Buying anthias online vs in store

[Rip Van Winkle]

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.

+1

Show the LFS manager the prices from LiveAquaria and ask him for a better price. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, or fish in this case.

 

[eatbreakfast]

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.

IME males don't ship as well as females, so I have had females start their social hierarchy in a tank while the male was still settling. Dominant females would then challenge the male, usually win, then the male dies. Conversely, if a male is added by itself it gets too dominant for when females are added.

 

[RobertN]

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.

Maybe some small online sellers would do this, but I have to doubt most would—that’s why they don’t already do that on their sites and part of the reason the prices for Divers den fish is more; that is a lot more time-consuming and trouble to go to.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Maybe some small online sellers would do this, but I have to doubt most would—that’s why they don’t already do that on their sites and part of the reason the prices for Divers den fish is more; that is a lot more time-consuming and trouble to go to.

I believe he was referring to an LFS. And while an LFS likely won't match the price, they may give a break on their price.

 

[Radman73]

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.

+1. I lost 5 of 6 of those LA Dispar's for under $20 to bacterial infection. But hey, I still have one . I'll probably look locally to source replacements again though none had any when I was ready to buy last time. Just need to be patient this time. And maybe ask. I just don't want to pick them up in the bag they were delivered to the LFS in. I'd prefer fish that had been around for at least a couple of weeks too. 4 weeks? I'd definitely buy those.

 

[RobertN]

I believe he was referring to an LFS. And while an LFS likely won't match the price, they may give a break on their price.

Actually I wasn't commenting on the person who posted about asking for a price reduction--I was commenting on the post from the person who stated maybe it's possible to get an online seller to video tape a fish they are selling while the fish is being fed, to prove it is eating. And I doubted most online sellers would want to go to the trouble of making a video while they're feeding their fish and sending it to someone who might end up buying the fish (see my post at 10:12 AM).

 

[eatbreakfast]

Actually I wasn't commenting on the person who posted about asking for a price reduction--I was commenting on the post from the person who stated maybe it's possible to get an online seller to video tape a fish they are selling while the fish is being fed, to prove it is eating. And I doubted most online sellers would want to go to the trouble of making a video while they're feeding their fish and sending it to someone who might end up buying the fish (see my post at 10:12 AM).

Gotcha, yeah that's likely not gonna happen.

 

[Shannon Harlan]

I'd go with lfs. I had bad luck with la, all my fish in an order died at exactly 4 week of qt, so I suspect cyanide. I didn't want a refund just help with customer service to try save fish as they all died in a 5 day window all in separate qt tanks. I never got any help and just seemed odd to loose fish so close together. All same symptoms eating fine for first 4 weeks no sign ich or stress then stopped eating and dead 48 hours later. All params checked out but one tank had low ph but not on danger range. With lfs at least u have reliable resource.