city hunter Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 My experience so far with buying fish online hasnt been too great. I;ve ealt with live aquaria twice and so far I lost 4 of the fish I had ordered within a day using their acclimation guide. I as pretty disapointed as the main reason I had orderd from this is to get some bipartus leopard wrasses, but apparently they sold them during my order.. I got some credit for the fish so I was fine/ So I checked the other week and found they had those wrasses in again., I called to check on how many they have., but apparently they are too big of a company so they dont know...... Must have some outsourced call support..So, I .ordered 3 medium, and what I got was more like small, but they all came DOA. Very disapointing and they had no available replacements. Again I got my money back. Anyhow, I really want these [language filter] fish, so I figured I would check out blue zoo, and was suprised to see they had them listed. I called them up to find out how many they had, and was very happy to find out they can actually give me an answer. I ended up ordering 6 of them because with the experience I have had so far I figure I will be lucky if 35% make it.... Heck I even got a free yellow tang for ordering over 300 dollars (plotting). Anyhow, I am curious to see how this pans out Has anyone else had about the same experience with me? I cant really balem the retailers., I think it's just very hard on the fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmike Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 Both Blue Zoo and Live aquaria are essentially the BIG wholesale operations down in LA. So you are essentially bypassing the LFS, thus the fish being hit or miss.... If you truly want quality fish online use Live aquaria Divers Den, they quarantine the fish prior to sale. I have had great luck with more sensitive fish from them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigjohnwoody Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 If you have had such bad luck online why don't you try the lfs'? Just curious? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigjohnwoody Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 I have bought all my fish from Garrett (premium aquarium) and have never lost one yet. I even bought 7 chromis and they all survived. Maybe I just have good luck with fish. Garrett does sell extremely high quality fish though. Can't say enough good things about him. Check with him for future purchases if he doesn't have it I guarantee he can get it for you:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burningbaal Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 I got my original CUC from liveaquaria...25 members inc snails, hermits, 2 coral bandeds, 2 porcelain and 2 emerald crabs. all made it fine except one emerald, it was DOA. but that was inverts...probably handle the shipping better. got another bagillion CUC members from Garret and love 'em. I doubt I'll get anything online as long as Garret's an option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burningbaal Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 I got my original CUC from liveaquaria...25 members inc snails, hermits, 2 coral bandeds, 2 porcelain and 2 emerald crabs. all made it fine except one emerald, it was DOA. but that was inverts...probably handle the shipping better. got another bagillion CUC members from Garret and love 'em. I doubt I'll get anything online as long as Garret's an option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 +1 for Diver's Den if you go through live aquaria. The prices are higher but in the long run you end up saving money because the fish have already quarantined. I have a saying "It's not a good deal if it ends up dead." I typically buy locally though because personally I like to see the fish I am buying and make sure it's eating and healthy and most LFS will give you a guarantee. I have heard good things about bluezoo but have never personally used them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bicyclebill Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 Dude, you're right around the corner from Upscales. Travis almost always has a leopard wrasse for sale. Nothing compares to being able to see the fish you're looking for in the tank so you can see if it's healthy or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 Some wrasses are just hard to ship. The fact they gave you a credit each time is kind of a testament to them. Live aquaria is not based in LA, although they do have a building there, your fish could ship from three different facilities. Usually I order direct from Wisconsin, because I am good friends with an employee at that location. I like to order from them because it usually comes through. I have tried to order fish from 5 or 6 of the local stores and been told they would and never heard back, or the honest ones plain refuse. Ordering from Live Aquaria gives the best selection and guarantee, as well as the best prices. If you do larger orders, they can cover shipping also. I'm sorry you had a bad experience with them, hopefully Blue Zoo will be better. For the Bipartus I suggest putting some sand in the bag for shipping. Otherwise the fish can injure itself trying to dive into the plastic bag. Having some live food on hand upon acclimation tends to help to I believe in my experience with leopard wrasses. As does a good sand bed. The last leopard I got went in the tank, dove in the sand and did not emerge to my eyes for 9 days. I swore he was a waste of $90, but then he was with me for 4 years. HTH I know it is not popular to say you use online retailers, but when the local stores can match what I get online for the price I would rather go there. When Waves was open I only ever went there and did not order online for years. I frequent Upscales and West Side most often now, but even they tell me sometimes I would be better off ordering online, or that they do not want to go through the hassle to order what I want. Like the RODI unit with the bells and whistles I wanted, my new eheim pumps, or the BubbleKing Skimmer. I used to go to Rose City because I really like Nick, but his new days off are the same as mine, so I can never be there when he is open. It just feels so taboo to say you order online on the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
city hunter Posted November 3, 2011 Author Share Posted November 3, 2011 If you have had such bad luck online why don't you try the lfs'? Just curious? Because no lfs seems to be able to getwhat I want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
city hunter Posted November 3, 2011 Author Share Posted November 3, 2011 Dude' date=' you're right around the corner from Upscales. Travis almost always has a leopard wrasse for sale. Nothing compares to being able to see the fish you're looking for in the tank so you can see if it's healthy or not.[/quote'] Some wrasses are just hard to ship. The fact they gave you a credit each time is kind of a testament to them. Live aquaria is not based in LA, although they do have a building there, your fish could ship from three different facilities. Usually I order direct from Wisconsin, because I am good friends with an employee at that location. I like to order from them because it usually comes through. I have tried to order fish from 5 or 6 of the local stores and been told they would and never heard back, or the honest ones plain refuse. Ordering from Live Aquaria gives the best selection and guarantee, as well as the best prices. If you do larger orders, they can cover shipping also. I'm sorry you had a bad experience with them, hopefully Blue Zoo will be better. For the Bipartus I suggest putting some sand in the bag for shipping. Otherwise the fish can injure itself trying to dive into the plastic bag. Having some live food on hand upon acclimation tends to help to I believe in my experience with leopard wrasses. As does a good sand bed. The last leopard I got went in the tank, dove in the sand and did not emerge to my eyes for 9 days. I swore he was a waste of $90, but then he was with me for 4 years. HTH I know it is not popular to say you use online retailers, but when the local stores can match what I get online for the price I would rather go there. When Waves was open I only ever went there and did not order online for years. I frequent Upscales and West Side most often now, but even they tell me sometimes I would be better off ordering online, or that they do not want to go through the hassle to order what I want. Like the RODI unit with the bells and whistles I wanted, my new eheim pumps, or the BubbleKing Skimmer. I used to go to Rose City because I really like Nick, but his new days off are the same as mine, so I can never be there when he is open. It just feels so taboo to say you order online on the forum. I usually always support the local lfs unless they wont getwhat I want. The only lfs I ever saw bipart leopards was waves when shaun was running it on lbf. He use to be my go to for everything. I still spend a lot of money at west side and seahorse. I have been wanting divideds s6 years now and I finally got some =]. I gotta say, I am very very happy with blue zoo, THeir packing was a bit better than live aquaria and they also had a better acclimation setup. They even gave me stress reliever which really helped on the stressed out leopards. I also like the fact thyat I am talking to them directly, and when I asked how many divideds they had they could give me an awnser. nI orderd 6 of them, along with 2 pearly jawfish and some tiny blenny I forgot the name of. I had one doa leopard, but so far so good on the rest! I also got a free yellow tang with the order, who has a great personality. I'm out on the road, but the gf took care of it for me, and she says one of the larger leopards was swimming around earlier and doing great. She said another had been poking his head out of the sand and then going back under often lol. I cant wait for sunday so I can get home and check them out. I got a few pictures and they are amazing looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
city hunter Posted November 3, 2011 Author Share Posted November 3, 2011 Dude' date=' you're right around the corner from Upscales. Travis almost always has a leopard wrasse for sale. Nothing compares to being able to see the fish you're looking for in the tank so you can see if it's healthy or not.[/quote'] i'm mixed about upscales. I;ve seen a lot of sick fish there. I know it happens. And I;'ve never seen a bipartitus leopard wrasse, thats not a normal leopard... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Nice picture! Amazing looking fish. I can see why it became your quest to find one! I hope they do well. Thanks for the feedback on bluezoo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bicyclebill Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Aha, I missed the bipartitus part! What a unique looking fish; very cool. I've been lucky and have had great success with fish from Upscales, though my daughter has pointed out dead or dying fish there from time to time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
city hunter Posted November 5, 2011 Author Share Posted November 5, 2011 well my luck is going downhill with these fish again...5 of 6 are dead. 2 came out of the sand to dies this morning, 1 this afternoon... and one the day before along with the 1 doa... I'm sure the last one will be dead by the morning -_- I need to get this f;n curse off me. Gonna lose 250 bucks on this shipment as their coverage only covers doa fish -_- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate213 Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 Sorry to hear about the losses. Do you know how long blue zoo had them before they shipped to you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
city hunter Posted November 6, 2011 Author Share Posted November 6, 2011 No IDea, I might ask them next time. I still have one left somewhere. Gonna cross my fingers.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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