The End of an Era? Live Aquaria

If you’ve been in the reef hobby in the past 3 decades, you know Live Aquaria (LA) well. I remember Flying Fish Express (FFE) was my go-to online store, back before etail was as big as it is today. Live Aquaria acquired FFE and dominated the space. From the catalogues that featured globs of garbage Marc Weiss products, tons of equipment, to the ever expanding online offerings, they provided it all.

And let’s not forget Diver’s Den (DD), Kevin Kohen’s crown jewel where he successfully conditioned the coveted peppermint angel. This was THE place to get fully quarantined and conditioned fish. If you were shopping for difficult fish, DD was the place to acquire them.

So what happened? Petco acquired Drs. Foster and Smith in 2019, redirecting the site to Petco.com, and Live Aquaria was sold to a Sri Lankan company, Tropical Fish International (TFI), where things changed dramatically. From the initial excitement to a downward spiral with Kevin departing, culminating in what we saw the other day: a dead website.

So, down the rabbit hole I went. Navigating through the web of corporations, scouring court records, and speaking with the attorney on file (Trustee). There’s a lot of conjecture floating around online already, but here’s what we know for sure (with receipts):

CIS International Holdings Corp (CIS) has filed for bankruptcy owing a debt of $7,798,293.20. According to court records, CIS owns 25% of TFI along with stakes in many other companies. Although TFI owns Live Aquaria, the Live Aquaria url is owned by Live Aquaria Holding Corp and no mention of this corporation in the bankruptcy documents. The Trustee couldn’t confirm if the Live Aquaria website is part of this case or not, but more details will emerge as they continue unraveling things. What’s interesting is that CIS claims “software” valued at just under $3M as an owned asset. While that’s probably the etropical website listed, could it also include the LA website?

Even though CIS owns 25% of TFI, from what I can find, TFI and CIS are one in the same (same ownership), so it’s highly likely the TFI assets will become part of this bankruptcy case at some point, especially if there are personal guarantees in place with the various loans. I’m sure the same applies with the holding corp as well as the real estate holdings.

Speaking of real estate, the Rhinelander, WI facility (former home of Diver’s Den) has been listed for sale for $1.6M. If you’re in the market for a 5+ acre property near an airport that has a history of successful fish sales, this could be a winner.

According to the attorney, there are thousands of fish in their livestock facility in Los Angeles. Looking at the photos of the DD Facility, there doesn’t seem to be even water there, so no luck on scoring some high-end conditioned fish! Due to the fact that the company has shuttered and has no employees to care for the livestock or allocation of funds, he’s petitioned the court to allow for “abandonment” of the animals and related holding systems with an estimated value of $200,000. The Trustee is tasked with recovering funds to satisfy the outstanding debt. In the case of the fish, they’re a liability since keeping them will incur costs and letting them die and rot would certainly devalue the property. From my reading, while he would love to sell the fish, he doesn’t believe the juice is worth the squeeze. So what does that mean? Is he proposing to discard the fish? I surely hope he values life more than that, but we’ll keep tabs on the situation.

This is a developing and complex story, so information will be updated as the case unfolds.

Updates:

11/03/2025: Both liveaquaria.com and etropicalfish.com have been turned back on and followed up with an “we’re sorry” social media post. The Trustee was unaware and there’s no information as to where the fish are shipping from (assuming they will be shipping). We have reached out to the CEO of CIS and TFI for comment, but have yet to hear back.

11/03/2025: An unnamed representative from Live Aquaria reached out and stated they are open for business, their facility is fully staffed, and their website is operational again after suffering technical difficulties.

11/06/2025: Panthers, a factoring company, has filed a motion in the case alleging breach of contract and fraud. The motion indicates Sam (CIS CEO) pledged multiple entities as collateral for the loans, including Live Aquaria Holding Corp.