[Redshrimp2709]

Good morning fellow aquarists,

This morning I phoned Delta Aquatics by mistake, thinking that maybe, just maybe they sell live baby brine shrimp and/or at least their eggs, and that they may make an exception and sell to the public unofficially or by mail. Their website said they sold aquarium supplies and also frozen bloodworms, so I figured, why not brine shrimp. I gave them a call because I work in Richmond and they are not far. After asking if I had live baby brine shrimp, they guy that answered literally said, "No" and then hung up while I was about to ask my second question. I called them back to let the guy know he hung up on me without letting me finish. I told the guy that I had other questions.

I wasn't expecting a red carpet customer service treatment from an exclusive wholesaler, but this gave me a bad feeling. Their website is nice, but basic, with some typos and whatnot. It is clear from their own photos that the fish are housed in very temporary conditions as they are a wholesaler. However, most of their fish also come from China and they distribute exclusively to pet shops only. It would surprise me if their "South American" fish arrivals are actually from there. I am concerned because they ship livestock to Vancouver Island as well! I have spoken to Miyabi Aqua Design in Richmond, also a wholesaler and I never got such third rate customer service.

 

[josephl]

Good morning fellow aquarists,

This morning I phoned Delta Aquatics by mistake, thinking that maybe, just maybe they sell live baby brine shrimp and/or at least their eggs, and that they may make an exception and sell to the public unofficially or by mail. Their website said they sold aquarium supplies and also frozen bloodworms, so I figured, why not brine shrimp. I gave them a call because I work in Richmond and they are not far. After asking if I had live baby brine shrimp, they guy that answered literally said, "No" and then hung up while I was about to ask my second question. I called them back to let the guy know he hung up on me without letting me finish. I told the guy that I had other questions.

I wasn't expecting a red carpet customer service treatment from an exclusive wholesaler, but this gave me a bad feeling. Their website is nice, but basic, with some typos and whatnot. It is clear from their own photos that the fish are housed in very temporary conditions as they are a wholesaler. However, most of their fish also come from China and they distribute exclusively to pet shops only. It would surprise me if their "South American" fish arrivals are actually from there. I am concerned because they ship livestock to Vancouver Island as well! I have spoken to Miyabi Aqua Design in Richmond, also a wholesaler and I never got such third rate customer service.

I love Miyabi Aquatics btw. It's the only place I can get my hands on the ADA Phyton Git - a plant additive that plants naturally produce to boost their immunity. It's also effective against most types of algae, especially cyano/blue-green algae. I was talking to them about maybe doing a bulk order for whoever is interested in the BC Aquaria community.

Anyhow, if you are a retail pet store, please beware of this wholesaler. I would personally ask the store if their livestock comes from this particular wholesaler. Just one of many, but if we all do our part, we can take down the bad apples one at a time and put pressure to be more ethical and raise the quality of our livestock.

I personally recommend Canadian Aquatics. Patrick and his business partner are not only knowledgeable, they are also helpful and trustworthy. Their stock comes from mostly wild caught or river-raised fish and shrimp. They prefer to sell by bulk of course, but I have bought stuff directly from him and brought my friends there to buy stuff too. They have no storefront and no nice displays to market. They are a no-gimmick, high quality, aquarium supply and livestock provider without ridiculously marked up prices. They sell aquariums too, including ADA's.

So you phoned someone who was clearly a wholesaler, who you admittedly say imports fish from overseas, ask them if they have baby brine shrimp(which they would have no use for seeing as they import fish not baby fish) and the guy answering the phone hangs up on you for wasting his time and you decide to do a post implying that they are untrustworthy?

Wonder what someone on the shop floor or office at Canfor would do if you got hold of them in the middle of a shift and asked if you could please buy one piece of plywood? Wonder what would happen if you got hold of someone at an oil refinery and asked them if you could please get a tankful of diesel?

Just seems unfair what you are doing but hey, it's your karma Good luck with that

 

[April]

Yes it's wholesale and you have no idea the quality of their fish .
Besides they just sold the business.
Also they do NOT Import from mainland China as no fish are allowed by cfia to come to Canada from China since the permit application. And thst website is very old. Also not intended for retail.
They have been in the wholesale business for at least 45 years and the original owners are a very nice knowledgeable family who originally owned one of the first aquarium shops in Vancouver.
But Joseph said it right.
I do have brine shrimp eggs though I can sell you at my retail store or you can start collecting green water to start the betta fry off as thsts what they need soon as hatched
Also they also imported directly from
South America. They ship
From all over the world. Same as any wholesaler. Different fish from
Different countries.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Redshrimp2709]

Just to be clear, on their website, they said they sold aquarium supplies and advertised selling "frozen bloodworms." On the contrary, their website is something that anyone can check out and it looked pretty friendly. It was just my mistake to call them out of excitement. It was worth a shot for me to call them ( I thought) as I was in urgent need of brine shrimp eggs or frozen baby brine shrimp. I did make a mistake calling them and the guy takes orders from prospective customers all day, he did not need to hang up abruptly. Despite my obvious error, I doubt that my quick call was as outrageous as the comparisons you made Joseph.

Nonetheless I do apologize for sharing my severely wrong impression of them. I was a bit rash and rushed. I've taken the other part of my posting out cause I'm praising other wholesalers. I shall be more careful next time.

 

[CRS Fan]

WHAT???? Chum finally sold Delta Aquatics? I haven't seen them in years, but do remember them fondly when they used to buy from Coast. This is going back about 20 years.

Best regards,

Stuart


Tankful in Vancouver!

 

[April]

They used to sell to stores frozen bloodworms etc. No longer.
Also Joseph from Ada answers as he helps with technical and planting help but would refer you to one of his resellers.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Redshrimp2709]

Thanks April for being patient and informative. If Delta Aquatics sold their business then I don't know who's running it now. One of my most frequent screw ups is I don't look at the year of a given date LOL I guess I'm a but ADHD. Nonetheless, Google labels them a "Pet store" and I never heard of them until today. I was "googling" "Aquarium stores, Richmond, BC". Also, I assumed they were something like Fish Addicts in Langley. I didn't read their "About" section my bad. Still begs the question though, who answered the phone? Their number and everything is still around. If they sold the business, it's still in operation.

 

[April]

The accounting guy to carry on with book keeping .
They kept him.
No worries I'd be excited also if I saw a big fish place listed. Especially when Richmond was drained of all fish stores!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Yup, I was sad when the original owners sold the place recently. Had dealt with them for decades, since my petshop days in the 80s doing the fish purchasing for the Pet Habitat chain in the malls (Richmond Centre, Champlain & Lougheed [for a short time]).

 

[Redshrimp2709]

Hey! What year did you work with Pet Habitat? I worked for them for 1 year way back when I was in high school (almost 15 years ago). I sold a lot of fish and small animals, but was allergic to cats and I did not agree to sell their dogs so they let me go. That aside, they had a good selection of aquarium supplies and fish.

 

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

1986-1988.