LiveAquaria.com

[chunchma]

Has anyone ordered anything from LiveAquaria.com? Fish, Coral etc. and how did they arrive?

I know fish once captured from the ocean of course get shipped to the dealers but how do these creatures deal with Fed Ex and other delivery services and be tossed around during delivery.

Thanks!

 

[Anonymous]

I don't know anything about them yet, but I am considering ordering som zoa's from them since none of the LFS in my area seem to have them. If I do, I can letcha know, but I am sure someone here has already had experience with them

 

[Reef Guy11]

liveaquaria.com is good I have order many things from them. They usually Drop ship there stuff, so that if it is closer to you the fish etc don't travel as far. I have had many good shipment and one bad shipment but they sent me they order over again free of charge.

 

[mutley29]

I've ordered several times from Liveaquaria.

out fo 5 orders 2 seperate orders had problems, 1 last year had a Dead Royal gramma in it, i called as soon as i opened the box, they reimbursed the money straight away, and the second death was a Long Tentacle plate, that was shipped with 2 segments dead and recessed, called them up as soon as i opened it got my money back and discount of my next order, the rest of the coral died within a week.

service is good, and judging by the California address they must get there stuff sent from the same place as Marinedepot live unless there's alot of wholesalers on the same road in Cali

Best shipper for me so Far is Dr Mac & Sons, service is excellent, even call you afterwards to see if everything is ok.

HTH

Anton

 

[Anonymous]

Takin a sneak peak at the industry forum here, it looks like there are several wholesalers on one street in LA I think.

Heres the thread
http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=51933

 

[sawyerc]

I've ordered from liveaquaria.com a few times. About half of the orders had DOA fish or fish that died within a day and one order had a coral in a punctured bag so if was half dry. They do, however, have great customer service and reshipped the order with dry coral for free. I haven't ordered from any other online source before so I cannot compare to other sites.

 

[chunchma]

OK, so what are your thoughts on ordering live rock from them? Can you go wrong by ordering live rock online and does anyone know of a GOOD place online to order live rock?

Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Len gave me some good advice an transshipped live rock, I will try to find the trhead

found it

http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=51806&highlight=transshipped

 

[Anonymous]

I agree Dr Mac was great when I ordered live rock, they called me up asked me how it was doing, surprising the living crap out of me.

 

[reefann]

I got some liveaquaria fiji rock a while ago and was very happy. Good life, covered in nice wet paper. Good service. AND CHEAP
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Mercedes Benz R231

 

[reefann]

BTW I got a cultured dersa from them and was very happy.
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Stroke Forum

 

[Anonymous]

No experience with Liveaquaria but if you want coral frags and even zoos id recommend Coral Dynamics...Ive ordered from them twice..they have some outstanding fragments..zoos frags were more than i thought....i was only expecting about half a dozen polyps but this is what i got...I also have (i think aqua cultured) T. Crocea plus a slew of other SPS corals

 

[ufans]

I recieved 45# of their "Preiuem Select Fiji LR". It was shipped REALLY FAST and the packaging was great. The rock closely resembles the pictures offered on the site. But, make sure you take the time to really cure it. I am using a 25 gal rubbermaid which seems to be too small. My NH3 and NO2 levels are pegged after a couple of hours and I am already on my second 100% water change in less than 12 hours.

The rock isn't very cured at all. There are still a lot of prying of the sponges left to do. A lot of soft corals and sponges that are dying very fast. My guess is that the rock wasn't cured for more than a day or two since they got it.

If you like nice quality cheap rock with a lot of color then LiveAquaria is great. You just have to spend the time and money to cure it. The LFS might have some better cured rock but it probably is more expensive and not as colorful/healthy.

 

[Anonymous]

That is how I want my next batch or rock. the LFS rock was nearly devoid of life other than bacteria. I want some critters.

 

[Anonymous]

The rock isn't very cured at all. There are still a lot of prying of the sponges left to do. A lot of soft corals and sponges that are dying very fast. My guess is that the rock wasn't cured for more than a day or two since they got it.

Was it bought as "cured"? If not, it sat in its box from when it was packed from the ocean/exporter, till you got it.

 

[ufans]

The rock wasn't advertised as "cured". LiveAquaria really doesn't try to recure the rock (as far as I can tell) but they do keep it very wet and their turnover is great because my rock has TONS of stuff on it and it looks very fresh. They obviously cure it in Fiji before it is shipped but that is no were near enough not to mention the shipping time until it gets to the US supplier. I placed my order last Wed afternoon and it shipped on Thursday afternoon from CA and arrived in VA Friday at noon. Pretty fast if I say so myself. LiveAquaria really does a great job working with FedEx to make sure that the planes are available for the shipment which really limits the time that the package sits on the loading docks.

Most experienced people actually prefer the less-cured rock because you have a better chance at curing it in a controled environmnet. Many LFS don't really do a good job a curing anyway. The only problem with curing it yourself is that it take time and energy not to mention some additional cost. But hell, i got the rock shipped to my door for $3.10/lb which is great for around here (No. Va).

 

[Anonymous]

$3.10/lb would save me about $150 after shipping compared with buying rock locally. I am sure that is the direction I will go for my display tank in the new place.