LIVEAQUARIA.COM Order

[alexwolf]

i am going to do an order for some cleaner shrimp, probably from saltwaterfish.com. Whoever wants in let me know!! Oh, and if i need to meet some people in New Braunfels then i can do that.

alex

[captexas]

I was looking around at a few places online. Fishsupply.com has their large cleaners on sale for $11.99 and Marine Depot has them on sale for $11.00each or 3 for $30.00 (not sure what size). Saltwaterfish.com currently as them for $19.99. Of course shipping has a big effect on the overall price.

[alexwolf]

ill figure out where the cheapest is, but i need to get a headcount of who wants em!!! Maybe if we get enough we can get free shipping.

[Instar]

Alex, why didn't you get in on our wholesale order for cleaner shrimp?

[captexas]

I am looking for 2 of them. They are available locally for $19 so hopefully they will be less. I couldn't do the wholesale order as I have been back and forth on the road the past few weeks myself.

[alexwolf]

i cant drive to austin again, plus i would like to get them a bit sooner, cap do you want 2?

[captexas]

Alex -
Depends on the price :-P But yes I am looking to get two.

[alexwolf]

ah gimme until tomorrow mornng, i would like to get it wed delivery before thanksgiving, what are your thoughts?

[captexas]

Sure that would be fine. Just double check shipping schedules as some places have delayed shipping due to the holiday. Hopefully more people will jump in to help reduce shipping costs. I know Marine Depot has them 6 for $56, but shipping would be like $40.60. Comes out to $16.10 each. Not sure what it would be total from other places would be.

[alexwolf]

fishsupplycom wants ALL the money for shipping.....40 plus 10 for box.....liveaquaria.com doesnt seem too bad......if over $175 free shipping

[kaiser]

Check www.thepetstop.com their shipping is reasonable. 10 cleaner @ 10.40 a pice plus 39 box and shipping comes out to 14.30 each

[alexwolf]

its going to be liveaquaria.com

[Jenn]

Does anyone know the difference between the Soloman Island and the Indian Ocean blue regal tangs???

[captexas]

Jenn - those are just what area they were collected from. Sometimes fish do better when they come from a certain area. Just be sure that the scientific name is the same as there are several different fish that go under the name "blue tang".

[Markster]

Since this is a short week for some, when are you planning on ordering and what is the deadline to submit?

[captexas]

Ok, here's what I want to get"

1 x #CN-86525 Sea Cucumber, Tiger Tail $10.99
2 x #CN-78348 Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp, Small $15.99ea
1 x #CN-79024 Red & Black Sea Star $13.99
1 x #CN-90037 Red Gracilaria Algae $6.99

Total should be $63.95. Thanks!

Chris

[z28pwr]

If you guys do it next week I'd jump in for (2) Cleaner shrimps since I'll be out of town this week.

[alexwolf]

i need to get in in tonite for wed delivery thanks!

[Nano_Steve]

hmmm......what time tonight? im waiting for a response to see if i can put an order down for two lionfish or not. it would only add maybe 30 bux to the order but im tryin :P

steve

[alexwolf]

hey i appreciate it, around 8 would be fine, i owuld love to order some lionfish! just to see em....

[Nano_Steve]

yeah! i hope the answer comes back as a green light then!!! btw, if i am able to do this is anyone from austin goin down to san antone to pick up their order just out of curiosity?

thanks, steve

[alexwolf]

we are almost to the free shipping point, cmon just a little more!!!!

[Markster]

Alex, would love to order but I promised CB Pets I would buy from them next.

[alexwolf]

we are short $25 for free shipping

[Nano_Steve]

hey alex,

i dont think i will be able to get in on this afterall. i havent been able to find a place to keep my lions until i get back so maybe next time? unless u know of someone that would be willing to care for a couple of small lionfish until the next meeting, i wont be able to join on this :( i hope this doesnt affect ur total.

sorry bud, steve

[alexwolf]

well, we ended up $25 short for free shipping......i guess no order unless i hear from someone by 730 tomorrow morning.......

[captexas]

Won't hurt my feelings to wait. I would rather wait then have to pay shipping! lol

[alexwolf]

well, it looks like we pulled it through. Order should be here wed.

[captexas]

Ok, cool. Some late night ordering :-)

[alexwolf]

well, i misse dthe cutoff time for tomorrow delivery so its coming on Saturday. Anyone else want in while were at it?

[Jenn]

Ok, here's my order...
CN-78842 ORANGE SEA STAR @ $24.99
CN-88897 RED HEAD GOBY - TANK RAISED @ $17.99
CD-197208 LUGOL'S SOLUTION @ $9.99
+ SATURDAY SHIPPING @ $4.00
TOTAL = $56.97
Please let me know an approximate time this may come in - if you know.

Thanks,
Jenn

[Nano_Steve]

hey alex,

i just wanted to see if when u make the order to ask if its at all possible to get one male and one female zebra lion for my order of two. i have been asking questions pertaining to keeping multiple lions in the same tank and this seems to be the best strategy for zebras, not to mention the chance later on of a "litter" :p

id appreciate it, steve

[oceancube]

well everyone is conferming orders here so here i go, this is what i want
CN-78829 SW - Marble Sea Star, Orange (Maldives):$15.99 , thanks again alexwolf!!! :grin:

[fishermiguel]

2x Yellow Hawaiian Tang =$ 25.98
2x Fuzzy Dwarf Lionfish =$ 23.98
1x Maroon Clownfish - Tank Raised =$ 18.99
Total-$ 69.00
(with Saturday Shipping if applicable=$ 73.00)

All for Smeagol!!!

Fishermiguel

[alexwolf]

ok fishermiguel i got yours and oceancube i got yours, also put in yoru request

[alexwolf]

i have until 930 for final changes!!!!

[Jenn]

Alex, you got my final right???

[alexwolf]

i sure did, you are taken care of!

[Jenn]

Great! Thanks Alex! :)

[alexwolf]

hopefully order will be in early tomorrow, and if you could pick up ASAP because we are goignt o sea world!!!!! Thanks!

[captexas]

Alex -
Please post when it comes in. Also, can you PM me directions or your address and I can look it up on mapquest. Thanks!

Ps - Is a check ok, or do you prefer cash? I don't carry much cash on me so I need to know if I need to hit the bank.

Chris

[Jenn]

Alex, I need to know everything that captexas asked too. Thanks.

[Am]

O.K guys please come get your orders early tomorrow, because this guy Alexwolf promised to take me on a date to Sea World!! :D

[captexas]

Hello Am, I'm sure everyone will do their best to get by and pick their things up. A date huh? Got any single girlfriends looking for a 29y.o. guy? lol :-)

[Am]

Thanks guys, glad to be part MAAST! This hobby is a lot of fun as long as we dont lose any walls in our house due to ridiculous sized aquariums! Cap, I will see what I can do! lol :lol:

[Jenn]

Hi Am. Welcome to MAAST! I will come early so you guys will be able to have a great day.

Alex, does this order give you a tracking #, and if so, what is the ETA? I think I will come into SA about 9:00 and give you a call hourly till the order arrives. Please pm w/ your phone #.

Thanks,
Jenn

[alexwolf]

Hourly?!?!?!? Am will kill you if you wake her up!!! haha, j/k they shuld be emailing me a tracking num tonite.

[alexwolf]

Ok, tracking number 648041544302 and they shipped everything but the Red Head Goby, sorry Jenn!!!

[Jenn]

Oh well, no big deal. I saw some other pics on the internet anyways, and it looks like Liveaquaria touches up the pics - not as "red-headed" as they say. I
Alex, I won't call and wake you guys...is it ok if I show up @ 10am then?

[alexwolf]

sure. 10 is fine!

[alexwolf]

Its here!!!!

[alexwolf]

Its here!!!!

[captexas]

Bummer Josh! We had some bad luck on the shrimp, but Alex will get credit for the losses. You can come over and look at my starfish if you want :-)

[captexas]

I got the same one you wanted, the Red & Black Sea Star (fromia species). So far he hasn't moved any, but I think starfish take awhile to get up and moving after shipment. He is a pretty little star though!

[alexwolf]

man we did have bad luck, lost 3 cleaner shrimp, a cucumber, a lionfish, and thats so far......i am keeping an eye on the other 2 lions in my fuge.....i am going to do another order next week to replace these items, so if anyone wants in let me know!

[Nano_Steve]

maybe they were just havin a hard time gettin back into the swing of things after having a break for thanksgiving. i for one and plenty grateful that u put in the order and hopefully there wont be any probs with trying to get the losses sent back. let me know if there's anything i can do to help from my end.

thanks again alex, steve

[captexas]

Yes, thanks Alex again for doing the order even though the bad luck. Possibly like Steve said, just trying to rush things out with the holiday. Definatley would like to get my hands on a couple cleaner shrimp as the one that did survive was nice.

[alexwolf]

yeah im going to reorder next week i think, probably for saturday delivery again if possible, anyone have problems with that?

[Jenn]

Hey Alex, looks like my orange star is a goner too. Do I have to get him back to you to get credit? I would like to try another, but always feel so guilty when stuff like this happens. Let me know. Thanks.

Jenn

[alexwolf]

yeah put the body in a plastic bag with no water and add salt. freeze him, and they are going to send a box for me to return them in. We lost a lot of stuff, they said it may have been mishandled. im going to reorder next week and see what happens there. If still no luck, then prob not going to order from there again.

[Jenn]

Those bastards! Talk about people who need to lose their jobs. So they are going to replace everything we lost? When do I need to get him to you by???

[alexwolf]

we should get credit for all dead. Can you get him to me monday or tues?

[Jenn]

Yea, I will get back with you tomorrow and let you know which evening I can bring him. May even be able to do it tomorrow. Talk to you soon.

[Andrew]

that's a shame

[alexwolf]

another lion belly up just right now, so that makes 3 cleaner shrimp, 2 lions, 1 starfish, 1 cucumber, and i think thats about ti for now...**** what a waste

[captexas]

Alex - Hate to say it, but go ahead and add my starfish to the list. I acclimated it over several hours yesterday and noticed it wasn't moving but wanted to give it overnight to see if it would move with the lights out. No such luck.

[Jenn]

Ditto to my star - he's for sure a goner. :(

I'm wondering if our replacements will be treated any different.

[Nano_Steve]

oh wow :( what did the order consist of??? im already afraid to ask but isnt this over half of what was ordered??? like i said, let me know if theres anything i can do to help.

steve

[Jenn]

How do the lfs stay in business if there is this much damage done to shipped livestock? Makes you kind of sick to think this sort of thing happens all the time! (just venting)

[alexwolf]

update, Andrew lost a lion, and i lost the 4th cleaner shrimp. Make sure to put the body in the freezer with salt Cap! And if you canbring him back to me as soon as possible, I am going tosend them back and they are going to resend.

[alexwolf]

Ok, talked to them right now. We lost:
3 lionfish
2 starfish
4 cleaner shrimp
1 cucumber

They also said to watch the Tangs for ick. They did sat that it sounded like a heat issue. When they resend, they are going to include more heat packs, as there was only one SMALL one in the whoe box. The sooner you guys can get the bodies to me the sooner we can get the rest shipped out. Oh yeah, several people are coming to the house tonite, anyone else want to come well make it a nght!

[Tim Marvin]

Are you guys drip acclimating the fish? This is more important than you think. Also you should not touch the stars with your hands, as the oils off your fingers can kill them. After I started dripping my shipments for a couple hours and not touching anything I absolutely don't have to I have had a substantial decrease in mortality rates.
What was the water temp in the bags? I have had some pretty cold shipments that have done fine as long as you acclimate very slow. I don't beleive in the floating and adding a little water for 30-40 minute technique is good enough for things that have been shipped.
Just my 2 cents, and trial and error.

[oceancube]

yeah tim is correct, you should not grab starfish with your hands, and it's good to no expose them to air, i accumilated mine with my home made kalk line, drip by drip, very slowly, then just let all water in the bag and with the end of the net push it out, it worked for me, my starfish is doing great, loves the liverock, well jenn i should have told you this at alex's house but dumb me forgot, well now you know, dont worry you'll get a healthy one!!! oh and thank you alex for handeling our order, great person, maybe everyone else can give you a $20 dollar tip like i did 8) !! talk to you guys soon!!!!

[alexwolf]

$20 tip???? Did i miss it? Cause i didnt get it!!! well, almost everything that was acclimated lived. Most were DOA.

[Jenn]

Yea, my star was barely alive when I picked up the bag @ Alex's - part of a leg was even broke. Thanks for the acclimation tips, I can always use some good ones.
Got some from Richard while I was @ CB Pets today too...he said to cut a small piece of styro and place the star on top of it floating in the tank. It will slowly crawl into the water which lets it acclimate itself. I was kinda speechless, but he compared it to the tide going down and the stars making their way back to the sea. Makes sense.

[manny]

You can kinda do the same thing with snails too right? But just stick em to the side of the glass above the water line. I think I got that from Josh

[captexas]

YES, I acclimated my starfish. Actually over several hours. I wasn't 100% sure it was alive when I picked it up as I didn't seen any of its tentacles out. I'm pretty sure it was DOA. The cucumber was fine when I first arrived at Alex's place and while I was there it ejected its stomach and intestines as they are known for. Didn't die from acclimation problems.

Tim - it was 29 degrees out that morning when the shipment arrived in San Antonio. It came through Tennesse which was probably even colder and their was only a very small heat pack in a large box. Live Aquaria didn't know/expect it to be that cold.

Jenn - That's very interesting what Richard said about the stars. Everything I have read says do not expose starfish to open air. Also, styrofoam is made of some nasty stuff and even if it wasn't, it can get all kinds of dirt on it depending on where it's been. Might be alright, but would still question exposing it to open air.

[Tim Marvin]

I lost an entire shipment last year of corals because it was too cold. It happens, just thought I'd throw out a couple pointers I have picked up along the way. I think I was taught the starfish, and not touching it, from Jason at Sea Dwelling Creatures. I couldn't figure out why I was haveing such bad luck with the sand sifting stars. I was pulling them out of the bag with my hand. I've had very few die since I quit touching them.

[Instar]

Hmmm, you all are having trouble with LiveAquaria too, I see. All the cleaners I got from there died, one of the cluster dusters was just a pile of crap and the Copperbands were loaded with nearly every disease and parasite we have on the planet except for large amphipods. I did get some large feather dusters that lived. On our vendors listings, I rated them kinda low as I recall.
You must check the salinity in the shipment water to see how far you have to go. Acclimation has to be slow. If their salinity is way off yours, it may take nearly all day to acclimate something. You gotta check the acclimation bucket as you go. But, if the stuff is a mess to begin with, then it is. Crabs and shrimp should be acclimated in very dim lighting and then shut the tank lights off when you put them in. I've had crabs die instantly from shock with light in their optic nerve when I forgot to shut the lights off.
As for touching sand sifting stars - Tim, gee wiz man, wash you hands. LoL J/K I never had one go belly up on me and I did touch them and take them out of the water. I do know that some animals are alergic and have severe reactions to our skin oils. Killed a spot on a yellow predatory gorgonian by touching it. The lesson learned was to wear gloves.
Fish are normally shipped in very dilute, low salinity water. You gotta take many hours to bring them up to tank water concentration. Reeftopia is just the opposite: their water is very concentrated. Many hours of acclimation is in order either way.
Starfish and shrimp take forever and a day to acclimate. Too fast and their membranes are toast and that means death. They should be able to withstand extremes of hot and cold quite well.

[GaryP]

I read somewhere that if you pick up a star or any other holothuridian that you shouldn't let it come in contact with air. They have a tendency to gulp air and basically air lock and that kills them. What I read said to turn them upside down and that will cause them to close their mouth and prevent them from gulping air.

For what its worth.

Gary

[oceancube]

hey alex add another to the list, my star is melted, i hate this so much!!!! i put it in a bag in the frezzer, and my luck they have no more marble starfish!!!let me know what's gonna happen!!!!

[alexwolf]

orudy did you put salt on it? make sure you do that, it is going to be reshiped for the meeting

[txyaloo]

hey alex - add these for me dude,
CN-78699 SW - Blue Linckia Sea Star
CN-90061 SW - Tiger Pistol Shrimp (In stock last nite so hopefully it'll be instock again when we reorder)

i might add more as it get's closer...

[oceancube]

uhhh, what you mean put salt on it!!!!let me know!!!like eating salt??

[GaryP]

Starfish sushi???

[Am]

sounds like a gummi starfish?!! poor guy :( may he rest in peace.

[alexwolf]

hey Rudy, cover it in table salt so it dries it out......then put it in the freezer