Xtreme Marine in ventura

Has anyone purchased fish from this place?

Was wondering on the health, i bought some clowns yesterday first time buying there.
They have been very lethargic and seem sick.

You're going to get differing opinions. I bought a lot of fish from them, I've had about 75% success rate with the fish I purchased, the ones that didn't make it were the harder fish to keep, example, I went through about 5 copperbands before I got one that survived. If you ask me, it's not so much any particular fish store and their practices, it comes down to watching the fish in their tank, and knowing what to look for. Then you have to properly acclimating them to your tank, I am a firm believer that you have to drip acclimate and bring the pH and salinity to the proper levels slowly. Most fish stores keep their salinity low which helps with lowering the fishes stress. If you bag the fish, take it home, and plop it in your tank, you pretty much sentenced the fish to it's death by shocking it.

Anyway, any fish store I go to, I always see fish in the tanks that I wouldn't want in my tank and right beside them fish that I would purchase. It just comes down to choosing a healthy specimen.

+1 but even with all of that. I have not had a high survival rate from them. Out 7 fish I have had 2 survive. Coral I have no issue buying from them.

Yea I did everything right, acclimation and all.
I'm just going to wait it out and see. If anything I'll learn to stay away, in case these poor things don't pull thru where do you guys recommend I can pick up to tiny/small clowns? Preferably local.

i bought a few fish from there, the only that died without my intervention, jumped out. We will see though, I bought another one today.

diamond goby?

Yea two of them

From my experience, none of my fish have survived from them...although I never bought any expensive fish, its the usual sixline and diamond goby that jump out or a green chromis that was sucked into the overflow.

They have been in my tank 2 days, they aren't getting worse which is a good thing.

I hope they are just stressed and going thru an acclimation period.

how did you acclimate them? Did you use the drip method?

nikecivic wrote:how did you acclimate them? Did you use the drip method?

first temp acclimated them by floating them for 30mins

then drip acclimated for 1.5hrs

GReefer wrote:

nikecivic wrote:how did you acclimate them? Did you use the drip method?

first temp acclimated them by floating them for 30mins then drip acclimated for 1.5hrs

Do you check temp in the acclimation bucket before adding? I found mine several degrees cooler after about 2.5 hours. Now I use a small heater and extra temp probe both hooked up to my reef controller ensuring the temp stays in line with my tank. Also good point about salinity, definitely a good idea to check hopefully with a refractometer before adding just to be safe.

WRT XM livestock, the health/appearance in most of their fish seems below other stores I have bought from, which includes Fins (cam) and Tats in both Vent/TO. I've bought several different kinds of fish, inverts, and coral from each store. The only place I've consistently lost fish from is XM with a survival rate of about 70% (excluding coral, never lost a coral from anyone.) Every time I have purchased a fish that was in any way questionable whether it was lethargic, overly shy, damaged fins, rapid breathing, etc from XM I've lost it. On a few occasions I have brought them back the next day, or same day, and received 50% credit towards the same fish. I've always been a fan of XM, just very cautious when it comes to some of their fish.

Good luck with them.

I haven't had any fish from them survive. I even traded in some of my fish that were healthy and had been in my tank for years. They didn't last long in their tanks. So I don't purchase fish from them anymore.

Your Milage may vary.

I think part of it is also when you go. I have gone to all 3 of the stores and seen both fish in great health and really poor health.

The fish and slug I just got, the fish isn't eating the pellet food, so I am going to see if he eats tonight, if he does sweet, if not, going to try flake/frozen to get him to eat.

I Found out the sea slug I got was a nudibrach, which I didn't know what they were before yesterday. I had read about them before, but didn't know what they looked like. Kind of ticked, because if I had known they only eat flat worms and once they are gone, they die, I wouldn't have bought it. I guess my mistake for not looking into what it was more.

dwolson2 wrote:I think part of it is also when you go. I have gone to all 3 of the stores and seen both fish in great health and really poor health.

The fish and slug I just got, the fish isn't eating the pellet food, so I am going to see if he eats tonight, if he does sweet, if not, going to try flake/frozen to get him to eat.

I Found out the sea slug I got was a nudibrach, which I didn't know what they were before yesterday. I had read about them before, but didn't know what they looked like. Kind of ticked, because if I had known they only eat flat worms and once they are gone, they die, I wouldn't have bought it. I guess my mistake for not looking into what it was more.

I saw those nudi's in there-Beautiful!

steyely wrote:

GReefer wrote:

nikecivic wrote:how did you acclimate them? Did you use the drip method?

first temp acclimated them by floating them for 30mins then drip acclimated for 1.5hrs

Do you check temp in the acclimation bucket before adding? I found mine several degrees cooler after about 2.5 hours. Now I use a small heater and extra temp probe both hooked up to my reef controller ensuring the temp stays in line with my tank. Also good point about salinity, definitely a good idea to check hopefully with a refractometer before adding just to be safe.

WRT XM livestock, the health/appearance in most of their fish seems below other stores I have bought from, which includes Fins (cam) and Tats in both Vent/TO. I've bought several different kinds of fish, inverts, and coral from each store. The only place I've consistently lost fish from is XM with a survival rate of about 70% (excluding coral, never lost a coral from anyone.) Every time I have purchased a fish that was in any way questionable whether it was lethargic, overly shy, damaged fins, rapid breathing, etc from XM I've lost it. On a few occasions I have brought them back the next day, or same day, and received 50% credit towards the same fish. I've always been a fan of XM, just very cautious when it comes to some of their fish.

+1 on controlling the temp in the acclimation bucket. If that can't be controlled, it is probably better to not drip acclimate and just add a small amount of water to the bag periodically. I know what I feel like when I jump in a cold lake, they feel the same.

Well i should of updated this thing more often, today i woke up to find a dead fish the one that would not swim much...he would eat fine but then stay in a corner...
The one who acclimated in a few days seems to be doing fine.
so 50/50 i guess

I think they only have like a 24hr period for livestock guarantee...I think a wise choice at least for me is to stay away from that place.

Im going to be in the moorpark/simi area so i think i will drop by peters fish

no no no no no peters I would trust almost anywhere else

coryg wrote:no no no no no peters I would trust almost anywhere else

really?

Dng...where should i look for some tiny/small ocellaris?

I've purchased several fish from fins in camarillo, including a couple clowns. Their prices can be higher than others, but I've never lost anything from them.

GReefer wrote:

coryg wrote:no no no no no peters I would trust almost anywhere else

really?

Dng...where should i look for some tiny/small ocellaris?

I bought mine from tats in Ventura he has a bunch right now. If not I would go down to vivid I have bought a lot of fish from them as well and never had any issues

Power head man wrote:

GReefer wrote:

coryg wrote:no no no no no peters I would trust almost anywhere else

really?

Dng...where should i look for some tiny/small ocellaris?

I bought mine from tats in Ventura he has a bunch right now. If not I would go down to vivid I have bought a lot of fish from them as well and never had any issues

I just left there i only saw one and they wanted 45 so i passed

Oh and stopped by Xtreme marine to look at corals and asked if they had any guarantee on saltwater live stock they said no... And pretended to get busy. I know some of you like that place... But I'll pass and stay away.

I for one am impartial to them. I wont say they're the best but I have to except the fact that when I walk in their store, no one is holding a gun to my head saying, "purchase that sick fish", if I see a sickly fish I don't buy it. I make a judgement call on whether or not to buy a healthy fish, and then I acclimate and start the QT process, if they don't survive I don't blame the fish store, there's a lot of factors that go into why a fish dies, and to expect a fish store to cover or warranty a live fish is ridiculous. When it comes to livestock, Extreme is no different than any other fish store, they practically get the fish from the same place as all others stores and acclimate to their tanks pretty much the same way too. I would venture to say that most fish that die after purchase is from either the buyer not knowing what to look for, the fish is too far stressed to survive, you acclimated improperly or your tank isn't quite ready for the heavier bioload. There are a lot of factors outside of what fish store you got it from.

If I were to give an analogy, I would relate it to you buying a hybrid prius from the honda dealer in newbury park and after purchasing it you realized that the car doesn't go faster than 80 miles an hour, you're not going to blame the dealership, you have to blame the manufacturer or yourself because you didn't do your research and bought a car that is only supposed to have a top speed of 80 MPH.

If you're looking for a fish store that accepts all liability and guarantees everything they sell you, let me know when you find it.

I think that what makes a fish store a good fish store and keeps you going back is the atmosphere of the people that work there, are they friendly? Are they knowledgeable? Do they know how to care for their livestock? And are their prices reasonable?

Costumer service is what keeps you going back...

Good points jimmy!

I hope this thread isn't intended to bash this store. I've seen it too many times where on people on RC, say this store sucks or this salt sucks etc.

nikecivic wrote:Good points jimmy!

I hope this thread isn't intended to bash this store. I've seen it too many times where on people on RC, say this store sucks or this salt sucks etc.

Well we all have our experiences and opinions im just stating my own and after reading all the responses from diff members I would of never purchased from here. I agree many people buy livestock when there tank isn't mature enough or on an uneducated impulse buy but when números people have the same issu, there is a problem. I'm not bashing the store or telling people to stay away. Just reporting my experience, and the info I received from other members here is greatly appreciated so I am more aware of that place and what happened 3yrs ago at that store if any of you shopped there back then.

I've had the same experience as you. Btw, what happened 3 years ago? I've been going there started reefing 5 years ago.

I don't feel it's a bash. I will buy coral from there. He usually has a nice selection of coral and decent prices. I just won't buy fish from them.

reefer87 wrote:I don't feel it's a bash. I will buy coral from there. He usually has a nice selection of coral and decent prices. I just won't buy fish from them.

Agreed, when i was there yesterday i saw a 2 head frag of neon green candy cane coral for 15 bux kinda bothered i passed it up looked nice!

anyway i woke up today and the other fish was dead...not really surprised.

my tank had been cycled and runnning 2 months before adding life stock. all parameters are 0 all my zoas, blue xenia, and green star polyps are all doing fine.

fish were drip acclimated. Ocellaris are pretty hardy. So i doubt it was on my end. Although its a possibility.

if you guys want a store that will "warranty" the fish, you can always go online. A lot of those stores have a 5 day arrive alive guarantee. Although you don't get the benefit of picking out your fish.

I would check out tats in Ventura for those clowns. His prices are usually good and he supports the club(we are working with him on a 10% off coupon for his store)

I personally would stay clear of fins, not a fan of them...reefer87

dwolson2 wrote:if you guys want a store that will "warranty" the fish, you can always go online. A lot of those stores have a 5 day arrive alive guarantee. Although you don't get the benefit of picking out your fish.

I would check out tats in Ventura for those clowns. His prices are usually good and he supports the club(we are working with him on a 10% off coupon for his store)

I personally would stay clear of fins, not a fan of them...reefer87

Yea i know tats does also was at vivid aquariums and he does 7 days. Neither had clowns the size im looking for so picked up some coral that place is amazing!
As soon as i replenish my aquarium funds I'll order some from vivid and some coral they didn't have atm.

Vivid QTs all their fish I believe before selling. Someone who knows Dave told me that. With all clownfish especially you need to treat them prior to putting in your tank. All wild caught come with Brooknella and many of the TR ones will get it too.

If you are going online, just get from divers den, QT 1 month min, 14 day guarantee. I use them for hard to find and expensive fish all the time.

You can add me to the list of people that won't buy fish from this store anymore. I haven't been there in a while, so I don't know if it has changed, but sometimes I couldn't even stand to look at some of the fish they had there. The display tank was full of sick fish.

dwolson2 wrote:I personally would stay clear of fins, not a fan of them...reefer87

Thats fine but I have never lost a fish or coral from FINS. Tanks are always clean and fish are healty. She won't sell anything that she thinks could be sick. It might be a little high in price but for not loosing any fish from there its worth it to me. Fins is just like anyother LFS, the owner is not always the nicest until you get to know them. I had the same issue with Tats. I would walk in and walk out feeling like a complete and t-total idot after to talking to the owner. I swore I would never go back there. But now its one of my most frequent stores. After talking with him more and more, he relized I was not just into getting fish but attcually keeping fish he started to help me more. All LFS are trying to make money, it might not be the right way, but its a business and WE have to be smart enough to realize there tactics and its not all personel.

I strongly agree there is so much drama in this hobby if people find out you are going somewhere else just because they dont have what you are looking for or a price you like

tagging along on the do not buy fish band wagon as I just lost 2 more fish from this store, however fish from tats and vivid are doing great

4 out of 5 fish I've bought from xtreme have died...

Not buying fish from them again.

i think its great that this owner sends out blast emails every couple of weekends to get us in there to buy his fish....it made me think that since he is dropping his prices so low that he simply cares about quantity vs quality....sad i'll keep buying from the lfs' in the oc and tat's