Where would or do you buy your most expensive fish?

[Pazzoman]

Hey Everyone,

I was thinking that soon I will be searching for fish close to the $200 mark and over. I personally prefer seeing the fish in person and watching it eat but I also do like ordering online even tho at times it could be more expensive however always has a WAY better warranty on live stock. My personal favorite site is www.liveaquaria.com which i have ordered fish before and honestly there currently is no local store that carries 2 week warranty let alone a 3 day IMO. Im seriously considering to only get fish like the blue face angel and harlequin tusk from live aquaria hopefully divers den section...what do you guys think? With these fish Id rather pay the extra and be happy knowing that I have a warranty and you just can't beat the customer support of live aquaria!

Put your self in my shoes, where not talking about damsels or chromes think of $200 and up price fish where would you no doubt about get it from and why?

 

[Waleedwale1]

Go with liveaquaria

 

[jackson6745]

I bought expensive wrasses/anthias from Pop corals and max reefs. No warranty, but a 1/3 of the price on some fish. I chose only healthy looking and eating fish with great success so far.

 

[pauliwalnuts]

I'm a liveaquaria guy as well. Customer service is the best, full returns with almost no questions asked. I'm actually hoping to place an order soon, lol.

 

[homegrowncichlid]

I've had stores order fish for me and they'll get a few, I only take the one I like. Pick the best out of the batch, though they were not $200.

 

[albano]

I bought expensive wrasses/anthias from Pop corals and max reefs. No warranty, but a 1/3 of the price on some fish. I chose only healthy looking and eating fish with great success so far.

+1...usually 1/2-1/3 the price... Prefer to see fish before buying...
However, I do order from DD and LA but usually only when it's not often available, or on sale and there's enough to get free shipping

 

[pecan2phat]

I've bought from NY Aquatics various $300 angels and one that was $1200, Exotic Corals & Fish, a few Lineatus wrasses ranging from $200~$299 and a Black tang for $799. These were all in person so I had the ability to see their condition and appetite response. With mail order, I've done Blue Zoo, Live Aquaria/Divers Den and they were for wrasses in the $200~$300 range.

 

[piranhapat]

I ordered fish from http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/. Free shipping over $140 very healthy fish. They make sure fish is eating before they mail them out. Excellent transaction with them. Also Diversden too.

 

[Reef lover24]

+1 for bluezooaquatics. They are awesome and hav me great customer service as well

 

[cmantis]

I like to buy local so I can see the fish im getting if possible. Usually only online if its something I cant find otherwise. Since ive started QTing myself I think a 'warranty' is somewhat over rated as its more or less built into the cost. Divers Den is wysiwyg (albeit pictures) and does QT however id still rather do it myself. If I were you id invest in a qt / hospital setup if space allows especially with more expensive fish but I do it for any and all fish now even those still from places that do it themselves so I know whats been done.

 

[piranhapat]

I agree buying and picking out the fish you want is the best way. But sometimes LFS don't carry the fish you want. So sometimes you have no other options.

 

[Pazzoman]

Hey thanks everyone for your responses I will check out some of the sites listed and of coarse I will always keep max reefs in my mind as you just can't beat those prices. Ive never been to pop corals so unsure. I will be starting up a QT as well however I would like to keep it running at all times, but that means I would need fish. Or maybe I can simply have an aqua clear always running on my main tank and than just put it on the QT when needed.

 

[Reef lover24]

Just dealt with Johnny over from pop corals.. Awesome dude and the fish were heathy and active as hell. I would look into them as well, and prices are good.

 

[rookie07]

Bluezooaquatics has screwed me over twice, I dont like them! For online fish, I only order from Divers Den (Liveaquaria).

 

[MIKE NY]

never bought a fish over $75..my more expensive fish I either obtained small or sickly ..I have pretty good success growing them out and nursing them back to health over the years...I enjoy the challange. A good example is my PBT which is over 15 years old. I got it for $20 small with some ich, very thin, pale coloration and some torn fins...took about six months to get it looking healthy again, but it is still with me today.

 

[ducati335i]

I have bought expensive fish from every where! Even drove to Yonkers for a dussi tang.. I just picked up a beautiful copperband from pets warehouse.. He is all qt'd ate frozen there and home.. He's now in the dt.. Just remember to qt.. Because no one really qts and sells the fish. They are full of crap.. Unless if you consider a small amount of prazipro and just feeding them in a tank qt.. The way I qt I'd sell my fish 4x the price!!

 

[Pazzoman]

Hey everyone thanks for the replies. Yes I will defiantly set up a QT Im just trying to figure out what is a good size quarantine tank. Im probably just going to use a 40 gallon breeder and always have an AC 70 running on my sump of the DT so thats how when I need to quarantine the tank should instantly cycle.

Also this is what I think, if there is a fish in a store that has been at the store for a very long time I will feel very safe to purchase it. However if my LFS doesn't carry them often or doesn't have one that has been in the store for at least 2 weeks than I may just get it online.

 

[jedimaster1138]

Bluezooaquatics has screwed me over twice, I dont like them! For online fish, I only order from Divers Den (Liveaquaria).

I've received a lot of corpses or near corpses from BlueZoo over the years. They are dead to me now - I refuse to order from them even though I still have a small credit. Not worth the acclimation time.

+ Everyone recommending Diver's Den. Most of my fish come from Diver's Den. Healthy, fat and eating. They don't put them for sale if they aren't eating and in some cases condition them for months after getting them as well. Several of my brood are considered "difficult" to keep species as well - Copperband butterfly, Evansi anthias, Pictillis anthias - and many were expensive.

Dr. Mac aka Pacific East Aquaculture is also great for fish. Most everyone knows the Doc when it comes to clams, as you well should be if you like clams (I do - I r clam addict), but he also offers up some very healthy fish. I purchased a trio of Leopard Wrasses from him last winter and they were eating a couple hours after acclimation. Now they are big and fat and voracious eaters.

:fish:

 

[Pazzoman]

Thanks for the response ^ btw recently my cousin made an order that involved an Atlantic blue tang...he ended up not getting it. He look all around and thought he was scammed out of tang. But of coarse you can't beat live aquaria customer support and love the fish they sell. Ad they were packing up the tang they felt like it wasn't healthy enough to be shipped and the only had one in stock so they decided to hold it off and give it 2 weeks to see if it will be ready or just refund him. How many stores you think would risk losing a sale like that? Gotta love it

 

[cmantis]

Im about to eat dinner and on my phone but remind me and ill show you the equipment I use and meds in my qt. An aquaclear is great if just observing in qt but overkill if treating with meds.