A little disappointed...

sea_squirt

sea_squirt

New Member
This past week I received my first mail order for 2 fish, a few invertebrates, and a couple corals....one of the fish was DOA...everything was seemingly doing great...but my angel fish died on day 3
....she was a bluefin pygmy angel...acclimated exactly the way the directions told me to...all water parameters are excellent...the only thing I can think of is I have...or should I say...HAD...4 damsels in the tank and maybe they harassed her....just dont know...think I will stick with ordering corals and invertebrates through the mail from now on....
I spent the morning pulling rocks out...not only to find the angel, but to catch damsels
......there is a true reason why they are called "dam" sels.....I will only get half price for them at the lfs...but at least they are gone....I still have my maroon clown and her anemone....I am considering a Naso Tang next...any thoughts???
Any advice on mail ordering fish???? :notsure:
 
who dey

who dey

Active Member
im a skeptic when it comes to ordering animals online???? i like to see before i buy :happyfish
 
seahorse11

seahorse11

Member
I am with WHO DEY. I am a little aprehensive about ordering live fish/corals/inverts online. I also like to see what I am buying. And I dont want to go to the hassle of trying to return the dead fish in a certain amount of days, its easier to go down to the LFS and do a swap or return. Granted that online you can find a MUCH better selection but is it really worth it? Most LFS's will place a special order for a selected fish for a customer and this way if it comes in dead or diseased, it isnt your fault.
 
pbienkiewi

pbienkiewi

Member
I have bought inverts, corals, and fish off of here many times. I am always pleased at what they send me. Everything looks awsome and bigger than what they say.
 
mudhauler

mudhauler

Member
A new fish is always a little dicey when its going into an established tank especially when it has damsels waiting for it. I've had good luck so far with 2 orders from SWF. I had a sailfin dead on arrival with my first shipment but they took care of it and the one they replaced it with was a great deal for me. I've ordered 11 fish so far and they are all doing well. The second shipment arrived last Wed. and all were eating by yesterday. For me the additional time the fish are handled by the LFS is just more stress on thre fish and SWF gets a much better selection of top quality fish than your LFS will get from some wholesaler.
 
mudplayerx

mudplayerx

Active Member
It is always best to rearrange the rockwork when adding new fish, so that all of the fish (old and new alike) feel disoriented and too timid to be agressive. Also keep the lights off the first day. It could very well be that the damsels stressed the angel to death.
It is also very well possible that the drip acclimating caused the ammonia in the shipping bag to become incredibly toxic by raising the ph. The stress that this could have caused coupled with the harassing of the damsels could've done 'er in.
 
mikeyjer

mikeyjer

Active Member
How big is your tank anyway? I order fish from this site and they were bigger and healthier then the ones at the LFS. I would continue to order from this site, will order some more once I get the large tank. Naso Tangs are nice, but you have to make sure they eat before you purchase and it also depends on how big your tank is. :happyfish
 
mudhauler

mudhauler

Member
You should formulate a plan as to what you want in your tank before you purchase anything. Stick to the plan if you did your home work and checked compatibility and size requirements you should increase your chances of success. Remember measure twice cut once!!!!
 
natclanwy

natclanwy

Active Member
I am all for supporting the LFS but mine charges $7-$10 each for astrea snails and hermit crabs and that is the cheapest thing in the store. A Percula Clown about a 1/2-3/4" long is around $60 I can buy from this site and lose half of what I buy and still be money ahead.
 
bunnyl99

bunnyl99

Member
I'm assuming you didn't quarantine the new fish because you were suspecting the damsels to be the cause? I had lots of fish lost. I eliminated every option & the last option was returning my damsels to the LFS. Haven't lost one yet. Looks like it was the damsels. I don't have a quarantine tank yet, but plan on getting one
 
sea_squirt

sea_squirt

New Member
Originally Posted by mudplayerx
It is also very well possible that the drip acclimating caused the ammonia in the shipping bag to become incredibly toxic by raising the ph. The stress that this could have caused coupled with the harassing of the damsels could've done 'er in.
Is there any way to prevent this or is it just the chance I take ordering online?
 
mitzel

mitzel

Active Member
Originally Posted by sea_squirt
Is there any way to prevent this or is it just the chance I take ordering online?


Its just the chance you take having damsels .
 
fishmamma

fishmamma

Active Member
I am sorry to hear of your fish losses. I have ordered from this site numerous times, initially getting healthy stock in the mail but my last order went similar to yours and I will only be ordering corals from this site in the future. I have never lost a fish purchased from LFS and in addition to this the acclimation is much easier when you have the same pH and specific gravity as your favorite LFS......IMO the problem with this site is that your replacement fish do not count towards your 'free shipping' total in your next order so to pay for shipping is not worth replacing the fish, and having to place another large order in addition to the replacement fish is not always an option.
 
sea_squirt

sea_squirt

New Member
I hear ya..
..just got both replacement numbers...wish I could just get a credit...even if it didnt count toward the total...would still rather take a chance on some more corals vs. fish...I talked with the owner of my local LFS and he has been very straight up with me--one of a few...he has offered to order specific request and doesnt charge much more than online...I did get a beautiful Naso Tang from him (lfs guy)..same price...w/o shipping and he is doing awesome...Corals from this site have been great though..as well as invertebrates.
 
fishmamma

fishmamma

Active Member
I did hear of someone selling their fish replacement number on the boards but they had asked permission to do so first. I have been thinking of 'giving' mine to someone since I do not know if I will ever use it in the future.
 
bigarn

bigarn

Active Member
Originally Posted by WHO DEY
im a skeptic when it comes to ordering animals online???? i like to see before i buy :happyfish
I agree 100%.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top