Buying coral online?

What's the pros and cons of buying coral online?

If I would buy corals, what's the best website to buy them from?

 

Pros are you can get some of the more rare pieces out there, things you may not see at your LFS.
Cons - most places charge at least $40 for shipping, unless you're located in the same state. It's also possible some things may not make it alive, in that case the companies typically refund you.

It kinda depends what type of coral you're looking for. Some are specialty sites per say. Like coral morphologic is known for their ricordea. Check out the sponsors on the site.

 

Well I'm not looking at rare corals but more common corals like zoas, mushrooms, star polyps, frogspawns, torches, etc.

 

shipping is gonna get you. order alot at one time to get the most bang for your buck. also you have more selection.

what i do is look for local reef clubs and trade and buy coral from them! i suggest trying to find one in your area!

 

Agreed. I recently ordered a fish and 4 corals from That Fish Place. Each piece was priced the same as they would have been (or even a little cheaper) than at my LFS. Since my total was over $150, overnight shipping was free and it was all worth it! Pieces arrived safe and healthy. I would personally never order a normal frag online if I had to pay for shipping though. It just wouldn't be worth it IMO (unless your closest LFS is very far away of course).

 

Yeah I found a couple of locals and they don't do S&H!

Thank you everybody for the information!

 

I have an order from Reefpets coming in tomorrow morning. The ebay all their pieces so sometimes you can get great deals. Shipping is $34 per order so buy a few pieces at a time to get your moneys worth.

 

That's the killer! Is the S&H!

Thank you for the information! Keep me updated with your purchase!

 

i've ordered form liveaquaria.com, and saltcritters.com, both numerous occasions and loved every order. Just save up for free shipping on both sites, $125 I think for saltcritters and $250 for LA.

I like the options you have online instead of settling for whatever your LFS gets in

 

check on craigslist some great deals