Looking for a good fish vendor

[Psychonaut]

I have been using LA until now, and have been reasonably happy, but the last few batches I got from them had a few losses, and they often don’t stock many of the fish I have left in my sock list. (Coral beauty, leaped wrasse, 6 line or melenarus wrass)

Could someone recommend a reef2reef vendor for me? Always been very happy with r2r coral vendors (cherry corals is amazing) but it seemed like slim pickings for fish vendors
Thanks

 

[Billldg]

I have had very good success with @FishyBusinessAq. I have ordered several tangs, chromis, and wrasse's from them. They always have sales also which is a plus.

You are going to find that everyone has their favorite and will stick buy them, I picked fishy business aquatics and haven't had any issues, so I have never tried anyone else.

 

[jp_75]

fishy business, ny aquatics

 

[ngoodermuth]

For pre-quarantined fish- Humblefish aquatics, definitely.

I’ve also ordered from NY Aquatics and Pacific Island Aquatics

 

[BigRich]

For me TSM corals but they are currently closed due to a move. I had one really bad experience with a rhomboid wrasse I bought from fishy business. Developed a nasty bacterial infection and died within 3 days. Plus I purchase their additional warranty but it expired around a day or two before the fish passed. Looking back would have been better off going with Diver's Den for that fish cause of the 14 day guarantee but hindsight is 20/20. I think I bought two other fish from them that were fine though so it shows it can be just luck sometimes. Like others said you will just have to try some out. I would never trust any supposedly pre-quarantied fish, always qt, even if you just watch it for 14 days with no meds. Better to be safe in this hobby.

 

[Psychonaut]

I’d love to help support humblefish but I can’t find a website for him? Anyone got a link

 

[Psychonaut]

Just spent an hour looking over fishy buisniness, love their site, great stock list and very cheap prices. If I can’t get ahold of humblefish (just because I feel I owe him for giving back to the community) I think I’ll try FB next.

Has anyone had anything die from FB and had luck making good on the refund?

One more thing. I was worried from what I read about the ph and ammonia of mailed fish that I was always just match the specific gravity, floated them, and added without dripping.

BUT every single fish vendor (including FB) recommends you drip the fish, in some cases, for an hour! Am I making too much of this? I’d really love some input on if those who receive fish in the mail drip them or not

 

[Psychonaut]

Wish I knew how to create a poll, this would be a great one

 

[bluprntguy]

Just spent an hour looking over fishy buisniness, love their site, great stock list and very cheap prices. If I can’t get ahold of humblefish (just because I feel I owe him for giving back to the community) I think I’ll try FB next.

Has anyone had anything die from FB and had luck making good on the refund?

One more thing. I was worried from what I read about the ph and ammonia of mailed fish that I was always just match the specific gravity, floated them, and added without dripping.

BUT every single fish vendor (including FB) recommends you drip the fish, in some cases, for an hour! Am I making too much of this? I’d really love some input on if those who receive fish in the mail drip them or not

Float, open the bag, dump them in QT immediately.

If you ask the vendor their specific gravity, you can try to match it. Better to go lower if you are guessing.

Sustainable aquatics has a long pdf on their site explaining this, but the synopsis is that ph changes and ammonia increases when you open the bag. It’s best to get them out ASAP.

 

[cpbartak]

Contact him at the email address here: http://humblefishaquatics.com/index.html

 

[Lowell Lemon]

Float, open the bag, dump them in QT immediately.

If you ask the vendor their specific gravity, you can try to match it. Better to go lower if you are guessing.

Sustainable aquatics has a long pdf on their site explaining this, but the synopsis is that ph changes and ammonia increases when you open the bag. It’s best to get them out ASAP.

You can actually send the fish into toxic shock this way. The ammonium ion is more toxic to the fish as the PH rises. While many common fish might survive your suggestion you will outright kill more sensitive types with this method. You should use a proper acclimation tank or table to slowly raise the PH and allow the fish to expelled the ammonia toxins from its body to prevent damage or death to the fish. PM me if you want to know more about other options for acclimation that will benefit the health of the fish.

 

[JJKK]

The best way to reach Humblefish is [email protected].

I did earlier this week and got this reply from him: "Unfortunately, I am winding down operations and thus no longer able to accept any new order requests."

I've used NY Aquatics and Fishy Business in the past. I have 2 reallly finicky fish(Yellow Belly Regal Angel and Potter's Wrasse) and have not been able to successful get these fish out of QT from those sources. I have reached out to Blake at Tide Pool Aquatics to see if he can quarantine and get these fish eating before shipping to me. Tide Pool is in the vendor section of R2R.

 

[Feet4Fish]

Just spent an hour looking over fishy buisniness, love their site, great stock list and very cheap prices. If I can’t get ahold of humblefish (just because I feel I owe him for giving back to the community) I think I’ll try FB next.

Has anyone had anything die from FB and had luck making good on the refund?

One more thing. I was worried from what I read about the ph and ammonia of mailed fish that I was always just match the specific gravity, floated them, and added without dripping.

BUT every single fish vendor (including FB) recommends you drip the fish, in some cases, for an hour! Am I making too much of this? I’d really love some input on if those who receive fish in the mail drip them or not

Don’t drip fish from the mail. Sudden inflow of oxygen raises pH which transforms ammonium into ammonium ! Never understand why online vendors sometime recommend drip acclimation

 

[Lowell Lemon]

Don’t drip fish from the mail. Sudden inflow of oxygen raises pH which transforms ammonium into ammonium ! Never understand why online vendors sometime recommend drip acclimation

There is a correct way to drip acclimate that works in the majority of cases. It requires a small tank that holds the contents of the bag and has a small overflow to a waste container. As new water is dripped to the container it mingles with the bag water and slowly raises the PH as it removes the toxic ammonium ion. This procedure could take hours instead of minutes and requires patience. A PH pen is a great asset in making sure you do not move to fast. PH is logarithmic and this is why you need to proceed slowly if the fish has been in the bag a long time.

This is another reason most people should buy fish from a trusted local source that knows and has the equipment or understanding necessary to properly acclimate the fish for them. If you are just transporting fish home from the store you lower the risk of toxic shock to almost nothing and a temp acclimation and release is often very successful.

 

[jp_75]

if you have a chance please buy from humblefish! you will thank me later. he is busy for a reason.

 

[tautog83]

Fishybusiness , nyaquatic and Tide pool for wrasses . No deaths all eating within a day minus my regal that took 7 lol.

 

[Lateral72]

Honestly? There aren't any really "good" online fish vendors anymore. PIA, AmongTheReef and couple other small ones are about the best, but they all have very limited availability.

Fishy Business is fine, as they drop ship from a wholesaler that a lot of other e-retailers drop ship from (not QM). However, their entire DOA & Guarantee policy is a bit screwy with having to pay for shipping insurance and guarantees, IMHO. Especially considering the percentage of your total cost for a 7 day guarantee is 30%, 14 days is 66% and 21 days is 88%. So as an example a $46 flame angel is really $85 with a more standard 14 day guarantee and $9 shipping insurance. Their pricing is honestly a bit deceptive. I've had to use their DOA guarantee, and while not bad, I did have some issues, and it took nearly a month to get it sorted, fish reshipped, availability, etc... However, I have bought from them a couple other times since without too much issue.

NYA - After my experiences, I would avoid. Really haven't had a single positive experience.

 

[bluprntguy]

There is a correct way to drip acclimate that works in the majority of cases. It requires a small tank that holds the contents of the bag and has a small overflow to a waste container. As new water is dripped to the container it mingles with the bag water and slowly raises the PH as it removes the toxic ammonium ion. This procedure could take hours instead of minutes and requires patience. A PH pen is a great asset in making sure you do not move to fast. PH is logarithmic and this is why you need to proceed slowly if the fish has been in the bag a long time.

This is another reason most people should buy fish from a trusted local source that knows and has the equipment or understanding necessary to properly acclimate the fish for them. If you are just transporting fish home from the store you lower the risk of toxic shock to almost nothing and a temp acclimation and release is often very successful.

Here’s the white paper from sustainable aquatics that explains their acclimation process and why they don’t drip acclimate as you suggest.
http://www.sustainableaquatics.com/docs/Acclimation-White-Paper.docx

 

[Sallstrom]

Here’s the white paper from sustainable aquatics that explains their acclimation process and why they don’t drip acclimate as you suggest.
http://www.sustainableaquatics.com/docs/Acclimation-White-Paper.docx

This way (getting the fish out of the transport water and into low pH water(without ammonia), and then start "drip acclimate") has worked well for us the last 6 years(small public aquaria).

 

[LAReefer4Life]

Check this website out below. Specialty fish and pre quarantined. I suggest continuing your own QT progress in addition, but great livestock to choose from.

https://www.marinecollectors.com