Coast Gem USA Reviews 

I bought from an eBay seller and it turns out it was this company. The fish are overpriced, but I figured they’d be beautiful so it was fine. Fast forward to buying them…I bought two strains. One was basically completely doa (barely alive when arrived, died within hours in quarantine) except for a female. I sent a photo of the fish that did show up dead and never heard from them on eBay, so they don’t honor their doa policy either.

I stupidly tried to save the remaining female and after a few days of quarantine allowed her into a tank. Big mistake. She died immediately. The few fish I had in there (who were old granted) all died off suddenly too.

The other strain I bought seemed fine at first but I lost them very randomly and suddenly over a few weeks. They were fine one day and suffering from neurological issues the next. I have three left out of like 8 original fish. I would describe it as a plague. I have never had this problem before, and I’ve been in the hobby for 20 years now. I can recognize all the normal fish ailments, I’ve seen it all. But this? I’ve never encountered anything like this before and I can’t find any information about it online.

Fish in another one of my tanks have been getting skinnier too, and I didn’t even put Coast Gem fish in there. I treated them with levamisole, but am still losing the adults who just don’t want to eat and then seem to start losing neurological function.

I will never purchase from Coast Gem again, and I will consider myself lucky if I can just get past whatever the hell they infected my tanks with. It’s scary not knowing if I might have to just rip apart the tank and start over.

This is the worst online service for buying fish I’ve ever experienced. I ordered fish and paid for next day. Four out of the 10 fish I ordered arrived dead. I’ve been in the hobby for 25 years. I diagnose the disease and called them and told them what disease I have in the man I spoke to admitted that their whole facility is contaminated with a fungus. we agreed that they would send the fish to me again. They charged me for shipping the second time. Official arrives sick again. They substituted fish that I chosen what you see what you get for random fish. If a customer is buying something what you see what you get do you really think they want a random fish? This vendor is rubbish garbage Hustlers and a waste of money. I do not have the time to complain about them further I do not have the time to call them again and again and again. Save your time save your money save your frustration and never buy anything from coast gems.

I ordered 1 pair of peach fantail guppies and a pair of blue fantail guppies on February 25. I received them on March 28!! The female peach guppy was DOA. I reported and videos as required. On March 30th 1 of the blue guppies died. On April 1st the male peach guppy died. (BTW, my other fish in the tank are fine and I've not lost any of them).I have 1 survivor of the 4 I ordered and waited a month to receive. I've not gotten one word from Coast Gem USA bout a refund on the DOA.

Purchased 4 fish over a month ago. 2 of the fish I specifically paid $100+ each and the other 2 were dealers choice.
Weeks go by and no notifications or shipments. I call nearly everyweek for a month asking for updates and arrival. I was told they had to delay my 2 very expensive fish as they did not have the other 2 of their selection ready.
I continue calling to inquire and even asked them to go ahead and send the 2 expensive and send the others when able.
As I recieve no fish or updates, I finally call yet again.
This time I was told that the specific fish I ordered and already purchased have since died in quarantine and the others are still delayed.

I am beyond disappointed and sad. Nobody called or kept me informed of any of this. They took my money, kept 'my fish', then kept their death a secret.

Now I'm left wondering if I wasn't lied too, as I don't understand how I can order 2 fish and they couldve been sent that day only to have them die later on in quarantine. Stuff happens but I think that lying and decieving your customers is unacceptable.

I've since had to call and request a refund.

Please take your business to a place that operates ethically, to include keeping the customer and animals in mind.

-Adam

Buyer beware: Coast Gem USA
I order 8 2 1/2 inch to 4 inch goldfish. Some Ranchu and oranda. About $300 with shipping
Was no clear shipping date but window was 10 to 15 days after ordering. but huge heat wave hit were I live.
I sent 3 different emails trying to cancel cuz of the heat was going to be over 110 degrees. Was ignored and they said it was fine.
Package was opened when arrived. 1 was DOA 3 more died within 4 hours. Only the one DOA was covered by the live on arrival and only by store credit.
I know shipping is hard on fish but this felt so irresponsible to me and customer service is horrible

Their low rating is well deserved. Ordered 4 swordtails and specifically requested 2 males and 2 females. They delivered 4 males of a different type than ordered. One was sick and died the next day.
Finally gave up on a resolution after several attempts to contact them. Customer service is non-existent.

Took a month to ship. Poor little Betta came with fin rot and looked NOTHING like the pictures and video. Do not order from these people the poor little fish are in terrible condition. Very sad but I hope I can revive the little guy.

Mr.Pong is awesome and very knowledgeable and friendly.His cichlids are beautiful and healthy. His water and tanks are pristine..I've purchased 7 cichlids all of them are beautiful and thriving in my 125 gallon. He has cichlids and betas I have never seen before. The quality of his fish and shrimp is top notch..and I will apply that statement to all his fish and plants..His store is clean and beautiful..He will let you net the fish you want yourself and I think that is super cool..If your into fish keeping like I am and have never been to coast gem on 5th Ave down town San Diego I strongly recommend you check out coast gem and go meet Mr Pong..

This company has four pages of published complaints with the Better Business Bureau. They cover everything a business can do wrong. Lie about shipments, lie about shipping what you actually ordered. Lack of communication with customers that have legitimate questions about their orders. Refuses to give refunds, ever, even if it obvious that Costal Gems is at fault. Save your money. Avoid this business like you would avoid any criminal.

beautiful ranchu. shipped within 10 days of order. well packed. outstanding communication. I don't understand the poor reviews

The main motto of this business is "What you see is what you get." I ordered 2 Male bettas from them, a Red Fancy Dragon Rose Tail Halfmoon and a White Platinum Dumbo 'Pegasus' Halfmoon. They have pictures and a video of each fish. Each fish had a specific order number. For the white one they did not have a picture or video of any actual fish, just standard/stock. They said it was because they had so many which look identical. Well, the one I got doesn't look like their standard/stock pictures which were all true Platinum white, and which was also their word description. The one I got was very obviously pale peach/pink. I was disappointed, but I left it alone. The second fish, however, they did have pictures and a video. It was a beautiful fish with a bright white body framed by bright red fins which were edged bright white at the outer ends. Very beautiful contrasting fish. The one I got was so obviously not the same fish. The body of the fish and fins were a muted red. The front fins were muted white. (The front fins of the fish I was supposed to get were bright red). No contrast what-so-ever. This I could not accept and contacted CoastGEM.

The email which announced the fish was out for delivery had a statement which said to reply to that e-mail if there were questions. So I replied to that e-mail. (It is the same contact address as what is on their website.) On that e-mail they sent, btw, were pictures of the fish I was supposed to get. In my reply I sent another picture of the fish I was supposed to get and the video I downloaded from their website, and a picture of the fish I got, still in the bag. It was a very clear image. You could cleaned it was not the same fish.. I explained how disappointed I was, because I spent a lot of time looking through ALL the pictures, several times, trying to pick the perfect fish. They also take a very long time to process and ship. I did not mention the Platinum fish. I sent the e-mail on 8/6/2021. They never responded.

You pay a premium price for their fish plus shipping. I actually found a true Platinum halfmoon at Petsmart for half the price I paid at CoastGEM plus no shipping and he is gorgeous. I also saw some red dragons with white body and red fins at both Petsmart & Petco. So that's where I'm going for my next one. I honestly try to to stay away from big box stores when it comes to purchasing fish. I really try to support small businesses that specialize in fish locally and online, but this experience really burned me.