Transhipped fish??? LivestockUSA???

[HotRocks]

Wrasses, angels, goby, etc. I haven’t been impressed with them lately

Don’t know why I’ve been losing them. I just wake up one day and they died overnight. Even when it’s a clean qt with no meds in it yet. Maybe I just had a bad streak of luck, but I don’t know. Either way I’m done with LA. The customer service is crap now.

Ok this sounds crazy, but I used to not medicate and wait until everyone was eating bla bla, I had the same problem. I started medicating right away and I literally have 5% or less loss on the last several batches of fish I have ran. All except for one came from same source LA uses.

 

[Cassian]

Ok this sounds crazy, but I used to not medicate and wait until everyone was eating bla bla, I had the same problem. I started medicating right away and I literally have 5% or less loss on the last several batches of fish I have ran. All except for one came from same source LA uses.

Thanks! I’ll give that a try. I usually give them a day or two to get “settled in”. Maybe that’s my problem.

 

[puffy127]

Great prices, but are you taking into account the ~$300 landing fee and ~$80-100 shipping fee?

 

[Cassian]

Great prices, but are you taking into account the ~$300 landing fee and ~$80-100 shipping fee?

Yes, should come to about $30/fish

 

[albano]

If I remember correctly, years ago a friend ordered from them and he received a full box of fish... some that he didn’t order to replace the out of stock ones that he did order!

 

[EMeyer]

Wow interesting site. I think you discovered the last place in the world that can get Fiji live rock! I’m ordering some ASAP!

I'd be cautious. I bought some of this from another supplier, but the same source. I wouldnt buy it again.

The life on this rock is amazing. But its not appropriate rock for a reef tank IMO. Its some kind of bizarre purple dyed concrete mixture, not dead coral skeletons. Really funny -- the worst rock I've ever seen with the best life I've ever seen. Wish theyd taken the time to source decent rock before planting it in the ocean and waiting 3 years

Liverocknreef carries this stuff sometimes too.

 

[Cassian]

If I remember correctly, years ago a friend ordered from them and he received a full box of fish... some that he didn’t order to replace the out of stock ones that he did order!

Yes, it said on the website they may do that. That’s why you need to make sure they have plenty in stock of what you want

 

[Cassian]

@HotRocks , had another quick question. Do you think a 20 gal and a 10 gal quarantine will be enough for +/-15 fish? I have a 60 gal available, but I wasn’t really wanting to set that up. Lol

 

[Jacked Reefer]

@HotRocks , had another quick question. Do you think a 20 gal and a 10 gal quarantine will be enough for +/-15 fish? I have a 60 gal available, but I wasn’t really wanting to set that up. Lol

I doubt that would be enough for 15 fish. I would set up the 60 stat, even if its just super temporary on the floor kind of thing. Being prepared for anything that MAY happen is whats going to keep your fish alive.

Edit: I also have considered transshipping before but after buttloads of research it just didn't seem too worth it. But i would suggest getting some wild corals if you go this route. Stay ahead of the curve lol.

 

[Cassian]

I doubt that would be enough for 15 fish. I would set up the 60 stat, even if its just super temporary on the floor kind of thing. Being prepared for anything that MAY happen is whats going to keep your fish alive.

Edit: I also have considered transshipping before but after buttloads of research it just didn't seem too worth it. But i would suggest getting some wild corals if you go this route. Stay ahead of the curve lol.

ok, thanks for the advice!

lol, yeah. I dont think they can ship coral in the fish boxes though

 

[Kengar]

Wow interesting site. I think you discovered the last place in the world that can get Fiji live rock! I’m ordering some ASAP!

The rock is Walt Smith. I got two boxes of it. Some decent coralline, including blue, but no real coral or polyp life has popped out of it after 8 months or so. Sort of disappointed. Generally all cow pie shaped. Fortunately (for my taste), I got ahold of some authentic old-school stuff at aquatic tech in Ohio (350 mile drive each way) that had been in vats for awhile, so the Walt Smith stuff fills in around authentic stuff instead of being the only stuff in the tank. Don’t know how much if any they have left. The good old days are long gone.....

 

[malacoda]

Wow interesting site. I think you discovered the last place in the world that can get Fiji live rock! I’m ordering some ASAP!

The rock is Walt Smith. I got two boxes of it. Some decent coralline, including blue, but no real coral or polyp life has popped out of it after 8 months or so. Sort of disappointed. Generally all cow pie shaped. Fortunately (for my taste), I got ahold of some authentic old-school stuff at aquatic tech in Ohio (350 mile drive each way) that had been in vats for awhile, so the Walt Smith stuff fills in around authentic stuff instead of being the only stuff in the tank. Don’t know how much if any they have left. The good old days are long gone.....

Sorry to highjack the thread OP...

+1 on it being Walt Smith rock. I just got a 50lb box from them this past March. (Knew it was Walt Smith rock since they clearly say so .. and yes it's denser and less natural looking than pukani or other coral skeletons. But I wanted live 'live rock' from the Pacific and it's the only type available these days. (I used the same stuff from Tampa Bay Saltwater for my 20g a few years ago so was familiar with it.)

Anyhow, it cured in 1.5 weeks for me. Has several shades of pink, purple and maroon coraline already growing back in on it. I've got a ton of tunicates growing on it. As well as some zoa polyps and what looks to be a tic-tac-sized spot of SPS that's beginning to grow.

So I guess, as with many things, experience with it can vary. Some pics are shown in my tank thread if you want to see what it looks like: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/malacodas-65g-long-from-crystal-reef-aquatics.533883/

The pics are a couple months old and were taken during the initial 'ugly' phase ... which was short. The algae died off on its own in ~3 weeks and I couldn't be happier with the rock.

 

[Cassian]

Sorry to highjack the thread OP...

Haha, no problem. Good info!

 

[signal_4]

I’ve done lots of trans ship before, with Livestock USA and another company. Mitch ( Livestock USA) was great to work with and always answered my questions via email quickly. He basically sells at wholesale price which unless you want to get a tax ID to get true tranship pricing, is still a great deal. Ya it’s bascically gonna run total $500-600 for a box, but depending on what your getting, you could be paying that much for a few higher end fish online or at a LFS where with tranship you get all that and a box of other stuff. I’ve ordered RVS Philippines, and Cebu, Tonga acros and some other Bali stuff. I mostly just drip acclimate them like with all the other normal stuff. Mitch also was nice enough to refund the prices on the stuff that didn’t come in the box. Sometimes you do get different stuff or more or less than what you ask for and I, myself, usually just give the extras away to friends.

 

[Cassian]

I’ve done lots of trans ship before, with Livestock USA and another company. Mitch ( Livestock USA) was great to work with and always answered my questions via email quickly. He basically sells at wholesale price which unless you want to get a tax ID to get true tranship pricing, is still a great deal. Ya it’s bascically gonna run total $500-600 for a box, but depending on what your getting, you could be paying that much for a few higher end fish online or at a LFS where with tranship you get all that and a box of other stuff. I’ve ordered RVS Philippines, and Cebu, Tonga acros and some other Bali stuff. I mostly just drip acclimate them like with all the other normal stuff. Mitch also was nice enough to refund the prices on the stuff that didn’t come in the box. Sometimes you do get different stuff or more or less than what you ask for and I, myself, usually just give the extras away to friends.

Thanks for the info! I’m currently working with Mitch and am ordering a box from Philippines RVS.

 

[Cassian]

well, they are ordered! we'll see how this goes!

 

[puffy127]

What did you order?

 

[Cassian]

What did you order?

A tang, an angel, a lot of wrasses, a school of chromis, and two moorish idols ! If you want to know exactly what I got I can tell you or you can see it on my build thread when I get then in!

 

[puffy127]

You should do an unboxing video or take lots of photos.

 

[CoralWealth]

I got tonga acros from them a couple months ago and everything went really smooth and (knock on wood) still have all the acros.

I also am 100% done ordering from LA as I have had horrible luck with them over the past couple months,