Buying Livestock - Online vs. Local

[discoreefer]

That would be amazing to be able to be able to get things directly out of the ocean for your reef tank.

 

[karenvas2]

If you are buying corals, check out local club members of you belong to a reef club. Members who frag are very reasonable. For fish, support the local stores. We recently had a store close after maybe twenty years of being in the business. He could not compete with the online. That is sad!

 

[Coralsdaily]

I buy mostly local because I like to observe fish behavior (feeding, aggression, healthy condition) before I purchase. if online, it can always be a hit or miss even with WYSWYG. With the exception the right opportunity and a trusted source, it's worth a few extra dollars at the local store to ensure a healthy specimen than to spend less on a fish that will die in no time. Not to mention supporting local business.

 

[macscale]

Honestly, my local prices are through the roof! Shipping is worse though.
I Can only really buy colonies online unfortunately. For fish though, I only buy local because it allows me to observe behavior and eating habitats which is huge IMO.

 

[Ryank199]

windy have you been to the aquarium boutique over on garland road. its not the fanciest shop but yuki is really awesome and tends to have some nice stuff.

 

[scardall]

shipping is the main factor for choice to be made

For me it's about the cost of shipping. I have found numerous great buys on line, but most of the time if I only want one or two corals the shipping is NOT worth it. Wahhh

 

[Akida17th]

I prefer both! Get the best of both worlds but then again I have plenty of large LFS around here and online. When ordering online, if you're in the tristate area shipping only runs about $18. For corals I actually prefer local fraggers such as Ultimate Corals!! Awesome rare healthy corals at a reasonable price but you have to test the fragger market just like the LFS and online market.

 

[Ryank199]

See i live in the dallas area an theres a few different places around but most the ones that are like a 20 to 30 min drive dont have anything special when it comes to sps. Now i have a friend in a reef group on Facebook that owns a shop in tyler just had to make trips out there with my schedule. And he has some nice stuff time to time just not the best deals for what the stuff is. I mite just cheap tho lol.

 

[KillerKlownFish]

I had 3 LFS now I'm down to 2. I only order online when there's a great deal and the temp outside is decent. I've had coral in ice cold water and extremely hot water most die and you might get refunded. Also online sometimes the coral are tiny! At a LFS I can see the size and they go straight to the tank. Sometimes I get lucky with prices. Sometimes I need to take out a second mortgage!

 

[fishroomlady]

I really do prefer to buy at the LFS for livestock but dry goods definitely on-line. As with others, especially with fish - I really like to observe behavior and health over time before bringing home.

 

[KorD]

I have a thing for seeing something before getting it.. I know it is a little silly, but I want to know the tank it came out of, the health of the coral, and seeing what al my options are before getting something.
It might cost me more in the long run, but observing something I will be happy with, and getting something that almost looks like what I want are two different things!