yanetterer
Active Member
I've made a couple livestock orders through SaltwaterAquarium.com. Livestock has come from both their own facility in Chicago (referred to as SAQ) and ORA. Everything has arrived well packaged, in good condition, and my first order is still alive and happy after about a month. There are a few logistical things preventing me from giving them a five star rating. Even then, I don't think they are anything that would deter me from ordering from them again, just things that I think are good to know going into the purchase.
To be aware of:
1. ORA corals are drop-shipped directly from ORA. The potential downside worth being aware of, it may be more difficult to hit free shipping thresholds if you are ordering a mixture of SAQ and ORA livestock. Although, their free shipping thresholds ($179) are very low compared to many online vendors.
2. There isn't an option to schedule a shipping date at checkout and you won't receive any additional communication until it ships. I replied to the order confirmation email to coordinate a shipping date, which was promptly addressed. I can only confirm that they can coordinate a shipping date for items coming from SAQ in Chicago, I can't confirm if they can control shipping dates for items drop-shipped from ORA.
3. Captive-bred fish are tiiiiiny. I'm not saying that is bad, just trying to manage expectations. The mandarin I received has nearly doubled in size in the past month and I think it is still smaller than any mandarin I have seen in a store. It will be fun seeing him grow.
The good:
1. As mentioned, ORA corals and fish come directly from ORA. This means less chance of picking up additional pests from a middleman's holding tank, you know for sure it is of ORA lineage (if that is important to you), and you'll know that the captive-bred fish you paid a premium for isn't a mislabeled wild-caught fish that would typically be much cheaper.
2. While the fish are tiny, the frags are not. The acropora granulosa I received is chunky and fully encrusted, just like the pictures on the website. Mine browned out in shipping, but no big deal, the cold weather may have affected that and it will color up with some time. I will add a picture to show a comparison of what a ~$65 ORA coral directly from ORA looks like versus a ~$65 ORA coral from a major online vendor.
3. I also ordered a 5 pack of urchins. Each one was individually bagged. I don't know if other vendors would ship them all in one bag, but I thought this was great since if one died in shipping it wouldn't foul the water and risk taking the rest out with it.
4. Civil Servant (military, healthcare, first responders, teachers) discount of 5% applies to both SAQ and ORA livestock (cannot be combined with other sales).
To be aware of:
1. ORA corals are drop-shipped directly from ORA. The potential downside worth being aware of, it may be more difficult to hit free shipping thresholds if you are ordering a mixture of SAQ and ORA livestock. Although, their free shipping thresholds ($179) are very low compared to many online vendors.
2. There isn't an option to schedule a shipping date at checkout and you won't receive any additional communication until it ships. I replied to the order confirmation email to coordinate a shipping date, which was promptly addressed. I can only confirm that they can coordinate a shipping date for items coming from SAQ in Chicago, I can't confirm if they can control shipping dates for items drop-shipped from ORA.
3. Captive-bred fish are tiiiiiny. I'm not saying that is bad, just trying to manage expectations. The mandarin I received has nearly doubled in size in the past month and I think it is still smaller than any mandarin I have seen in a store. It will be fun seeing him grow.
The good:
1. As mentioned, ORA corals and fish come directly from ORA. This means less chance of picking up additional pests from a middleman's holding tank, you know for sure it is of ORA lineage (if that is important to you), and you'll know that the captive-bred fish you paid a premium for isn't a mislabeled wild-caught fish that would typically be much cheaper.
2. While the fish are tiny, the frags are not. The acropora granulosa I received is chunky and fully encrusted, just like the pictures on the website. Mine browned out in shipping, but no big deal, the cold weather may have affected that and it will color up with some time. I will add a picture to show a comparison of what a ~$65 ORA coral directly from ORA looks like versus a ~$65 ORA coral from a major online vendor.
3. I also ordered a 5 pack of urchins. Each one was individually bagged. I don't know if other vendors would ship them all in one bag, but I thought this was great since if one died in shipping it wouldn't foul the water and risk taking the rest out with it.
4. Civil Servant (military, healthcare, first responders, teachers) discount of 5% applies to both SAQ and ORA livestock (cannot be combined with other sales).
