Where should I buy my fish?

willertac · Oct 15, 2014

I'm looking for a website with reasonable prices and preferably low shipping costs.

I've seen a few, but I don't like the reviews for some of them, and the sites don't look like they'll give me satisfactory service. Aquacon looked good until I found the reviews, saltwaterfish still looks alright, live aquaria is more expensive to ship (and buying certain things, though they have more), I saw another site that sells mainly corals but I don't remember it's name right now, reefs2go never has any fish in stock, and etc. All I'm looking for is a place that'll give me what I want as health healthily and easily as possible.

I think I'm finally set on my selections and now all I've gotta do is set up and shop. If the fish at the stores by me weren't random and sickly, I'd do that...

Also, because I'm worried about infestations from store bought things, if you could tell me a reliable place live rock is sold by the pound, that'd be great :smile:

jschultzbass · Oct 15, 2014

Liveaquaria is most people's favorite. They are a great company to deal with. Bluezooaquatics.com is another one I've had luck with.

SeahorseKeeper · Oct 15, 2014

Live Aquaria is one of my favorite online retailers to order from. I have also ordered from blue zoo and saltwater fish with good results. One thing you might want to consider is getting involved in a local reef club. You could do a group order to help cut down on shipping costs.

3dees · Oct 16, 2014

your probably looking at minimum of 40.00 for overnight shipping from anywhere. I have at least 15 lfs within 30 minutes of me and only trust two or three to buy my fish. I like to see what I'm paying for and I do use a qt. liveaquaria and divers den are two trusted sellers.

willertac · Oct 18, 2014

Well, I'd quarantine too, but I don't think the fish would last long even with all the medications I would use. There's a petco that my step mom buys her fish from occasionally, and it's usually a hit or miss type of thing. The pet store by my house usually has dead fish floating around in both fresh and salt tanks, and though I would also love to be able to see my fish firsthand, I don't trust these stores that much...

gacolt · Oct 18, 2014

i like liveaquaria.com and saltwaterfish.com i have had no problems with either

crazy irishman · Oct 18, 2014

I live in Alaska, and LiveAquaria got my 180 pounds of rocks to me in 23 hours! Over night shipping to Alaska usually makes it the third day. I was very impressed with that, and their customer service.

Nevil · Oct 18, 2014

Check out Exotic Reef Creations. Great people and livestock. Only $25 for shipping.

willertac · Oct 18, 2014

I'm not trying to sound mean, I'm happy you have good experiences, but I've read up on saltwaterfish.com and I've heard too many negative things about them... Plus my stepmom recently ordered from them and lost a blenny within a day, a shrimp, two urchins, and many of her snails from a while ago and one of the corals died after a while, and a number of other fish, even with the good water quality she maintains, so I'm gonna have to probably remove that one from my list. Even though it's enticing...

bmoore92 · Oct 18, 2014

My petco specializes in consistently having dead fish in their displays so I can't bring myself to buy from there.

Justin1997 · Oct 18, 2014

I know this isn't the place to ask but how can I make a post it says I don't have permission

misael888 · Oct 18, 2014

Hands down liveaqueria!!! Especially there divers den section. You may pay a little more but you get healthy fish and awesome service.

Smells Fishy · Oct 19, 2014

Another one for liveaquaria. There shipping is salty but I usually find someone else looking to buy fish to go in to get it over that $225 mark for free shipping. There customer service is the best and you know you're getting fish.

mainereefer · Oct 19, 2014

liveaquaria or saltwaterfish.com they both have a great warranty and service

Merck · Oct 21, 2014

fin-addict is a good one i have used before.( fin-addict) aquatic collections.

camelcruiser · Oct 21, 2014

You should try exotic reef creations. Send them a pm on a fish you want and chances are you will get a video of that fish from their QT system. If I remember correct its a 6 week process. Also if they don't have it they can get it and will do the QT work for you.

YodaHart · Oct 21, 2014

jschultzbass said:
Liveaquaria is most people's favorite. They are a great company to deal with. Bluezooaquatics.com is another one I've had luck with.

I've ordered from both many times and have never had a problem. In fact I've ordered from liveaquaria twice in the past month and all 3 fish are happy and healthy! If there are ever any issues they will help you out no matter what. Love the customer service.