Fishy Business aquatics

Melinda01 · Mar 6, 2018

I was looking at fish online to restock my tank. I came across Fishy Business Aquatics and they have several fish that I haven’t seen before from the places I usually order from. Anyone have any experience with this place? Also, if so any idea what SG they usually keep their livestock in?
One other question. I would like to get a Christmas wrasse and an exquisite fairy wrasse. If introduced at the same time will they likely get along?

skip0211 · Mar 6, 2018

Hi Malnda,

I asked the same question a week ago and no one responded.. I like the ease of using their website.. I’m going to contact them on Friday and chat.. I’m also going to place an order for a few Anthias to try them out..

Melinda01 · Mar 7, 2018

skip0211 said:
Hi Malnda,

I asked the same question a week ago and no one responded.. I like the ease of using their website.. I’m going to contact them on Friday and chat.. I’m also going to place an order for a few Anthias to try them out..

Please let me know how it goes! I still have about a month before ordering anything but I’m really thinking of going with them. Most of the reviews that were online were good. The biggest complaint that I could find was for lack of selection. That must have been in reference to corals because they seem to have a great selection of fish!

skip0211 · Mar 7, 2018

Hey Malinda,

I’ll let you know.. I’m going to contact them by phone first, early next week.. right now, we are at 18” of snow and still going.. ugh! My tank is next to a picture window, so it’s kind if cool..

Melinda01 · Mar 7, 2018

Thank you! I’ll bet that is pretty. I live in southern Indiana so we don’t get a lot of snow but I do love a small amount of it!

puffy127 · Mar 7, 2018

Looks like they are a LFS in Florida. Some great prices, but lots of added fees - wholesale packing cost - $7.99, box and packing material cost - $6.99, and here's the kicker - $69.99 for shipping! Not even priority overnight, that's an extra $4.99. So that $18.99 bicolor angelfish is now looking at close to $110 if you want priority overnight. That's without the added fees for the warranties.

Make sure to read their guarantee - "...for livestock that dies within a selected warranty period customers will be issued a pro-rated store credit for the purchase price of your lost item, minus shipping."

"Warranty Example: If you select the 30-Day Warranty on a fish and it dies after 15 days, you will receive a store credit for 50% of the purchase price, minus shipping costs."

By contrast, LA has bicolors for $28.99 plus $29.99 priority overnight, for a total of around $60, depending on taxes. Plus a true 14-day non-prorated money-back (not store credit) guarantee.

skip0211 · Mar 7, 2018

I ran a few examples of different fish and all the costs and charges vary each time.. that’s the reason for my upcoming phone call..

Melinda01 · Mar 7, 2018

puffy127 said:
Looks like they are a LFS in Florida. Some great prices, but lots of added fees - wholesale packing cost - $7.99, box and packing material cost - $6.99, and here's the kicker - $69.99 for shipping! Not even priority overnight, that's an extra $4.99. So that $18.99 bicolor angelfish is now looking at close to $110 if you want priority overnight. That's without the added fees for the warranties.

Make sure to read their guarantee - "...for livestock that dies within a selected warranty period customers will be issued a pro-rated store credit for the purchase price of your lost item, minus shipping."

"Warranty Example: If you select the 30-Day Warranty on a fish and it dies after 15 days, you will receive a store credit for 50% of the purchase price, minus shipping costs."

By contrast, LA has bicolors for $28.99 plus $29.99 priority overnight, for a total of around $60, depending on taxes. Plus a true 14-day non-prorated money-back (not store credit) guarantee.

I did see the warranty info and was curious if you have to warranty everything individually. That would be a bit much. I would probably opt out of the warranty anyway since I usually just cut my losses. They state that shipping decreases with the amount you spend. At $200 shipping is free. Less than that is decreased from original shipping cost. I plan to buy 5 fish or so and a star anyway so those would probably add up to $200 or better. I have a couple qt tanks set up. Recently had an outbreak of velvet and killed about all the fish.

puffy127 · Mar 7, 2018

The decreased shipping is $59.99 (plus $4.99 priority) which is still more than what other stores charge. Don't forget the mandatory $15 in wholesale packing and box and packing fees you will pay even with free shipping. This misleading chart they had comparing themselves to LA, SWF, and BZA completely turned me off too as their "up to 30-day live guarantee" pro-rated guarantee is worse than BZA's full 7-day guarantee:

https://fishybusinessaquatics.com/a-step-above-the-rest/

Melinda01 · Mar 7, 2018

puffy127 said:
The decreased shipping is $59.99 (plus $4.99 priority) which is still more than what other stores charge. Don't forget the mandatory $15 in wholesale packing and box and packing fees you will pay even with free shipping. This misleading chart they had comparing themselves to LA, SWF, and BZA completely turned me off too as their "up to 30-day live guarantee" pro-rated guarantee is worse than BZA's full 7-day guarantee:

https://fishybusinessaquatics.com/a-step-above-the-rest/

Thanks for pointing that out. I hadn’t read all the fine print yet since it’ll still be a month or so before I order. Sounds like I’m better off with vivid or LA. Those are the places that I usually order from and always have had a good experience. I was just curious about this place because of the variety of fish.

Annontrend · May 26, 2018

Melinda01 said:
I was looking at fish online to restock my tank. I came across Fishy Business Aquatics and they have several fish that I haven’t seen before from the places I usually order from. Anyone have any experience with this place? Also, if so any idea what SG they usually keep their livestock in?
One other question. I would like to get a Christmas wrasse and an exquisite fairy wrasse. If introduced at the same time will they likely get along?

I just ordered a snowflake bta ane a picasso clown fish. it will be delivered tomorrow on saturday!! cant wait. the price is good. goodluck to me

Melinda01 · May 26, 2018

Annontrend said:
I just ordered a snowflake bta ane a picasso clown fish. it will be delivered tomorrow on saturday!! cant wait. the price is good. goodluck to me

Good luck! Let me know how it goes! Curious of the SG of the water they use and health of livestock

puffy127 · May 26, 2018

They are now a R2R sponsor. They changed their fees - no more box and packing fees and lower shipping rates. They also got rid of the pro-rated guarantee, with a 21-day store credit guarantee standard. You have the option for a 30-day guarantee for a little more or to get a discount by removing the 21-day guarantee for a stay-alive only guarantee.

puffy127 · May 26, 2018

With these positive changes, their great selection, and low prices, I decided to give them a shot. I ordered a Bella goby. No one else has it in stock. I sent them an email early yesterday to see if they could send it for delivery today (Saturday). I missed the cutoff on the website but they were able to accommodate me. Great customer service. Great communication as well with several emails and texts regarding the progress of the package. Arrived fine this morning. sg was at 1.018. Looks like the wholesaler they used was Sea Dwelling Creatures. Will report more on the health of the fish later as I have the lights out on the qt to reduce stress. But I opted for stay alive only (for around a 20% discount) and it arrived alive, so overall a positive experience.

Melinda01 · May 26, 2018

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puffy127 said:
With these positive changes, their great selection, and low prices, I decided to give them a shot. I ordered a Bella goby. No one else has it in stock. I sent them an email early yesterday to see if they could send it for delivery today (Saturday). I missed the cutoff on the website but they were able to accommodate me. Great customer service. Great communication as well with several emails and texts regarding the progress of the package. Arrived fine this morning. sg was at 1.018. Looks like the wholesaler they used was Sea Dwelling Creatures. Will report more on the health of the fish later as I have the lights out on the qt to reduce stress. But I opted for stay alive only (for around a 20% discount) and it arrived alive, so overall a positive experience.

I have a few more weeks before I am ready to add anything else to QT but let me know how it goes. Still have a couple more fish and lots of corals I want to eventually add to the tank! I’ve been buying from divers den and have had nothing but good luck with them. Just sucks that you never know what will be in stock and it has to ship within two days of the order placement.

Annontrend · May 27, 2018

Melinda01 said:
Good luck! Let me know how it goes! Curious of the SG of the water they use and health of livestock

well I called them in the afternoon since I haven't heard anything from them. it turned out since I ordered last minute Friday even though I did Saturday delivery it's not going to work...sgh...so I will have to wait till Wednesday to have them delivered. I was so excited for the snowflake bubble tips and the clown fish. never saw that kind of bta before.

Annontrend · May 27, 2018

skip0211 said:
Hi Malnda,

I asked the same question a week ago and no one responded.. I like the ease of using their website.. I’m going to contact them on Friday and chat.. I’m also going to place an order for a few Anthias to try them out..

I read lots of reviews about them. it seems good at first. then ....just like I expected, people who left positive reviews changed their reviews to one stars, most of them were saying the fish was not the same fish online

Annontrend · May 27, 2018

Melinda01 said:
I

I have a few more weeks before I am ready to add anything else to QT but let me know how it goes. Still have a couple more fish and lots of corals I want to eventually add to the tank! I’ve been buying from divers den and have had nothing but good luck with them. Just sucks that you never know what will be in stock and it has to ship within two days of the order placement.

I read lots of reviews about them. it seems good at first. then ....just like I expected, people who left positive reviews changed their reviews to one stars, most of them were saying the fish was not the same fish online

Melinda01 · May 27, 2018

Annontrend said:
I read lots of reviews about them. it seems good at first. then ....just like I expected, people who left positive reviews changed their reviews to one stars, most of them were saying the fish was not the same fish online

Sounds like divers den is the way to go if that is the case. You get the item pictured, they qt their livestock, the SG is in range of what the tank should be, and for me it’s closer to ship so probably a little less stress. Thank you for keeping me posted.

Melinda01 · May 27, 2018

Annontrend said:
well I called them in the afternoon since I haven't heard anything from them. it turned out since I ordered last minute Friday even though I did Saturday delivery it's not going to work...sgh...so I will have to wait till Wednesday to have them delivered. I was so excited for the snowflake bubble tips and the clown fish. never saw that kind of bta before.

I’m sorry that it didn’t work out as expected. That’s always frustrating. They do seem to have some cool and different livestock. That’s what caught my interest to start with. Hope it works out and you’re happy with your new purchase!