Mail Order fish? What's the deal?

[OhNeil1969]

I've seen a lot of sites on the internet offering tropical fish for sale through the mail. Since my LFS doesn't have a great selection of fish, the idea of getting different breeds online seems tempting. Getting live fish through the mail though seems a little iffy. Does anyone have any experiences ordering fish through the mail they can share? Is it something I should stay clear of? Is there a vendor that you would recommend or should I just drive the extra miles to find a brick and mortar store?

 

[shadyfish]

You have to have them shipped overnight which is basically your gas money you'd spend looking for a store plus online seems overpriced and you can't take the fish back if its sick or incompatible find a store online near you

 

[dkpate]

I would order from HN1 or Severum Mama on here.

 

[HUKIT]

I have ordered from Liveaquaria.com numerous times with on 1 DOA which was refunded with no questions asked with their 14 day guarantee.

I have ordered from Jeff Rapp cichlids a few times with no casualties as well as using Aquabid.

How do you think the fish get to your local fish store. Just quarantine them like any new fish and my money says youll have very little trouble.

 

[Shetland James]

I would speak to your LFS and see if you could pay them a small stipend to hold these fish for you.

Or just ask them to order them in, that's what I do at mine.

 

[OhNeil1969]

Thanks for the input guys!
HUKIT, you make a good point. I never really stopped to think about where the LFS's get their supply (duh!).
I try to research my fish selections before making purchases so I'm not that worried about compatibility. I am worried about the health of the fish and the integrity of the vendor. It seems like buying through the mail has many of the same challenges as buying at your LFS.

 

[uscamaro]

I have 3 of them coming in from LiveAquaria.com today, I'll let you know how it turns out!

(plus you can't beat a 14-day guarantee)

 

[blairan]

I've got 4 SAE on order from Aquariumfish.net that are arriving on Saturday. This is my first delivery order of fish but after driving near and far for SAE's I decided to take the chance. I'm happy to provide feedback about the experience once they arrive!

 

[i3k]

petsolutions.com ships live fish overnight for $20...I think every other site charges around $30-35.

 

[uscamaro]

LiveAquaria.com charges $35 for overnight shipping via FedEx. I received 2 a CUP, clowns, and a jawfish and they were packed securely in a styrofoam container with packaging peanuts between the bags and even a heating pack on top of them. All fish appear happy and healthy... I'm extremely satisified!

 

[OhNeil1969]

Glad to hear your fish arrived safely. I would love to hear some long term updates as to the health of your new fish. By the way, do you quarantine before you introduce new arrivals? I've never quarantined in the past but am starting to appreciate the value of doing so (fighting and ich infection in a tank that was cycled and stress free before adding more fish).

 

[jenatron]

A good rule of thumb is to always quarantine. BUT, some online places DO quarantine and guarantee their fish and don't send sick fish because they know people are skeptical. Just check with where you're buying from first, and go from there.

 

[OhNeil1969]

Thanks for the info jenatron!

Have you ever ordered through the mail? Is there a place you could recommend? I'm going to check out LiveAquaria.com and PetSolutions.com. Do you have any past experience with either of the 2?

 

[jenatron]

I haven't ordered through mail yet. I'm going to be moving 5 hours away in a couple months, so I'd rather wait so I don't have to stress fish out with the move (I just set up a new tank recently that I'm going to mail-order fish for).
The place I'm planning on ordering from is Franks Aquarium. I've heard good things about it, but I have no experience with them yet, nor any other website. I'll be sure to let you know when I order from Franks if you're still interesting later this year.

 

[uscamaro]

Glad to hear your fish arrived safely. I would love to hear some long term updates as to the health of your new fish. By the way, do you quarantine before you introduce new arrivals?

I actually didn't quarantine them first because they were the first animals introduced to the tank. As for the long term update I'll have no problem sharing, I just may forget about this thread. If you want to check out my build thread, I'll be posting all of the updates here:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f11/patricks-55-gal-reef-build-137757.html

 

[blairan]

Just a quick update re: my aquariumfish.net order...

My 4 siamese algae eaters arrived this morning and looked very health and happy just a few minutes after being introduced into their new home. Also, the order included 2 free SAE's as a thank-you for my order. Very cool! While I obviously cannot speak to the longer-term health and well-being of the fish at this point, I can definitely vouch for some excellent customer service from aquariumfish.net!

 

[OhNeil1969]

Congratulations on the bonus fish! I hope I'll be that lucky when I start to order.

 

[warthog76za]

I normally buy my fish from LFS but I needed to get some assassin snails and shrimps, I decided to order them online from a aquatic dealer to see how that goes, since most of my aquarium fish food, filter sponges, etc I buy online. Got lots of positive feedback checking up on them online so fingers crossed when I get my new additions next week.

 

[elysekuf]

Glad to see this thread and to see some positive experiences! After several less than encouraging experiences with our two LFS, I'm seriously considering just ordering in all our fish rather than deal with rudely inept LFS employees.

 

[adeebm]

I just ordered from LiveAquaria too. It should be here Tuesday!

--Adeeb