reliable fish importers???

[Coralqueendom]

Recently just started importing fish for our fish store and the seller refuses to bag fish properly, sending most of them in enough water only for them to be partially submerged :/ it is sad and infuriating to see them this way and out of almost 100 fish, perhaps 10 survived after quarantine. We have asked the seller time and time again to ship fish with care and that we would even pay extra for this, but to no avail. It seems like whenever I try to get information on fish imorters/exporters people seem incredibly tight lipped. Is there a reason that good vendor information is not shared within the hobby? Am I missing some big secret? Perhaps someone on Reef2Reef can help an up and coming coral farmer like myself find the Plug on healthy, diverse fish
?

 

[Spare time]

At the place I work at we use quality marine, sun pet, sea dwelling, and I think ACI. If you have that many dying I would highly recommend switching vendors as the one you deal with sounds terrible. We looked at the costs directly from importers and while it is cheap, I have a feeling that the middlemen typically handle a lot of issues of importing that stores don't have to deal with and don't want to deal with.

 

[Coralqueendom]

At the place I work at we use quality marine, sun pet, sea dwelling, and I think ACI. If you have that many dying I would highly recommend switching vendors as the one you deal with sounds terrible. We looked at the costs directly from importers and while it is cheap, I have a feeling that the middlemen typically handle a lot of issues of importing that stores don't have to deal with.

thank you for your response! These are all reliable vendors in your opinion?

 

[Spare time]

thank you for your response! These are all reliable vendors in your opinion?

They all have their pros and cons but the fish do arrive in water which seems to be a problem with your current seller lol. I forgot to put sustainable aquatics on there too for their clownfish. I personally prefer captive bread for many reasons but obviously not all fish are and it does have a greater price tag. I am trying to see if my boss wants to order from biota as they have a decent range of captive bred fish too.

I can't say if one or another brings healthier fish but I still recommend maybe a week of api general cure mixed with seachem focus in fish food. This is decently cheap from a retail perspective. We are starting this but currently do copper and then have a sick tank that is fed metroplex and kanaplex with focus.

 

[Coralqueendom]

They all have their pros and cons but the fish do arrive in water which seems to be a problem with your current seller lol. I forgot to put sustainable aquatics on there too for their clownfish. I personally prefer captive bread for many reasons but obviously not all fish are and it does have a greater price tag. I am trying to see if my boss wants to order from biota as they have a decent range of captive bred fish too.

I cant tell you how frustrating it is to receive Kole Tangs in a half cup of water. Thanks im going to look at these vendors

 

[jdiefenbaugh]

Quality Marine handles all live aquaria livestock (non DD) straight out of their facility, Sea Dwelling Creatures, and Consistent Sea has done well for me for about 10 years, and thousands of fish. I've also used Dynasty Marine for Caribbean stuff. Sounds like you're dealing with transhipping? It's been quite a while since I've taken any transhipped fish/coral, but it just seemed too stressful for the fish the handful of times I received those orders. Stay with reputable dealers.

 

[Coralqueendom]

Quality Marine handles all live aquaria livestock (non DD) straight out of their facility, Sea Dwelling Creatures, and Consistent Sea has done well for me for about 10 years, and thousands of fish. I've also used Dynasty Marine for Caribbean stuff. Sounds like you're dealing with transhipping? It's been quite a while since I've taken any transhipped fish/coral, but it just seemed too stressful for the fish the handful of times I received those orders. Stay with reputable dealers.

Thank you for your response! We have been using underwater world and its been atrocious. I will follow up on these leads. speaking of transship we were offered a deal by another Fish Store to go through them straight to their supplier and have them ship from wild caught. Why in your opinion is transship not a good option? Would you prefer another store receive them from their supplier and hold onto them and process and sell to you at a slightly higher cost?