Florida Keys Marine Life — Direct From the Reef, Delivered to Your Door
The Underwater Gardener has acquired Florida Keys Marine Life, bringing their collection operation, divers, and livestock sourcing under our roof. We’re a licensed Florida aquaculture operation with a working coral farm in the Florida Keys, a Saltwater Products License with Restricted Species and Marine Life endorsements that lets us collect locally, and a Key West showroom you can walk through in person — and now we’re also your direct source for wild-collected Florida Keys fish, invertebrates, gorgonians, and corallimorphs, hand-caught and shipped UPS Next Day Air straight to your door.
We hold Florida Aquaculture Certificate #AQ0254072 and hold a Saltwater Products License with Restricted Species and Marine Life endorsements to collect native marine life directly from Florida Keys reefs.
What We Collect
Our marine life endorsements allow us to collect native Florida Keys marine life directly from local reefs. We focus on:
- Fish — native Florida Keys reef fish species
- Invertebrates & Clean-Up Crews — snails, hermit crabs, and other reef-safe cleanup species collected locally
- Anemones — including flower anemones, one of our specialties
- Seahorses — hand-collected and quarantined before sale
- Macroalgae & Plants — native Florida Keys species for refugiums and clean-up
- Gorgonians & Corallimorphs — sea plumes, sea rods, sea whips, Ricordea florida, and other local mushroom species
Looking for something specific that’s native to the Florida Keys? Reach out — we can discuss availability and arrange collection for serious buyers.
Why Direct-From-the-Reef Matters
Most livestock in the aquarium trade passes through several hands before it reaches a customer’s tank — a collector, one or more importers, a wholesaler, and finally a retailer, with days of handling and transit stacked between each stop. Every one of those handoffs adds stress to an animal that was, days earlier, living on a reef. Buying direct from a Florida Keys collector cuts that chain down to almost nothing: our divers collect it, our team quarantines and conditions it, and it ships to you, often within days of coming off the reef.
That’s the same model that’s built the reputation of the other well-known Florida Keys collectors and suppliers — outfits like Dynasty Marine Associates and A&M Aquatics have spent decades proving that hand-collected, direct-shipped Florida and Caribbean marine life arrives hardier and holds up better than livestock that’s changed hands multiple times. We collect with the same philosophy: fewer handoffs, shorter time out of water, healthier animals in your tank.
Now Part of The Underwater Gardener
If you’re a longtime Florida Keys Marine Life customer, welcome — you’re in the right place. The same collection team, the same careful quarantine process, and the same UPS Next Day Air shipping you’ve come to rely on are all still here, now backed by The Underwater Gardener’s Key West showroom, our own aquacultured coral farm, and a growing library of coral and reef care guides to help you keep everything you buy from us thriving.
Shop by Category
Order Online — UPS Next Day Air Nationwide
We ship native Florida Keys fish, invertebrates, clean-up crews, anemones, seahorses, macroalgae, gorgonians, and corallimorphs, alongside our full lineup of aquacultured coral. Every order is backed by our Live Arrival Guarantee & Shipping Policy.
Visit Us in Key West
Come see the tanks in person at Overseas Market Plaza, 2816 N Roosevelt Blvd Suite 1, Key West, FL 33040.
Showroom Hours: Monday: 10:30am – 6:30pm Tuesday – Thursday: Closed to the Public — Fish Collecting & Aquarium Maintenance Friday: 10:30am – 6:30pm Saturday: 11am – 6pm Sunday: 11am – 5:00pm
Questions about availability of a specific species? Email us at jamie@theunderwatergardener.com — we respond fast and we know our stock.
The Underwater Gardener | 2816 N Roosevelt Blvd Suite 1, Key West, FL 33040 | Florida Aquaculture Certificate #AQ0254072 | Saltwater Products License with Marine Life Endorsements | Incorporating the former Florida Keys Marine Life collection operation