Fish purchase from Live Aquaria

[Al Sayani]

Has anyone ever purchasing fish from Live Aquaria Divers Den (not their regular fish sales area) and have any issues?

Would you trust purchasing fish from Live Aquaria Divers den and place the fish directly in your display tank with expensive fish?

 

[Tanster2]

Definitely quarantine them for some time before placing them with other fish.

 

[ActiveAngel]

I wouldn’t, unless it was a particularly rare fish. Beyond just the color, I prefer to see the fishes behavior and that they readily eat before any purchases.

But one of my friends has done this numerous times; with mixed results I believe.

 

[dball711]

I have bought several times from them, never an issue and the best guarantee around.

 

[lmm1967]

I have bought several times from them, never an issue and the best guarantee around.

FYI - they've changed up some policies here somewhat recently.

Store credit on DOA guarantees rather than refund, I think they've added some box fees etc

 

[Adam]

Hey Al, check with Simon at Nemo before buying. If he can't get it then go with LA. While I've bought from them in the past I haven't gotten anything from DD. LA replaced a Exquisite Wrasse completely on their dime when in came in DOA. There's several other fish I've got from them, like the big Yellow Belly Regal you've seen in my tank.

 

[dball711]

+1 on going to Nemos (either one)!

 

[Al Sayani]

I am not so worried about the refund on DOA, but more so having an issue with other fish.

So LA quarantines their fish that are purchased from the Den. As you know fish cost is some cases is up to double from the Den-

I asked Nimo to quarantine couple of high end fishes, but declined.

I have had bad experiences with fishes purchased from local stores (w

Honestly i do not trust my skills to quarantine a fish w/ dozing.

I did buy a Gem a month ago from the LA Diversand added it to my tank, and had No issues. At the time, i had only 2 fish so i took a chance. But now i have about 8 in there and they are quite pricey.

I guess the verdict is to quarantine fish no matter where i get it right?

Anyone want to quarantine a few fishes for me for a small fee? Or trade some coral? I live in Duluth. Closer the better-

Al

 

[hzheng33]

The problem with quarantine is that while I have a setup in the basement only for quarantine purpose and I’m responsible for my own fishes, whether they live or not, I don’t know if anyone is willing to do it for others due to the liability. Just my 2 cents.

 

[FutureInterest]

I qt corals no matter what and have gotten a frag from divers den that had some nasty pests on it. I've ordered a few hard to find fish though from divers den and they were the picture of health. Small sample size though.

 

[Al Sayani]

The problem with quarantine is that while I have a setup in the basement only for quarantine purpose and I’m responsible for my own fishes, whether they live or not, I don’t know if anyone is willing to do it for others due to the liability. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Al Sayani]

Understood, thx

 

[ActiveAngel]

I asked Nimo to quarantine couple of high end fishes, but declined.

I have had bad experiences with fishes purchased from local stores (w

I’ve also had some bad luck with fish from some LFS’s down here in Atlanta... many of these fish were likely exposed to various diseases at the wholesalers or other points before they ever reach the LFS.

On that topic, I just got back from Southern Aquatics, one of our sponsors and the only LFS here that I know that QTs and medicates their fish before letting a customer take it home. If a fish from a specific system isn’t ready, they’ll even tell you what day to come back and pick it up. Meanwhile, the shop absorbs the costs of livestock deaths, medication, and inventory-time. I’d love to see similar passion and care for livestock from other stores. That said, everyone should still QT their own fish even if the LFS did it already. Occasionally, something eventually slips though.

As stated by @hzheng33, I doubt they or other stores will QT your current livestock though, due to liability.

 

[bhodges82]

This is the reason I don't have a lot of fish, I'm always scared to add anything else. I'm good with coral, not so much with fish.

 

[CJD18]

This is the reason I don't have a lot of fish, I'm always scared to add anything else. I'm good with coral, not so much with fish.

Just get a small AIO tank 5-15 gallons nd setup an easy QT, even if you only use it a holding tank for 7-10 days and watch for any problems.

 

[Suescuno]

I started ordering from them in 2019 because I was tired of the options on the LFS. I placed two orders, one was great with no problems, one of the fish died in QT but for harassment of the other fish. The second order was a disaster, a clam arrived with no footing, one fish had a severe infection (Popeye eye). I got a store credit for those.
Anyway if is coming from the Den or from the LFS always QT.
BTY there is a 15% off coupon until 1/31/2020 on LA (THANKS1) if you are interested.

 

[enderg60]

Over the past 15 years I placed 3 orders with LA, two from the basic site, one from divers den.

First regular order arrived with the wrong corals and half the fish dead.
Second regular order was no corals and 80% dead fish, the rest died over the next 2 weeks.
Third order from DD. 50% dead fish, 80% dead after 2 weeks.

Only other online ordering I have done is for clean up crews, both times I had over 400 snails and hermits dead on arrival.

Yes they gave me a full refund on the dead critters, but I refuse to order from them or any online vendor again.

If I dont see the animal alive and happy and eating well Im not buying.

 

[hzheng33]

Over the past 15 years I placed 3 orders with LA, two from the basic site, one from divers den.

First regular order arrived with the wrong corals and half the fish dead.
Second regular order was no corals and 80% dead fish, the rest died over the next 2 weeks.
Third order from DD. 50% dead fish, 80% dead after 2 weeks.

Only other online ordering I have done is for clean up crews, both times I had over 400 snails and hermits dead on arrival.

Yes they gave me a full refund on the dead critters, but I refuse to order from them or any online vendor again.

If I dont see the animal alive and happy and eating well Im not buying.

Cannot agree more with the last point

 

[enderg60]

I asked Nimo to quarantine couple of high end fishes, but declined.

Why would he take the liability for a rare and expensive fish? I sure as hell wouldnt do it.

 

[ActiveAngel]

I agree that I wouldnt purchase fish online if I could get them from one of the dozens of LFS around. And that i need to see them eating healthy, and without any negative behavior prior to purchase.

My experience with liveaquaria isn’t as bad as everyone else’s. I’ve only done 2-3 Invert purchases from them. Not many dead on arrival, but several incorrect species that arrived alive yet weren’t what I ordered. LA reimbursed me for all of them and let me keep the incorrect species.