Where to get captive bred livestock

[WirelessMike]

Hey fellow reefers. I’ve been looking to expand the livestock in my tank a bit and wanted to see different suggestions for places to source captive bred fish? My last purchase was a Coral Beauty from Biota. I am a huge fan of Biota and have nothing but good things to say about the experience, but I also want to see what else is out there. Other than an LFS where do you find your captive stock? Thanks in advance for sharing. (PS I’m in Ohio and literally have like 2 LFS I trust around here out of the 4 I’ve been too.)

 

[Breadman03]

I think Pacific East Aquaculture does, though I know they grow their own corals.

 

[WirelessMike]

I think Pacific East Aquaculture does, though I know they grow their own corals.

Thanks @Breadman03 i will check em out. Wish I had a tank that could handle larger livestock like Tangs. Lol

 

[jrill]

Biota

 

[old salt reefer]

I got nothing but good things to say about Biota too, got the same as you a Coral Beauty.
The thing I like most was buying direct from Biota as I was sure I'd get a disease free fish(which I did). I would like to see Biota repeat some of the stuff that they used to breed and sell more often(some of the damsels and wrasses would be nice). I'd like to be able to buy direct from ORA. I bought a captive breed Orchid Dottyback from a local store and it was disease free until it hit there tank I bought it from(it didn't make it) so I'm not so sure I'd buy from Live Aquaria that offers quite a few captave breed as I not sure about their practice with fish after they receiver them.

 

[WirelessMike]

Biota

Thanks. I like Biota and have already ordered from them. Just looking for other options to see if anyone has anything different out there.

I got nothing but good things to say about Biota too, got the same as you a Coral Beauty.
The thing I like most was buying direct from Biota as I was sure I'd get a disease free fish(which I did). I would like to see Biota repeat some of the stuff that they used to breed and sell more often(some of the damsels and wrasses would be nice). I'd like to be able to buy direct from ORA. I bought a captive breed Orchid Dottyback from a local store and it was disease free until it hit there tank I bought it from(it didn't make it) so I'm not so sure I'd buy from Live Aquaria that offers quite a few captave breed as I not sure about their practice with fish after they receiver them.

@tnw50cal im with you. I wish Biota would bring back some of the other stuff. I’ve been looking at their site regularly and I just don’t see too much that I could put in my current setup. I also wish I could get something from ORA, but I’m afraid anything I order would also end up in LFS water and end up being unhealthy when I pick it up. I read a few post about LA and I’m not feeling like rolling the dice. Especially after you factor in shipping costs! How’s your CB doin?

 

[southerntnreefer]

I'm hoping by the time I need a royal Gramma, they have some... Trying to get captive bred when I can.

 

[User1]

BIOTA has a online side now.

ORA also has a bit. I do not believe they have a online public facing side. Live aquaria & divers den sells them although probably more on the live aquaria side. As noted above Pacific East Aquaculture sells only captive raised/bred fish which come from both BIOTA and ORA. I own a BIOTA yellow assessor and it is a great fish. I also bought a BIOTA matted filefish. Great fish. Sadly he went after my Duncan coral, then Zoas, then a new Frogspawn that I just introduced that was small. Tore off flesh to the skeleton so I traded it in to the LFS so the frogspawn can return which it is. Will pick up another later Both of those are from Pacific East Aquaculture. Good place to shop.

In any case those are the two players that I'm aware of for captive raise/bred. LFS and other stores will buy from them and sell to you (pac east for example). Not the biggest selection but there are some hidden gems in there that will provide a splash of speed and color.

Hope this helps - all the best.

The Biota Group

Conceived from a passion to share the ocean’s great beauty, Biota supplies 100% aquarium-cultured aquariums and livestock. As well as a beginner All-In-One aquarium, we also offer fish, coral and invertebrates for all levels of marine hobbyists.

shop.thebiotagroup.com

 

[mattzang]

if you buy ORA stuff from liveaquaria it drop ships directly from the ORA facility in florida

cultivatedreef.com only offers fish from sea & reef, but not sure of their practices

 

[Chrisfish]

I think Pacific East Aquaculture does, though I know they grow their own corals.They do have a selection of captive bred SW fish.

 

[Chrisfish]

Algae Barn also sell captive bred fish from Biota.

 

[OlderManSea]

As Matt any mentioned, I have purchased ORA twice from liveaquaria and each time they shipped directly from ORA. each time it was 10 and 12 fish so I don’t know if that was a factor. Extremely nice fish. Those from the first order have been with me since April 2017 and the only one I lost went carpet surfing after a year.

 

[WirelessMike]

As Matt any mentioned, I have purchased ORA twice from liveaquaria and each time they shipped directly from ORA. each time it was 10 and 12 fish so I don’t know if that was a factor. Extremely nice fish. Those from the first order have been with me since April 2017 and the only one I lost went carpet surfing after a year.

Thanks for the share. Never good when they carpet surf. Sorry to hear that.