Is Live aquaria reputable?

Jholli90 · Jul 9, 2019

I wasn't sure which area to post this, but finally decided here. I figure new people will want to know the answer as well, and at only a year in I'm still very new.

I like browsing live aquaria, researching and dreaming of future fish. I have never ordered, and I'm nervous. Do they honor their 14 day guarantee? Do the fish come in healthy? What have your experiences with them been like?

My only LFS has a "no refund policy" but I had them order a fish for me once, and it came in covered in lympho. They stood by their policy, and I went home and attempted to save it ( didn't work). So now I'm trying to save myself some heartache and money. Is live aquaria the answer?

AngryMike2016 · Jul 9, 2019

Experiences are very mixed. I've personally had good experience though.

JMM744 · Jul 9, 2019

I have ordered several ,times from them . Actually from DiversDen a couple times and Live Aquaria as well. Just sent an order to Humblefish to qt for me too. LA fish can be a little touchy depending on what you order. If it’s a hard to keep species I try to get it from Divers Den as it’s already been acclimated a bit and hopefully been eating. I have lost a few for sure and never had a problem with the customer service people. If fact I find them very helpful and friendly.
Honestly, I think a good knowledge of how to deal with fish once you get them goes a long way towards success. Good luck with your future adventures.
Jim

Dsnakes · Jul 9, 2019

I have had 5+ orders from them and all have been good. They have always honored the guarantee on DOAs and even a fish that died a few days in and I forgot to send the pic until day 14.

I have received a few very skinny fish, some made it and are fat and happy now. Some did not and I received my refund.

I would recommend them. You will find mix reviews on here though as some have not had such good experiences.

TheHarold · Jul 9, 2019

Divers den is excellent.... I get all my tangs from there in excellent health.

They do honor their 14 day guarantee- at one point I bought a mandarin that didn’t ship well, and after over a week, it died and I got a refund.

Halal Hotdog · Jul 9, 2019

The only online vendor I buy from is LiveAquaria. The two week guarantee is huge, and they have honored it in my experience.

Crabs McJones · Jul 9, 2019

I've ordered multiple times and it's always been a pleasure

They absolutely honor the 14 day guarantee. Just make sure you follow the steps. (Photo of fish on a white background, acclimated properly ect...) and you should be good to go

Mr Fishface · Jul 9, 2019

I've ordered several times and WILL order again with them. They honored a fish that died on day 13 no problem. Great customer service too.

Halal Hotdog · Jul 9, 2019

Crabs McJones said:
I've ordered multiple times and it's always been a pleasure They absolutely honor the 14 day guarantee. Just make sure you follow the steps. (Photo of fish on a white background, acclimated properly ect...) and you should be good to go

.

Yes forgot to mention this. You have to follow their guidelines for them to honor the guarantee. There was someone on here who was complaining about LA not giving him a refund, but when the details came out it was very clear it was his fault. One thing he stated was he was too old to take a picture and send it to them lol.

Tuoixuanxanh · Jul 10, 2019

As long as you have picture they will honor 14 days guaranteed.

smartwater101 · Jul 10, 2019

Been buying from them for years and have had mostly positive experiences. Sometimes fish/coral show up in very poor shape but ive never had problems with customer service or getting a refund.

I also like that they don't photoshop the crap out of their pictures. What you see is truly what you get.

smartwater101 · Jul 10, 2019

Crabs McJones said:
I've ordered multiple times and it's always been a pleasure They absolutely honor the 14 day guarantee. Just make sure you follow the steps. (Photo of fish on a white background, acclimated properly ect...) and you should be good to go

White background? Thats interesting. Ive never done that before.

I just send pics of dead things and they honor their guarentee.

Crabs McJones · Jul 10, 2019

smartwater101 said:
White background? Thats interesting. Ive never done that before.

I just send pics of dead things and they honor their guarentee.

Yup, simply lay the fish on a piece of printer paper or something. I'm not sure why, but it may help them identify a potential cause for the death?

smartwater101 · Jul 10, 2019

Weird. I just take pictures of things on the sand or still in the bag. Didn't know that was a thing.

Dsnakes · Jul 10, 2019

smartwater101 said:
Weird. I just take pictures of things on the sand or still in the bag. Didn't know that was a thing.

I have done that before as well. While they still have honored it, they usually will include a note about next time removing it from the bag and taking a picture on the white background.

dwest · Jul 10, 2019

Jholli90 said:
I wasn't sure which area to post this, but finally decided here. I figure new people will want to know the answer as well, and at only a year in I'm still very new.

I like browsing live aquaria, researching and dreaming of future fish. I have never ordered, and I'm nervous. Do they honor their 14 day guarantee? Do the fish come in healthy? What have your experiences with them been like?

My only LFS has a "no refund policy" but I had them order a fish for me once, and it came in covered in lympho. They stood by their policy, and I went home and attempted to save it ( didn't work). So now I'm trying to save myself some heartache and money. Is live aquaria the answer?

Good experiences here.

Jholli90 · Jul 10, 2019

JMM744 said:
I have ordered several ,times from them . Actually from DiversDen a couple times and Live Aquaria as well. Just sent an order to Humblefish to qt for me too. LA fish can be a little touchy depending on what you order. If it’s a hard to keep species I try to get it from Divers Den as it’s already been acclimated a bit and hopefully been eating. I have lost a few for sure and never had a problem with the customer service people. If fact I find them very helpful and friendly.
Honestly, I think a good knowledge of how to deal with fish once you get them goes a long way towards success. Good luck with your future adventures.
Jim

Thank you for the info! I don't feel so nervous about ordering from them now. Knowing they honor the refund is a huge relief. Even though not everyone gets a healthy fish, LA takes care of it. They sound like a good business. (Better than my LFS at least)

Marco S · Jul 10, 2019

I waited to post since I do not have any first hand experience, but I do plan to order some CUC and some coral from them in the future. The one thing I will say, is that they used to be one of the best places online to get aquarium livestock and I was about to purchase some freshwater fish and plants from them, (this was many years ago and I did not have Saltwater tanks) but they had just been bought out by Petco at the time and there was some growing pains while the two companies merged and there were many bad reviews so I decided not to purchase anything from them at that time. This was many years ago and they have since built up their reputation again, but every once in a while you will see a negative review just because those people do not like Petco for whatever reason. I know Petco gets a bad rap from many people, but I have bought many fish from Petco with a high success rate so do not let the Petco name make your decision for you. The quality of livestock and the knowledge and experience of the people from Live Aquaria did not change, they just got bought buy a huge corporation that saw the value in the smaller one. It just means that Live Aquaria was that good to be bought out.

Jholli90 · Jul 10, 2019

Marco S said:
I waited to post since I do not have any first hand experience, but I do plan to order some CUC and some coral from them in the future. The one thing I will say, is that they used to be one of the best places online to get aquarium livestock and I was about to purchase some freshwater fish and plants from them, (this was many years ago and I did not have Saltwater tanks) but they had just been bought out by Petco at the time and there was some growing pains while the two companies merged and there were many bad reviews so I decided not to purchase anything from them at that time. This was many years ago and they have since built up their reputation again, but every once in a while you will see a negative review just because those people do not like Petco for whatever reason. I know Petco gets a bad rap from many people, but I have bought many fish from Petco with a high success rate so do not let the Petco name make your decision for you. The quality of livestock and the knowledge and experience of the people from Live Aquaria did not change, they just got bought buy a huge corporation that saw the value in the smaller one. It just means that Live Aquaria was that good to be bought out.

I didn't even know Petco owned them lol, so that wouldn't have been a deciding factor. I actually like one of the petcos near me. I agree, I think they get a bad rep, but it varies store to store. There are 3 in my area, but only 1 has knowledgeable people. A fellow reefer works there. We always talk about our tanks. It is where I got my foxface, the sole survivor of my original fish after a velvet outbreak.

Jholli90 · Jul 10, 2019

Dsnakes said:
I have had 5+ orders from them and all have been good. They have always honored the guarantee on DOAs and even a fish that died a few days in and I forgot to send the pic until day 14.

I have received a few very skinny fish, some made it and are fat and happy now. Some did not and I received my refund.

I would recommend them. You will find mix reviews on here though as some have not had such good experiences.

So far from this thread I have received positive experiences. I understand shipping can be stressful/fatal and wouldn't judge the company solely on that factor. It sounds like they honor their word, and strive to keep the customer happy.