Bought 5 cichlids from Bluegrass, along with 9 from petsmart. A year and a half later, 2 of the bluegrass fish have died, one had to be rehomed, one is a GIRL (I ordered all males), and one is barely 4" - lagging far behind the PetSmart cichlids, which isn't exactly a model pet store.

But here is where the issue came up. I contacted David Estes, who runs it all, recently about the female cichlid. He asked me for pictures, which I provided. It's been 13 days since I sent them, and he never did respond, nor to my other 4 emails asking if he got the pictures. The one email he did send was unprofessional, ending in "sent from my iPhone".

After this happened I went and looked into other reviews for this clown, and this is NOT an uncommon thing for him to do. AVOID.

I had a great online experience... Maybe that's because I didn't talk to any of the staff. The fish are moderately priced. I spent $200 on my first cichlid order. I paid an extra $25 per species to get a four fish colony (1 male, 3 female). While the item was being shipped I had a question and was responded to within 20 minutes... So I know they have received my emails. When I opened my box, all the fish species are grouped together. The only dead fish I received was an error on their part. They shipped me pseudotropheus saulosi 2 males and 2 females... Which is not what i ordered... So naturally, one of the males was murdered in the tiny bag with the other male and two females inside. When I opened the bag the poor things had to swim among a decomposing fish. I emailed them and got no response for about an hour. They closed in a little over an hour so I decided to call. I think the owner answered. I explained my situation, was not apologized to or told of what would happen next. His response for not responding was " I haven't gotten back to the computer yet" and his response for the dead fish was something like, "Yeah usually when that happens we will send another fish to the person, it's no problem". So with that he awkwardly hangs on the phone saying "OKAY...?" So I immediately got the vibe like I was wasting his time so I got off the phone thinking he would respond immediately to my email. NO. It's been almost 24 hrs.

My girlfriend and I ordered 3 fish from this site after reading good reviews on this site.

Two of the three fish came DOA, with the third appearing like it wouldn't last another hour. The condition of the fish was blamed on Fedex and I believed them. When contacting them, the person seemed polite and courteous. However, it didn't take long before we started receiving excuses as to why replacements weren't being shipped and eventually he just stopped answering or returning any calls. The weather and recent snowstorm were blamed consistently, with them saying the mail service was backed up for over a week. The mail isn't delayed and since placing this order I've received numerous packages from every conceivable shipping company possible.

They shipped the fish in the worst quality packaging I have ever seen. The bags were partially leaking, the fish were not double bagged and no oxygen was used. The only insulation was packing peanuts. I can no longer trust a single word out of the representatives mouths, and I wouldn't recommend this place to anybody unless you are looking for a horribly frustrating, drawn out experience with the end result in you losing your money. I wouldn't be surprised if many of these reviews are fake, and if you browse past the first few good ones you will inevitably find a bunch of people writing about how they were scammed by this company.
If the fish are replaced I will edit my review.

I ordered from Bluegrass and am very pleased, my shipment arrived promptly and each fish was individually bagged and the fish I asked to have sexed for male and female were labeled. All fish came and look healthy and are actively swimming around my tank. I would defiantly order again

I ordered 11 fish, and all are doing well. I had to put 2 in my baby tank given the size of the fish. The Rusties were supposed to be 1.25-2.25 but actually are an inch. Not sure how Bluegrass was able to sex them. 10 of 11 fish that I received were either at the minimum size or less. Bluegrass should really say either 1.25 or 2.25 but not in between. Cost vs. value is disappointing. I recommend speaking to them on the phone vs. processing on-line.

My first order with Bluegrass Aquatics, a male Blue Regal peacock. The fish arrived safely to Central Oklahoma and was colorfully healthy. I was impressed with the dark wild coloring, a very good specimen indeed :)I am a satisfied customer and would order from Bluegrass Aquatics again. I expected a small size, because they advertised it beforehand. My female is just the right size as this male Blue Regal, can't wait for the fry already :)

Everything was fine, I ordered 3-4 days in advance of the date I wanted delivery, the fish have been in my quarantine tank of a few days and eating fine. I would use again but I wish they had larger fish, not sure how realistic my wish is. If they can get larger fish, I'll order, don't like small size fish, but again, the service and fish are good.

Everything was fine, I ordered 3-4 days in advance of the date I wanted delivery, the fish have been in my quarantine tank of a few days and eating fine. I would use again but I wish they had larger fish, not sure how realistic my wish is. If they can get larger fish, I'll order, don't like small size fish, but again, the service and fish are good.

First of all, I ordered one male and six female German Red Peacocks and they put all seven fish together in one bag! I wanted to keep the male in a separate tank...The fish were small and several refused to eat anything. Within two weeks, five of the seven were dead. I have no idea if the male was one of only two survivors. Sincerely, Jeffrey Dodea

Just received my second order from Bluegrass. One DOA which would not have been too bad but since there was another fish bagged with it I have to worry about his future. The water was so nasty that the fish must have been dead for some time (overnight shipping?). All fish were quite small. Paid extra for males but just don't know how anyone could sex such small fish - some as small as 1".

This was my first experience with mail order fish. I ordered 12 fronts, 3 albino BN plecos and a syn. mult. catfish. All stock arrived alive, altho I did experience 1 lost front 3 hrs after delivery (seemed to be the smallest of the lot). Out of 12 of that species and 16 fish, overall, I figure that was pretty good odds. Plus, I ordered way more fish than I really needed in order to take advantage of the free shipping at $250. All in all, very good experience, retailer, and fish stock. I'm looking forward to growing them all out over the next several years.

I recently completed a fishless cycle on my 90 gallon tank and discovered that the Florida breeder/location of Bluegrass Aquatics was about 20 minutes from my house. I called owner David Estes while my tank was cycling and asked if I could visit the Florida location (in Riverview, FL- near Tampa) to pick up my fish. I was expecting to place my order online and just pick them up at the door to save on shipping.

David told me I could come in and pick out the species/sizes I wanted. While I'm not new to the hobby, this is my first cichlid tank, and David was extremely helpful.

What impressed me the most was that each tank was running with it's own sponge filter- so no shared water to spread diseases from a large, multi-tank filtration system.

Tanks were all clean and I honestly didn't see a single sick- looking fish in the place.

He also gave me a sample of the custom food they've developed and are feeding the fish http://bluegrassaquatics.com/red-zebra-stampede-10-6-oz.html

I haven't used the product long enough to give a rating of it- but I can tell you the fish all love it- even my Bettas.

So after visiting this cichlid breeder/seller in person, I won't go anywhere else. I'm very happy with the health and color of my fish and again- didn't see any sickly looking tanks or fish in the place!

Gary

I just received my first ever online order of fish and it was a complete success!

I placed the order Sunday afternoon and chose a delivery date of today (Wed) and had zero problems. All 7 White Labs and 4 Syno Petricolas arrived lively and beautifully! Great specimens from what I can tell!

I found slightly better prices from other dealers, but 400+ reviews speak for themselves! I would gladly pay the few extra quarters for great looking and healthy fish delivered so quickly! Thanks Bluegrass!!!

I just received my first ever online order of fish and it was a complete success!

I placed the order Sunday afternoon and chose a delivery date of today (Wed) and had zero problems. All 7 White Labs and 4 Syno Petricolas arrived lively and beautifully! Great specimens from what I can tell!

I found slightly better prices from other dealers, but 400+ reviews speak for themselves! I would gladly pay the few extra quarters for great looking and healthy fish delivered so quickly! Thanks Bluegrass!!!

overpriced tiny fish of mediocre quality