Where to shop (and not to) online for livestock

[Rickhtoo]

I wanted to start a thread to discuss the best places to purchase sea life online, and get the opinion of other reefers and their experiences. Please let me know if there is already a thread for this, I would be very interested in it. I have only purchased from a handful of suppliers, but I already know where I will, and will not order from. LiveAquaria is at the top of my list, as is Petco, and I have had nothing but good experiences from them.

On the bad side, SaltwaterFish is not so good.. However, as bad as they are, there are worse.. Aquastockers for example is especially bad. Not only did it take them a week just to ship the product, it came 90 percent DOA.. Call me picky, but I have a problem with paying high shipping charges only to get dead sea life...

Sent in a used cardboard box, with no internal protection other than 3 little air bags.. No warmer to keep the water from getting cold. Water temp was less than 60 degrees when the box finally arrived. They should not be allowed to do business if they can't treat sea life better than that...

I was reading a thread and saw Reefs2go mentioned as a good source for Copepods so I checked it out and decided to place an order for that and some sea life as the prices were good. Too good!. I placed the order on Sunday, and Monday was given a shipping date for Thursday. Deja Vu? After some searching, I read mostly bad reviews on the business, so I have cancelled the order. Oddly enough both Aquastockers and Reefs2go are both in Florida. Affiliated maybe?

Anyway, I would like to hear from other reefers on good and bad experiences to weed out all the bad places and get an idea where the good ones are. Thanks!

[dustinkimpel]

Reefs2gos pods are the best. I have also had good luck with their mushrooms and zoas. Fish not so much, they actually had to shut down the fish side of the business for a while to recoup. Haven't tried them since the reopening of this department. Check out bluezooaquatics they are probably my favorite place to order from.

[joshky]

Reefs2gos pods are the best.

Reefs2go doesn't deserve business, they are a terrible company. Look them up, there are a billion threads about how bad they are. I would rather pay more elsewhere and know that money is going to a company that DESERVES my business.

[jminick2]

blue zoo aquatics and unique corals. I have an unbelievable beautiful sps colony coming from unique corals was suppose to be here today, with all the bad weather they called me last night and said they weren't going to ship until Thursday to avoid any delays that might cost me my coral. Not only did the keep me in the loop, they also looking out for the coral. A+ in my eyes.

[Rickhtoo]

blue zoo aquatics and unique corals. I have an unbelievable beautiful sps colony coming from unique corals was suppose to be here today, with all the bad weather they called me last night and said they weren't going to ship until Thursday to avoid any delays that might cost me my coral. Not only did the keep me in the loop, they also looking out for the coral. A+ in my eyes.

I have actually been to both sites, and I believe you have talked me into it. Blue Zoo looks really nice for variety, and even has the yellow goby, pistol shrimp pair that I want. I appreciate the info!

[Hodge1995]

Live Aquaria hands down the best all the way around. There are plenty of threads on this topic. I was gonna try reefs2go but they have a lot of horrible reviews. So I have been using reeftopia for snail.

[gone fishin]

Reefcleaners is a great place for CUC.

[dustinkimpel]

I have actually been to both sites, and I believe you have talked me into it. Blue Zoo looks really nice for variety, and even has the yellow goby, pistol shrimp pair that I want. I appreciate the info!

Let us know how you like bluezoo! I always had really good experience with them.

[cleverbs]

I have to say that the price to ship from UniqueCorals is crazy cheap...It is only 19$

[spkennyva]

I urge anyone who is planning to purchase livestock online to carefully read the shipping and livestock guarantee policies. If problems occur, and they will, its best to be dealing with a company that really stands behind not only the livestock, but has the most forgiving shipping and pickup policies.

[hart24601]

I urge anyone who is planning to purchase livestock online to carefully read the shipping and livestock guarantee policies. If problems occur, and they will, its best to be dealing with a company that really stands behind not only the livestock, but has the most forgiving shipping and pickup policies.

This is a good idea. IMO look for threads where something went wrong and how it was resolved. Many vendors are great when your coral arrives alive, when something goes bad and they take care of it without hassle is what makes a vendor great.

[baonguyen0207]

Live Aquaria hands down the best all the way around. There are plenty of threads on this topic. I was gonna try reefs2go but they have a lot of horrible reviews. So I have been using reeftopia for snail.

:bounce3:

[dendrite]

LiveAquaria/Divers Den in my opinion is the bes tfor quality, price, and most especially customer service and live guaranty support. Their packaging is also the best that I have seen

[Ricordeafish]

Austin Aqua Farms is one of my favorites great they sometimes also run eBay auctions aside from there website and you can get some great coral at great prices.

On the other side my least favorite is reefs2go in my case had to credit card company involved.

[hart24601]

Here is some of my experience:

Liveaquaria/DD. Always great, customer service is top notch, not only best reef related but the best service I have had from any company. I was upset once because the coral didn't match the DD photo and got a full refund no questions asked. Some of their captive propagated coral has 30 day guarantee but everything has 14 days.

Blue Zoo. I have not had a bad experience. They don't have a huge selection, but I found some fish there that no one else had. It was a bit cold when I ordered them and they waited to ship because the fish were hard to come by. That was a nice touch.

Unique coral. My go to place for corals. Never had a bad experience so I can't rate their service, but always have a fast reply to email. They will cut those damn plastic ORA frag plugs before shipping, which is great.

Pacific East. Great clams, best I have seen, but the coral I have ordered was just ok. Several were bleached. I didn't complain so idk about their service.

Pieces of the ocean. Recently bought a clam from them. Arrived in good shape, no issues.

Gonzo's corals. Bought flowerpot package. Arrived in poor shape. After a photo he agreed to reship once new frags healed. Should be next week. Happy with service so far.

AquaSD. It's ok. Bought lots from live sales before, seems like take a long time to color back up. Nothing has arrived dead, so that is good.

World Wide Corals. Only bought once, but the coral was fantastic.

Cherry corals. No issues.

Happy corals. Was just ok. Not terrible, not thrilled.

Ebay vendors vary a lot. Some great ones are world wide corals, NY fish and a couple others. Have had very bad ones too. A mix.

Hope all that info helps!

[hart24601]

Overall I have had very good experiences ordering online.

[BIGD0G]

bluezoo is great. I have had several good orders from them and not one DOA or death period of any livestock, snail or coral from them.

[CStrickland]

Something to keep in mind with online seller guarantees is whether they cover shipping. Idk if any do.
I had 3 chromis refunded from livaquaria no problem, but only the $12 price. Not the $30 something cost of shipping. So im still out $30.
Im kind of reluctant to buy online again since there's so much out of my control between the warehouse and my house, but I don't have a decent LFS so I'm kind of stuck.

[snorvich]

The guarantee will be the limiting factor on any shopping as far as I am concerned. Is everything guaranteed? For how long? Store credit or refund? If store credit, any limitations? All livestock should be quarantined irrespective of source (LFS, online, friend)

[Dmorty217]

The guarantee will be the limiting factor on any shopping as far as I am concerned. Is everything guaranteed? For how long? Store credit or refund? If store credit, any limitations? All livestock should be quarantined irrespective of source (LFS, online, friend)

This

[Learn It]

another vote for live aquaria

[kendrid]

For coral I have bought a lot from Saltcritters.com. They are close to me so shipping is $20. If you add them on facebook they often have great sales.

Fish have all been from Liveaquaria. I need to give blue zoo a try sometime.

[30g]

Most places are going to have good and bad reviews. Reefs2go has been good to me three times in a row so no issues there. BluZooAquatics sent me a dead cleaner shrimp and when I complained they said i should have ordered more than one item

[jminick2]

Most places are going to have good and bad reviews. Reefs2go has been good to me three times in a row so no issues there. BluZooAquatics sent me a dead cleaner shrimp and when I complained they said i should have ordered more than one item

So your shrimp was dead and you called them and told them and they were like "welp I guess you should of ordered more?" hmmmm am I missing something?

[dmh41532]

I have purchased from vivid aquariums, saltwater fish.com and once from live aquaria no problems...healthy livestock great service. I once ordered from thatfishplace and I will never order from them again. Checkout and shopping process were painful. Livestock arrived in horrible shape. Died one day after guarantee.

[BIGD0G]

Something to keep in mind with online seller guarantees is whether they cover shipping. Idk if any do.
I had 3 chromis refunded from livaquaria no problem, but only the $12 price. Not the $30 something cost of shipping. So im still out $30.
Im kind of reluctant to buy online again since there's so much out of my control between the warehouse and my house, but I don't have a decent LFS so I'm kind of stuck.

I typically order enough to get free shipping from the vendor. I add a couple frags to whatever fish I am buying or some snails to put me over the free shipping limit. This way if I do need to make a claim and get the refund I am made whole again since I did not pay for the shipping. Just a thought.

[ghostman]

Liveaquaria is THE place for me to get corals and fish online with their Divers Den section the best for livestock. I ordered twice from Unique Corals and both times the order was wrong. Everything looked good though. AquaSD has some nice stuff, always healthy for me. Recently ordered from Gonzo's Reef and had a great experience. Good communication and the corals were healthy. Lots of extra polyps and freebies.

[SavingOurSeas]

Recently I was employed as a contractor with the USPS and FedEx and to even receive livestock that is still alive after ANY trip from a warehouse to a home is shocking.
The beating that ANY package goes through to arrive at our doorstep is ridiculous, but it is what it is.
Personally I want to SEE what I am buying, but as we all know LFS do not and cannot carry everything we want and need especially concerning specialty items (livestock, parts, etc.) when it comes to this hobby (salt or fresh).
I'm hoping to see the local community progress into having some type of hobbyist gathering once a month - everyone loves a frag swap right ^_^

To add my two cents into the jar of online shipping, I have not used it for live goods.
However, that is about to change sometime this year.
I will be using liveaquaria and bloozooaquatics - when I have results I will do a solid review on their performance.

I wholeheartedly agree on the bulk ordering as to do away with the shipping cost -

[CStrickland]

Maybe an upside to the petco merger will be some consolidation with the liveaquaria / dfs / petco shipping? That could be a silver lining to the drama that has caused.
It would be very nice to purchase one $20 fish + enough of whatever salt is on sale to get to $225 for free shipping. For my last order it was only livestock, coral, and macro that counted toward the minimum. I look forward to when I can take on a couple hundy worth of coral, but I can't use that much chaeto yet. I believe it's because dfs ships dry stuff from a dif warehouse, and liveaquaria is just being nice to let you mix and match stock from WI and CA facilities.

[Rickhtoo]

Most places are going to have good and bad reviews. Reefs2go has been good to me three times in a row so no issues there. BluZooAquatics sent me a dead cleaner shrimp and when I complained they said i should have ordered more than one item

I placed an order with Blue Zoo, seems like a top notch business with very good reviews. I have ordered Peppermint shrimp twice from 2 different places, (both bad) and both times one of the shrimps was dead. I'm starting to think one of them killed the other during shipment, as it's always the smaller one that died.

As another reefer said I always try to get free shipping to eliminate that as a loss, because no seller will refund for shipping. All we can do is hope for the best when placing an order, and the better packaging is used the less likely you will get a DOA.

That is why I like Petco, with the 30 day stay alive guarantee. Live Aquaria is similar and the best packaging I have seen.

As I mentioned before, stay away from Saltwaterfish, it's not packaged as well, and they give a whole 5 HOUR guarantee for refund, and after that, it's store credit. I have store credit with them, but since I will never order from them again, it's useless.

I think we now have some great info from this thread, and a good idea where to go for purchasing Sea 'LIFE'. Sea 'DOA' is worse than useless. I also placed an order through Live Aquaria/DD for a couple of nice corals last night, in the WYSIWYG section. They do seem to have it covered, and the overnight shipping was $14 for the corals. You can never go wrong ordering from this company, they are one of the best without a doubt.

I will let everyone know what happens with Blue Zoo, my order will arrive next Tuesday because of the bad weather, which is fine with me. Thanks all for the great info, it's much appreciated. :dance:

[SaltyDoug]

My only hesitation about giving petco online a try is how prompt are they usually about sending out the orders? If I order Monday, will it get out the door tuesday for a wednesday delivery?

Liveaquaria is very specific about when they ship as long as you order by a certain time. I couldn't find anything that specific on petcos website.

[Rickhtoo]

My only hesitation about giving petco online a try is how prompt are they usually about sending out the orders? If I order Monday, will it get out the door tuesday for a wednesday delivery?

Liveaquaria is very specific about when they ship as long as you order by a certain time. I couldn't find anything that specific on petcos website.

With exception of bad weather, you can expect it when they say. You have to check the shipping chart and it tells you when they will ship according to when you order. The main problem is they are not very prompt with communication. Usually you get the confirmation that the order was shipped AFTER you actually receive the order. That is my only complaint with them. You can trust the shipping chart though, it's accurate and reliable. I have always gotten a Fedex delivery email confirming they delivered it , so that's a good thing.

[Rickhtoo]

Here is some of my experience:

Liveaquaria/DD. Always great, customer service is top notch, not only best reef related but the best service I have had from any company. I was upset once because the coral didn't match the DD photo and got a full refund no questions asked. Some of their captive propagated coral has 30 day guarantee but everything has 14 days.

Blue Zoo. I have not had a bad experience. They don't have a huge selection, but I found some fish there that no one else had. It was a bit cold when I ordered them and they waited to ship because the fish were hard to come by. That was a nice touch.

Unique coral. My go to place for corals. Never had a bad experience so I can't rate their service, but always have a fast reply to email. They will cut those damn plastic ORA frag plugs before shipping, which is great.

Pacific East. Great clams, best I have seen, but the coral I have ordered was just ok. Several were bleached. I didn't complain so idk about their service.

Pieces of the ocean. Recently bought a clam from them. Arrived in good shape, no issues.

Gonzo's corals. Bought flowerpot package. Arrived in poor shape. After a photo he agreed to reship once new frags healed. Should be next week. Happy with service so far.

AquaSD. It's ok. Bought lots from live sales before, seems like take a long time to color back up. Nothing has arrived dead, so that is good.

World Wide Corals. Only bought once, but the coral was fantastic.

Cherry corals. No issues.

Happy corals. Was just ok. Not terrible, not thrilled.

Ebay vendors vary a lot. Some great ones are world wide corals, NY fish and a couple others. Have had very bad ones too. A mix.

Hope all that info helps!

Thanks for that info, it seems to be as complete a list as you can get A few of those look really nice, and some amazing corals that you don't see often. So many places to shop, so little time.. (and available funds..)

[fracgorilla]

Here is some of my experience:

Liveaquaria/DD. Always great, customer service is top notch, not only best reef related but the best service I have had from any company. I was upset once because the coral didn't match the DD photo and got a full refund no questions asked. Some of their captive propagated coral has 30 day guarantee but everything has 14 days.

Blue Zoo. I have not had a bad experience. They don't have a huge selection, but I found some fish there that no one else had. It was a bit cold when I ordered them and they waited to ship because the fish were hard to come by. That was a nice touch.

Unique coral. My go to place for corals. Never had a bad experience so I can't rate their service, but always have a fast reply to email. They will cut those damn plastic ORA frag plugs before shipping, which is great.

Pacific East. Great clams, best I have seen, but the coral I have ordered was just ok. Several were bleached. I didn't complain so idk about their service.

Pieces of the ocean. Recently bought a clam from them. Arrived in good shape, no issues.

Gonzo's corals. Bought flowerpot package. Arrived in poor shape. After a photo he agreed to reship once new frags healed. Should be next week. Happy with service so far.

AquaSD. It's ok. Bought lots from live sales before, seems like take a long time to color back up. Nothing has arrived dead, so that is good.

World Wide Corals. Only bought once, but the coral was fantastic.

Cherry corals. No issues.

Happy corals. Was just ok. Not terrible, not thrilled.

Ebay vendors vary a lot. Some great ones are world wide corals, NY fish and a couple others. Have had very bad ones too. A mix.

Hope all that info helps!

I've done business with Gonzo before and I've seen his set up in person and Josh should take of you.

[Bnape15gNano]

I'm leaning towards ordering " the package "from Tampa bay saltwater for my 15 g an on. Any advise ? I've heard nothing but good hints about them.

[Stackemdeep]

My experiences:

DiversDen....great each time but have not ordered since purchased from Petco. Frags a little small but healthy and nice.
Reefs2go...........will never order again. ever.
Reefcleaners.....DOA because they use USPS instead of Fed Ex or UPS. Did get credit.
HarrysFrags......Best experiences of all. Will continue to buy from him. Amazing guy, great service, throws in freebies, bigger than advertised and never a pest. Free shipping if you order a handful.
LA (CUC).....Healthy, all alive, larger than anticipated and next day delivery. Great packaging for cuc. Again, before Petco.

[Live Rockin]

Ok I'm new to the hobby or should I say recently returned after several years. Why do you guys order on line? Are you in area's that do not have quality LFS? I'm just wondering because in reviewing the online guys the shipping fees are killer unless you buy a large amount of live stock. I love the selection and information that you get when looking at these sites, but at the rate I plan on stocking my tank I would probably pay double to get me tank stocked. I however do live in an area with 10+ stores to choose from.

[dustinkimpel]

Ok I'm new to the hobby or should I say recently returned after several years. Why do you guys order on line? Are you in area's that do not have quality LFS? I'm just wondering because in reviewing the online guys the shipping fees are killer unless you buy a large amount of live stock. I love the selection and information that you get when looking at these sites, but at the rate I plan on stocking my tank I would probably pay double to get me tank stocked. I however do live in an area with 10+ stores to choose from.

Closest store to me is a 55 minute drive:(

[laga77]

I'm leaning towards ordering " the package "from Tampa bay saltwater for my 15 g an on. Any advise ? I've heard nothing but good hints about them.

My order with them was flawless.

[Live Rockin]

Closest store to me is a 55 minute drive:( Yeah, The ones that are near me are about 45 minutes, but once I get there they are all about 10 minutes apart:)

[dustinkimpel]

Yeah, The ones that are near me are about 45 minutes, but once I get there they are all about 10 minutes apart:)

I only have two and it is just a local pet store. The other is a PetCo >.<

[Rickhtoo]

OK, so I got my order from Blue Zoo, and I am extremely happy. Top notch packaging, everything is alive and well, plus they sent a care package with the order that has a drip tube for acclimation, some Seachem Stress Guard, and a couple of other items which I didn't use. Also a sample of their Blue Zoo mix food, which I didn't actually need, because I bought some of that also. The 2 Anemones were in perfect shape and well colored.

I even got a free fish that I still am not sure what it is, but that is a nice touch that I didn't expect. I can feel confident in recommending these guys, as I know you will be as pleased as I was.

Like many of use, the good local suppliers are a bit far away, but I do have Fish World Inc about an hour and half away. I visit them occasionally just for the fun of it, they are great people. I buy my Tropic Marin salt from them, but have never purchased livestock yet. They just don't have the selection you can get from many online suppliers. If you stay away from the bad places mentioned in this thread, you should have a great experience as I have. Good luck, and Happy Reefing! :wave:

[deleau]

Ok I'm new to the hobby or should I say recently returned after several years. Why do you guys order on line? Are you in area's that do not have quality LFS? I'm just wondering because in reviewing the online guys the shipping fees are killer unless you buy a large amount of live stock. I love the selection and information that you get when looking at these sites, but at the rate I plan on stocking my tank I would probably pay double to get me tank stocked. I however do live in an area with 10+ stores to choose from.

I have a good relationship with the 2 closest LFS to me. I purchased as much as I could through both during my tank build (including pumps, skimmers, etc. that are cheaper online). I have bought livestock from both and even get what is a redacted order sheet from one each week to see what they can order from their suppliers. I also buy water from them, since I cannot/will not set up my own system in my business office.

That being said I have had varying success with their livestock and have ordered from LA/DD and Reef Cleaners mainly for better selection and also to see if these particular online places have better livestock than the LFS. (And I make sure to order large enough orders for free shipping.)

I also order from BRS and Marine Depot for plumbing parts, Neptune products, filters socks, GAC/GFO, etc.

If you have good local stores, see if they can/will order livestock for you special. Ask them who supplies their livestock. I like observing their in store fish for issues, but if you special order, a good LFS will let you meet them when they get their shipment, and you can take your special order directly in the shipping bag and do your own acclimation without it having to go into their system then to your QT.

[Buzz1329]

FWIW, I've been pretty happy with orders I've placed with Blue Zoo Aquatics and saltwaterfish.com.

I recently placed my first orders with saltwaterfish.com. Both times, they called me the day they were scheduled to ship to say that one of the critters I had ordered had not passed inspection and suggested alternatives or told me when they expected a new shipment of the critters to arrive.

On each order, I had to change the delivery date as my schedule changed and received almost immediate confirmation of the new delivery date. For anyone who's dealt with Reefs 2 Go (as I never will again), you will know cool it is to be able to reschedule a shipment without a hassle.

Everything I ordered from SWF arrived alive (even in the dead of winter) and easily survived acclimation.

One critter I ordered (a Tridacna clam) died a few days after entering the tank, and SWF promptly gave me a store credit.

Just as an example, two weeks after I added 3 SWF Dolabellas sea hares to my tank, they are all looking full, fat, and happy.

So after 2 orders, I'm very happy with SWF.

Mike

[sarens]

I have used Vivid and Reefcleaners both with excellent results, but still prefer my LFS for anything I can