How many of you buy sw fish online??

[Christine22780]

Ive only gone to local pet stores... How many of you buy online, and whats your fav. site, how dependable is it to get your sw items/fish since they are so fragile???

 

[land locked]

I live in the middle of nowhere so I order online all the time. Petco is my only FS I order from Dr.s Foster and Smith because as far as everything has to come to get here and the weather influences, they have an excellent arrive alive guarantee. They have credited me, with no questions asked. Very happy with them.

 

[roka64]

I've ordered from liveaquaria.com, thatpetplace.com and marinedepotlive.com (1st 2 awesome, 3rd one, never again).

 

[Fluff]

I've ordered from saltwaterfish.com in the past and have been happy with them.

 

[cmor1701d]

I agree with Scott and Cindy. LiveAquaria is hands down the best I've used with ThatPetPlace a close second if not a tie. SaltwaterFish is ok. I still have a credit from them for a speciment that did not make it. Paying the shipping for a single fish can be pricey. Now that the only lfs I trusted is closed I will go back to online purchases again.

 

[bodie]

Like the others, I have successfully purchased livestock online from liveaquaria.com. I used to buy from a great place in Southern Cal called fishsupply.com, but they stopped shipping livestock a year ago. I've never had any problem with either place in terms of the fish or corals arriving alive. IMO, the most crucial part is taking the time acclimate them. I think some people don't take the proper steps and time to acclimate them after the stressful trip...

 

[melosu58]

I perfer to buy mine at the LFS. You are able to see that they are healthy and see that they are eating. Yes you might spend more but to me it`s worth it because you know what you have. I do understand that some folks dont have the luxuary of a good LFS nearby.

 

[lando]

I have used Liveaquaria.com several times and have had good results. Good prices and great service. Keep in mind, when buying online, it is best to order a good variety of items to help off-set the shipping costs. For example, I will ussually order several clean-up crew items or shrimp along with my fish to make it a bit more cost effective.

 

[ryshark]

Do you QT all the clean up crew you get online? I want to order some more c.u.c. because I could use more snails, but don't want to mess with QTing snails etc.

 

[roka64]

I don't QT my inverts. BUT, it is the only way to guarantee nothing nasty gets in your main tank. I feel there is very little risk that they would be carrying anything bad, but you never know......

 

[cmor1701d]

I ageree with Scott. I do a lengthy drip acclimation on inverts then a quick swish in a bowl of tank water, then in they go. Not a 100% guarantee that they won't bring something bad into the tank, but pretty close.

 

[Fluff]

I know I suggested saltwaterfish.com but I've since found some not so great practices from them. I've posted about them here...

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f22/disappointment-saltwaterfish-com-104230.html#post881605

 

[Christine22780]

I just checked out the shipping...no wonder the price is so great!

 

[MsBeanCtr]

FWIW-I've order from liveaquaria.com, thatfishplace.com and extremecorals.com. The first two are great....arrived on time and they've been packaged well. extremecorals.com absolutely was horrible!!

I don't have easy access to lfs around these parts so I order most things online. Can you find folks around you that would go in on an order with you to offset the shipping cost?

 

[Christine22780]

Well, I have plenty of SW specialty stores around me luckily...It is fun to go there and pick things out. Only my cousin has a sw setup and I think she has what she wants already... Good idea though!