I can't speak for everyone. Maybe this isn't a big deal for you, but to me it's a poor business decision to change the policy and enforce it on people who had already placed orders...a policy that asks me to keep a dead fish in my wife's freezer... that makes a big difference to me. Enough that I will personally be shopping elsewhere.