Best online order site?

[Fish_King_25]

It's been years since I've ever looked into ordering livestock online. The selection is incredible compared to the LFS. Is there any site/s that are better than others, or maybe one superior site? I know most have big minimums for ordering and getting free shipping, just wondering who's the best bang for the buck

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[drew2007]

Originally Posted by Fish_King_25

It's been years since I've ever looked into ordering livestock online. The selection is incredible compared to the LFS. Is there any site/s that are better than others, or maybe one superior site? I know most have big minimums for ordering and getting free shipping, just wondering who's the best bang for the buck

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I personally would never order fish from online. I would much rather see it in person and buy it that way. Have you asked your LFS if they can get you what your looking for. Most reliable places should be able to order for you. Youll pay a bit more but you wont have a minimum order amount to deal with. However, if i absolutely cant find what i want in any LFS or if they cant get it, ive heard good things about www.liveaquaria.com.

[nlgill13]

Liveaquaria is good but it has a section called Divers Den that is probably one of the best around. its WYSIWYG and quarantines all fish before going on sale.

[Ron Reefman]

I recently bought a large number of fish (for me and several other people to cut shipping costs) from Live Aquaria. They did a heck of a job bagging the fish, double bagged and even a thicker half bag inside for puncture protection. The bad part was all 5 of the stoplight cardnials I ordered died in route. But LA gave me a refund right away with no hassles, no 'send us a photo' or 'you didn't call us within 2 hours' hassles. They were hugely professional. Then one of the other buyers came to get his anthias. One was in mid phase between being female (as they were supposted to be) and turning male (and a tank can only have one). I called and explained the fish was alive but male and the buyer couldn't take it. I told them I'd take it but it wasn't a fish I really wanted. They said, "no problem, we are issuing a credit as we speak." Are you kidding me? Talk about great service! These people are 180 degrees out from the total lack of support I got from Reefs2Go who is a local supplier to me. Drs F&S, Live Aquaria and Diver's Den, you guys rock!

[spoonman1979]

I have always been very satisfied with liveaquaria.com. Had a fish stolen from my doorstep, they sent another no charge. They stand behind their 14 day guarantee.

[snorvich]

And I agree with the above. Best guarantee/customer service. Occasionally some very rare fish on Divers Den. I get all fish from them.

[Fish_King_25]

Sounds like its a no contest. So saltwaterfish.com, aquacon, neither one are good? Is it ever really worth it to order online for only a fish or coral or two? I don't know any reefers in my area, so my orders would be all for me. What's the shipping set you back?

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[gonpostal]

I agree with the others, Live Aquaria is a great place to order from. I have also ordered from Blue Zoo Aquatics several times and was always satisfied. Blue Zoo also has a lower minimum order than most others.

[aandfsoccr04]

First and foremost, you might want to do a brief search on aquaCON before you order from them. There's a few threads floating around. Secondly, I think it really depends on what you are looking to buy. For my fish I order through live aquaria or Pacific Island Aquatics. Vivid aquariums also has some nice stuff and blue zoo aquatics is another. Marine depot and Premium aquatics and Bulk reef supply for other than livestock.

[mayjong]

live aquaria period

i lost two fish out of my last order (disappeared after two days) i waited over a week to see if they were hiding and they never came out.
e-mailed LA and they responded same day. offered to refund or credit my account, i chose refund and it was on my credit card two days later. no questions asked...

hands down the BEST!

[Cloudburst2000]

I have ordered from both LiveAquaria and bluezoo. I have been satisfied with both, but I love LA's Diver's Den. Also, bluezoo only offers a 7 day guarantee as opposed to LA's 14 day guarantee. You also have to contact bluezoo within an hour of any DOA and you must provide a photo. Also, the 7 day guarantee starts when they ship out the livestock. You will likely get it the following day so usually 6 days from receipt is the length of guarantee from bluezoo. I have had no problems with my couple of fish from bluezoo but the week longer guarantee and non-hassle from LA is enough to swing me over to them for almost all of my purchases. The only time I have actually ordered from bluezoo was during a group buy for our local reef club.

[Squidmotron]

I've ordered from LiveAquaria and BlueZoo for fish.

Been prefectly happy with both.

I bought a couple of frags from VividAquariums too. Was happy with that purchase as well, and they had great customer service.

[jbonez]

i love live aquaria... i bought 2 zoa frags from reef2go both melted smh...

[scarface70706]

vivid aquarium's online store is pretty good too. i love their wysiwyg section. their colors are incredible.

[Cloudburst2000]

I've never bought corals online. I've only ever bought them from locals reefers and at frag swaps, but I love the looks of Vivid Aquariums online coral selection (moreso than LA). I think I will probably order some corals from them in the future. They also have a very good guarantee.

[tbanks]

just made a large purchase from Reefs2go...FEDEX arrives tomorrow morning. wish I had read this prior....but is what it is....will post results.

Thus far - I'll say I have called them 3 times with questions and clarifications...someone has always picked up the phone and they have been friendly and responsive every time.

[MrTuskfish]

A seldom mentioned advantage of buying online (Almost all of my fish are from LA) is that you know the origin of the fish. I avoid fish from Indonesia, The Philippines, and those labeled "Indo-Pacific".....unless there just isn't an option for the fish I want.

[James77]

Originally Posted by Fish_King_25

Sounds like its a no contest. So saltwaterfish.com, aquacon, neither one are good? Is it ever really worth it to order online for only a fish or coral or two? I don't know any reefers in my area, so my orders would be all for me. What's the shipping set you back?

Saltwaterfish and AquaCon are not even in the same category. AquaCon SUCKS, I have seen only negative feedback.

I have no personal experience with Saltwaterfish, but aside from them being more strict with DOA policies, aka needing pics, I have read minimal negative reviews.

LiveAquaria cannot be beat, it is all I use. Live aquarias minimum is $225 for free shipping. Not all that bad, but tough if you are ordering for a small tank. But compare the prices to your LFS. If one fish from your LFS dies, you are SOTL. No taxes. It adds up. For the once in a while fish, I buy from one of 2 reputable LFS here, for large stocking orders, it is liveaquaria.

[Lpabsolute]

Personally i only order from Vivid Aquariums... (https://www.vividaquariums.com/default.asp)

I can order toady and it be at my doorstep tomorrow before 10AM. I always order $230 or more because you get free shipping which coming from LA to SC is like 50-60. I always get great looking healthy corals and every time i've ordered i alway get bonus corals. Great staff and really good experiences every time. I usually do an order once a month. I've ordered form other places also earlier in the hobby but IMO no one comes close to Vivid. Good Luck.

[Meanmike]

I recently used aquacon before learning about others experience and was expecting a horrible out come. But that wasn't the case everything arrived alive and healthy. I'm not sure I'd do it again though.

LA is definitely the best and almost always buy from them.

[Fish_King_25]

Well, I've learned LA is hands down the best. I've got a couple of other sites to check out that are good, and I know which sites to avoid completely. This thread did everything i was hoping it would do. Thanks everyone. 225 will be difficult to reach for my 30g, but since I just switched to reef, maybe if I place an order and fill my tank up with corals, plus a fish, I could do it once. Then I'm pretty stocked up I'd imagine.
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[Cloudburst2000]

I think LA is one of the best. I have never seen a bad review for Vivid Aquariums either. I do plan on ordering from them. Based on the reviews I have read and their customer service, I'd say LA and Vivid Aquariums are pretty much equal. I certainly wouldn't be scared to order from either place. If you are looking for corals, I think Vivid Aquriums has a better selection, IMHO. I think LA has a better selection for fish though. I normally order fish through LA. I will probably order any online coral orders from Vivid Aquariums.

[Ron Reefman]

I love LA, they do great work.

I've used NYAquatics once for a rare fish and they did really well. So happy with them as well.

I've used Reefs2Go several times (they are only a 100 miles from me) with very mixed results. But it seems almost every time I ordered CUC, way, way too many of them arrive dead or die in the first day or two. A friend and I ordered a large number of small hermits, snails and other critters. He ordered a lot of small cerith snails for his 225g tank that had been moved 8 weeks before. I lost about 50% of my livestock and he lost slightly more. The ceriths were hardly moving when he got them and they all died in his tank. But unless you pull them all out of the tank and send photos, R2G won't do anything. Sure, I really want to spend the time to pull 100 tiny cerith snails out of a 225g, 30" tall tank in order to get a few bucks back from R2G. I wouldn't buy from R2G if they were the only supplier on the planet! Sure when they do OK they're a good outfit, but when they do bad, YOU ARE THE ONE WHO GETS SCREWED, NOT R2G!

But then that's just my opinion, ask around and you'll see there are others who have the same opinion.

[spoonman1979]

I purchased a Hippo tang and a frag from NYaquatics.com. Their packaging is not as good as LA, but the fish doing well going on three weeks in QT.

[MrTuskfish]

Originally Posted by Lpabsolute

Personally i only order from Vivid Aquariums... (https://www.vividaquariums.com/default.asp)

I can order toady and it be at my doorstep tomorrow before 10AM. I always order $230 or more because you get free shipping which coming from LA to SC is like 50-60. I always get great looking healthy corals and every time i've ordered i alway get bonus corals. Great staff and really good experiences every time. I usually do an order once a month. I've ordered form other places also earlier in the hobby but IMO no one comes close to Vivid. Good Luck.

LA shipping is $35 anywhere in the lower 48 states, free at $225. If you live in the boonies and Fed-Ex gets there late (3PM for me), check the Fed-Ex site for a "hold at location" site----they're all over. I drive about 10 mins and get my livestock at 9AM.