Best Websites from which to Buy Captive-Bred Fish

[Nate92]

I am just getting started in the hobby, and I am looking to populate my tank only with captive-bred fish. Does anyone have recommendations to share on websites with the best selection, prices, and quality for captive-bred fish? Thanks for your feedback!

-Nate

 

[CMO]

I've had a great experience with captive bred fish from Cultivated Reef which are not mixed with any wild caught fish or exposed to potential disease.

Make sure to check that whatever captive bred vendor you chose does not mix their captive breds with wild caught fish. I won't name names but there are some well known captive bred vendors that do in fact mix wild caught and potentially diseased fish with captive bred fish.

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

I have had great experiences with Live Aquaria.

 

[CMO]

Be careful with captive bred fish shipping from the California Live Aquaria facility. The ORA fish shipping from Florida or Biota from the Wisconsin facility are a better bet in terms of disease control IMO.

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

I've never had issue with either in my experience, can't speak for others.

 

[408Dartfish]

I’ve ordered a few clowns and a orchid dottyback captive ORA from Live aquaria shipped from Florida. Great fish wouldn’t hesitate to order again.

 

[nanonoob0]

I have no idea if they are captive bred, or their reputation here (I'm new too) but I had a great experience with saltwaterfish.com. I ordered just over a month ago. My nano cleanup crew, fire fish, and rainford's goby are all doing great. Lost the peppermint shrimp and 2 snails from the crew. I am pretty sure that was high salinity, though the pep was the only thing I wasn't thrilled with - missing a leg. The long tentacle anenome I got from them is doing great as well, and huge for the price if you are looking for things other than fish.

 

[Nate92]

Thanks for everyone's feedback! I came across a site the other day called pacificeastaquaculture.com. They have a really good selection, including yellow tangs. Does anyone have any experience with that organization?

 

[iLLmaticMike]

I recently had a wonderful experience getting coral from them. I can't speak for the fish but the whole experience was great. From ordering, shipping, packaging, specimen quality and inquiry emails after I received my order, checking if everything was ok and making sure I was happy. I will definitely be ordering from them again.

Mike

 

[Homebrewer]

re: SWF.com: I've ordered from them in the past and have had good success with what they have shipped. My impression is that the fish they sell are not captive bred unless individually labeled so. That is the rule I go by for every website I visit, unless of course the website states they only sell captive-bred, then of course, my "individual" rule does not apply. BTW, I view "captive bred" and the often-used "captive raised' to mean very different things. Hard to tell if websites are using these different terms intentionally or not.

re: PEA: I am somewhat local to the facility (90 min or so). It is very impressive and the stuff Dr. Mac has is very high quality. Watch some tour videos and read about his work in the south Pacific, very interesting. As far as buying from PEA, I think they are awesome and perhaps even underrated... then again I'm biased as that facility is kind of a favorite of mine.

 

[iLLmaticMike]

Yeah man! I totally agree! I am about 3 hours away but it is definitely on my list of places to visit.

 

[Kmsutows]

Thanks for everyone's feedback! I came across a site the other day called pacificeastaquaculture.com. They have a really good selection, including yellow tangs. Does anyone have any experience with that organization?

They're a great organization and a sponsor on this site. They've done a lot for this industry and i believe only sell captive bred fish now

 

[Nate92]

They're a great organization and a sponsor on this site. They've done a lot for this industry and i believe only sell captive bred fish now

Awesome!! Good to know!!

 

[PDR]

I've had a great experience with captive bred fish from Cultivated Reef which are not mixed with any wild caught fish or exposed to potential disease.

Make sure to check that whatever captive bred vendor you chose does not mix their captive breds with wild caught fish. I won't name names but there are some well known captive bred vendors that do in fact mix wild caught and potentially diseased fish with captive bred fish.

Why not name names? It could help others avoid issues by knowing who does and does not keep captive bred fish in dedicated systems.

I would recommend ordering directly from ORA through live aquaria (not ORA fish through divers den). I DO NOT recommend live aquaria for anything else period.

Edit: I just got an email back from LA and they say they do keep the captive bred fish that ship from Wisconsin (ie biota) in a dedicated captive bred system, so that may also be a viable option.

 

[CMO]

Why not name names? It could help others avoid issues by knowing who does and does not keep captive bred fish in dedicated systems.

I would recommend ordering directly from ORA through live aquaria (not ORA fish through divers den). I DO NOT recommend live aquaria for anything else period.

Edit: I just got an email back from LA and they say they do keep the captive bred fish that ship from Wisconsin (ie biota) in a dedicated captive bred system, so that may also be a viable option.

Okay fine. I don't like hurting people's businesses with bad reviews but at the same time we as hobbyist's should help push the industry in the right direction. Mixing clean captive fish in systems with wild caught fish is just crazy. The two companies I know of doing this are Live Aquaria's California facility and Sustainable Aquatics WYSIWYG fish shipping through their online retailer, The Coral Reef.

 

[Gareth elliott]

Never bought fish only corals from them but pacificeastaquaculture.com only sells captive bred fish. The corals ive received from them were shipped top notch.

 

[UM Aquarium Club]

+1 for ORA and also like to toss in Sea & Reef but if you're located near PEA their shipping from Maine might be a bit farther than you want.

 

[VR28man]

I would recommend ordering directly from ORA through live aquaria (not ORA fish through divers den).

Edit: I just got an email back from LA and they say they do keep the captive bred fish that ship from Wisconsin (ie biota) in a dedicated captive bred system, so that may also be a viable option.

Agreed with both of these.

As also mentioned, coral vendor @PacificEastAquaculture also sells exclusively captive fish from Biota and another vendor.