Buying anthias online vs in store

[Shadowbass]

I am in the process of making a 55 saltwater tank and my stocklist so far is a trio of dispar anthias, 1 blue eyed cardinal fish, a jawfish and a pair of ocellaris clowns. My question is my lfs has dispars for 40 dollars each but theyve had them at least a month so i know they are well fed and established but at the same time liveaquaria.com, has dispars for under 20 dollars and at the price id pay for the trio from my lfs i could buy 3 dispars from liveaquaria and a few other things off my wish list but ive heard dispars are bad shippers and hard to acclimate. Which would you guys personally go with? Is the extra 30 dollars worth it?

 

[Homewrecker]

I know this is off topic but would you consider a different 4 foot tank? 55 Gallon tanks are notoriously difficult to clean.
Note that LA if not Divers Den just ships direct from a wholesaler. This means those fish are not properly QT'd and could have landed just a couple days before...
I can almost promise that you will have a better success rate with the in store fish. Ask the owner/manager if they will do a little better on them for ya. Most of the time they will.

 

[Shadowbass]

I know this is off topic but would you consider a different 4 foot tank? 55 Gallon tanks are notoriously difficult to clean.
Note that LA if not Divers Den just ships direct from a wholesaler. This means those fish are not properly QT'd and could have landed just a couple days before...
I can almost promise that you will have a better success rate with the in store fish. Ask the owner/manager if they will do a little better on them for ya. Most of the time they will.

Could you explain how they are difficult to clean? Is it just the dimensions or something else? Do you think that tank is too small for the fish listed? Ive already got the tank and everything in it is set but id like to know for future reference.

 

[Homewrecker]

They're so tall that they force you to make a "rock wall" look. When it comes time to cleaning this blocks off flow and most adults have a somewhat difficult time getting into the nooks and crannies to suck up all the gunk that is in their tank. You can find a 75 for a similar price most of the time and its much much better IMO(same with a 90 gal)
Not only that but being so tall its kind of hard to get to the bottom without the whole wet armpit issue

 

[Shadowbass]

This is true. I will look into this on my next tank. This one originally housed cichlids but im now converting it to a saltwater tank.

 

[eatbreakfast]

I would recommend the fish from the LFS. You know their condition, you know they are eating and what they are eating. This is worth the added cost.

 

[Shadowbass]

I would recommend the fish from the LFS. You know their condition, you know they are eating and what they are eating. This is worth the added cost.

In the case of those guys since theyre in a group with 1 obvious male and theres no way id be able to get them all on the same day would it be better to get the known male and cime back for a few females or should i just get all females amd let one transition to a male.

 

[eatbreakfast]

In the case of those guys since theyre in a group with 1 obvious male and theres no way id be able to get them all on the same day would it be better to get the known male and cime back for a few females or should i just get all females amd let one transition to a male.

Get all females and let them decide the male.

 

[ca1ore]

I tend to find it to be a wash. Fish that survive the trip and are eating at LFS have also had the opportunity to 'catch' anything that may be lurking in the LFS system. Fish online run the risk of dying due to the stress of the journey. Frankly, I think folks should be doing QT regardless of the source of their new fish.

 

[Bouncingsoul39]

Definitely go with the Dispars at your LFS. The fact they are healthy, eating, and established is worth the money IMO. Not sure if it's still the case, but Dispars used to be delicate and not the best choice of anthias for beginners compared to a Lyretail. But with that group at your LFS, maybe no worries there. I've found frozen and freeze dried Cyclops to be a great food for them. Need to be fed at least twice a day if not more.

Other thing I should mention is sizing. With online ordering from LA or elsewhere, unless its a WYSIWYG fish, you will get a fish within a quoted size range. If the range is 2-3", there's a chance you will get all 3" fish, all 2" fish, or a mix of sizes. This is an annoyance to me because I'm very particular about the size of the fish I acquire depending on the species. At your LFS, you know exactly what you are getting, with online ordering, unless it's a Diver's Den or other WYSIWYG program, you don't.

 

[azbigjohn]

I am in the process of making a 55 saltwater tank and my stocklist so far is a trio of dispar anthias, 1 blue eyed cardinal fish, a jawfish and a pair of ocellaris clowns. My question is my lfs has dispars for 40 dollars each but theyve had them at least a month so i know they are well fed and established but at the same time liveaquaria.com, has dispars for under 20 dollars and at the price id pay for the trio from my lfs i could buy 3 dispars from liveaquaria and a few other things off my wish list but ive heard dispars are bad shippers and hard to acclimate. Which would you guys personally go with? Is the extra 30 dollars worth it?

They were pretty small, but handled shipping fairly well. Generally I prefer to buy local to support my LFS and also so I can see them eat, but I have also had a lot of luck with LiveAquaria.

I bought 5 Dispars from LiveAquaria a little over a year ago.

During QT I lost 1 fairly quickly (I think it never started eating) but the other four did very well. After a full 2 month QT the four went into my large tank, and I lost one of the four a couple of days later (not sure if it made an enemy, or what.) Since then, the other three have grown significantly and are all doing well.

I think Disbars are one of the hardier species of anthias (IMO).

 

[Shadowbass]

Definitely go with the Dispars at your LFS. The fact they are healthy, eating, and established is worth the money IMO. Not sure if it's still the case, but Dispars used to be delicate and not the best choice of anthias for beginners compared to a Lyretail. But with that group at your LFS, maybe no worries there. I've found frozen and freeze dried Cyclops to be a great food for them. Need to be fed at least twice a day if not more.

Other thing I should mention is sizing. With online ordering from LA or elsewhere, unless its a WYSIWYG fish, you will get a fish within a quoted size range. If the range is 2-3", there's a chance you will get all 3" fish, all 2" fish, or a mix of sizes. This is an annoyance to me because I'm very particular about the size of the fish I acquire depending on the species. At your LFS, you know exactly what you are getting, with online ordering, unless it's a Diver's Den or other WYSIWYG program, you don't.

Would you say the lyre tail are a better option? Would 55 be ok for a trio or wt least a pair since they are bigger?

 

[Shadowbass]

They were pretty small, but handled shipping fairly well. Generally I prefer to buy local to support my LFS and also so I can see them eat, but I have also had a lot of luck with LiveAquaria.

I bought 5 Dispars from LiveAquaria a little over a year ago.

During QT I lost 1 fairly quickly (I think it never started eating) but the other four did very well. After a full 2 month QT the four went into my large tank, and I lost one of the four a couple of days later (not sure if it made an enemy, or what.) Since then, the other three have grown significantly and are all doing well.

I think Disbars are one of the hardier species of anthias (IMO).

Was liveaquaria willing to replacethe dead ones

 

[azbigjohn]

Was liveaquaria willing to replacethe dead ones

I didn't try, to be honest. The second one was way out of the warranty period after a 2 month QT. The first one was probably in the period, but I didn't pursue it. They have given me no problems on the two fish I have lost from them previously, however.

 

[Bouncingsoul39]

Would you say the lyre tail are a better option? Would 55 be ok for a trio or wt least a pair since they are bigger?

Apples to apples, yes. But you said you've got access to an established, healthy group of Dispars so they have already passed the hurdles. Please do yourself a favor though and whatever fish you get, QT them in a tank following the procedures listed here. It really sucks to lose all your fish to ich or flukes over a couple weeks time especially when getting into the hobby for a first time. Just because those Dispars are looking good now doesn't mean they aren't harboring ich or something else that a stress event could trigger.
Even with fish from Diver's Den or LA, they still need to be quarantined. All of the fish I recently received from LA came in with ich and flukes and had to be taken out of my display tank and setup in a QT with medicine. Luckily, only lost one fish (still $40 out the window).

 

[Shadowbass]

Oh the same lfs has lyretails for the same price that have been there equally as long

 

[eatbreakfast]

Would you say the lyre tail are a better option? Would 55 be ok for a trio or wt least a pair since they are bigger?

I wouldn't recommend a pr of lyretails ever, either a group or kept singly. A 55g isn't big enough for the social dynamics of a group of lyretails.

 

[RobertN]

I'd go with the ones at the LFS. As folks mentioned, you already can see that they are eating and animated--that's a big deal, IMO. You don't know what you will get from an online source. Also, in the case of Dispar Anthias, I've seen some at my LFS that have very poor/light coloration. I've also seen some really beautifully/deep-colored Dispars at an LFS. If the fish I'm buying is a lawnmower Blenny, I'm not concerned about the coloration. But if it's a fish such as an Anthias, I usually want to see what it looks like. If it is not from Live Aquaria's Diver's Den, you don't know what the quality of the coloration is (which is why they state the caveat that the color of the fish you receive may vary from what they have pictured).

 

[iwishihadgills]

You could always ask the online store to send you a video of them eating. Though my vote is for the lfs store also unless you really trust your shipping provider.

 

[1stNoel]

Get all females and let them decide the male.

I tried this but wasn't successful. I bought 7 female anthias in anticipation that one would turn male, but my tank ended up turning into a violent Battle Royale.

I ended up buying a male and, once added to the tank, he immediately put them all in check and calmed things down. It's like he literally cruises the tank with the "pimp hand" out.