Is Live aquaria reputable?

[Jholli90]

Wow, you have a really horrible driver.

Yea, I was fuming. It wasn't like I ordered a book or a shirt. This is a live animal!

But he's ok, and swimming in QT with a royal gramma. Even after all that it only hid in the sand for 2 days.

 

[Jholli90]

They used to be my go to. IMO, they have changed. I have had issues with 3 orders in a row where fish were either dead or dying. While they do honor their warrantee if you follow their guidelines, I do not like the idea of seemingly playing a numbers game where DOA'S are just a cost of doing business. If I order just enough to get free shipping and have 1 DOA then I will have to pay shipping to get another one. Also, had an issue where 2 of 4 animals where clearly in distress because no heat packs were used in the middle of the winter. My choice was to either try to save the fish, or let them die in order to get my credit. I called LA who basically stated their warranty policy when I explained the situation. Did not appreciate the attitude so now shop elsewhere.

Where do you shop now?

 

[Marco S]

So, my first order from Divers Den and I got a pretty expensive Whitetail Bristletooth Tang, three Blue Reef Chromis and an Electric Indigo Dottyback as well as a bunch of Nassarius Snails. Total order was over $400 and my Whitetail Bristletooth has very visible signs of Ich!!! At least one of the Blue Reef Chromis has internal parasites as well. So much for trusting others QT methods. The only reason I ordered from DD, (and paid way more) was because I was sick of dealing with Ich, Marine Velvet and Flukes and figured I'd have a better chance with them since they do QT the fish...guess not.

Oh well, at least they are all alive and I know how to get them healthy. I'm trying the TTM this time though instead of copper so hopefully they don't have velvet.

 

[Alex V.]

I received a Dead cynarina. Dead on arrival, or should I say frozen on arrival. The water was freezing and the cynarina dead. Cynarinas are hardy corals. Either was sent to me dead or dying or it could not stand the freezing temperature. I have received many many corals by mail from any and I have never received a coral that the water inside the bag was at almost

 

[melanotaenia]

I love liveaquaria! I’ve had to use the guarantee a few times and they’ve always been great to work with. No complaints at all. Two thumbs up!

Yeah I have to say the DD section has always been fine and my fish have always been healthy and arrived fine, packed well, and I trust them more than my local stores with respect to disease and handling of my fish. Corals from the DD section also have been pretty decent, although a little pricey.

I have heard many say that there is a significant difference when ordering from the DD vs the regular LA site for fish.

 

[brawthy]

Yes, best vendor online from pics to customer service.

 

[Piranha76]

LIVEAQUARIA SUCKS. They now charge a boxing fee, they up the cost for free shipping from 475.00 to $150.00. The fish seems to be smaller. I have gotten more DOA fish in the last two shipments. And they wont honor a $50.00 gift card promotion because their website froze twice when ordering and I forgot to put in the promotion the third time. they suck stay AWAY.

 

[WVNed]

I have ordered from them many times now. The last 3 shipments where much less than I expected in different ways.

 

[Halal Hotdog]

My opinion of LiveAquaria has changed in the last few weeks. Their policies are more negative then ever before, but...... they are on par with most other online vendors. Actually they are probably better than other online vendors. Saltwaterfish.com, reef4less, bluezooaquatics,.... have a policy if the fish die you get store credit that cannot be applied to a free shipping promotion. LiveAquaria does not have that. Their customer service is good. I personally am not planning on making any purchases from them anytime soon. I don't mind that they changed DOA/die within 14 days to just store credit, but their prices are some of the highest out there. Plus now they have a box fee, which I understand, but all of these changes should reflect a lower price for livestock. They are worth keeping an eye on, but personally think we should all be looking at LFS right now.

I feel many of their policy changes are due to unethical reefers. There was a thread on here where someone cracked their new Red Sea aquarium while moving it. A couple of the comments were to tell manufacturer that the tank cracked during shipping. These are the same people we can blame for higher prices and customer service that believes everyone is a crook.

 

[JMM744]

So they suck because they want to actually make money? The website or possible an error on your part and the gift card didn’t take and they suck? As a business owner I would show you the door. No winning with you.

 

[AngryMike2016]

I've ordered from them four times, and I have been satisfied each time.

 

[Silver14SS]

I've ordered from them four times, and I have been satisfied each time.

My order experiences have been fine as well, it's been a few months since I got anything from them though. I've only ordered ORA products or Diver's Den though, maybe that's the difference or maybe I just got lucky

 

[AngryMike2016]

I've ordered from both DD and the main LA; but I am getting to be dubious about placing future orders, as the number of complaints seems to be increasing.

 

[IKD]

I’ve had good luck with them also. Have no concern ordering from them in the future.

 

[EmilyXLC]

I've had nothing but wonderful experiences from Live Aquaria. Most of my favorite fish came from them. : )

 

[falconut]

Last year I ordered 2 fish, some hermits & snails from Liveaquaria. I was quite shocked when I received my order. It was packed very well, just everything was much smaller than it was suppose to be. I was supposed to get a small & medium butterflyfish. The small was maybe an inch & the medium like an inch & a half. The medium (if you can call it that) had lympho pretty good. The hermits were less than an 1/8". I called and was given some credit for the size error. So, that helped.

The small 1 wound up getting lympho, while in QT, maybe from the other one. The medium one recovered from the lympho, but was too small to compete with my other fish, that's why I ordered I larger one. The small one never recovered from the lympho & died after like 2 months in QT. The hermits were so small I couldn't even tell if they were just empty shells or not, but they just vanished when I dropped them in.

So, all I have from that order is a few snails. I have since just stuck with my LFS & been pretty happy with them. I get tempted every so often with their regular website selection, but don't want to get burned again. I look at the DD selection, but their prices are just so much higher than my LFS.

 

[Jholli90]

I've ordered from them 3 times. I've been happy all 3 times and the fish have looked good. The 1st fish didn't make it, but that was due to a crab, and not health issues. My last order was 3 fish, with 1 being from DD. I've only had them a few days, but so far are doing great. I wanted to get a tang that had been quarantined (at least a little) since I've read what ich magnets that are. While I understand every business has complaints, and dissatisfied customers, I have been happy so far.

 

[Oldreefer44]

I've had very mixed results and of late too many DOA's. So have switched to other vendors. I do find it interesting how many have had experience using their warranty. If you really want the fish that arrives dead you will have to repay for shipping to get it.

 

[DanInMichigan]

I've had good experiences mostly with LiveAquaria, but on my last order I noticed that prices went way up and I was hit with a "box fee" on top of that. I will probably look for alternatives when I do my next order.

 

[Jholli90]

I've had very mixed results and of late too many DOA's. So have switched to other vendors. I do find it interesting how many have had experience using their warranty. If you really want the fish that arrives dead you will have to repay for shipping to get it.

What other vendors do you use?