Online stores?

[saikit]

If any, which online store do you buy your supplies and stocks from?

Is it necessary cheaper than LFS?

Also, do they ship to Canada?

 

[neilanh]

I use
Drs. Foster and Smith
Big Als
aquacave

And yes, they are usually considerably cheaper than LFSs if you're buying enough to make the shipping costs worthwhile.

 

[0100]

Unfortunetley all my LFS are gone thanks to petco and petsmart. I just ordered all my stuff from Pet Supplies, Dog Supplies, Cat Supplies, Pet Meds & Pet Products because I think they give a lot of great info on there site.

Not sure if they ship to CA.

 

[Alaris]

I have purchased from both aquariumguys.com and bigalsonline.com

 

[gheitman]

I alternate purchasing equipment, supplies, etc. online between www.drsfostersmith.com and www.bigalsonline.com. because each carries some items that the other doesn't. For instance, Big Al's carries the Seachem fertilizers in a wider variety of sizes and they have the full line of New Life Spectrum foods. Since they are based in Canada you would have no problem ordering from them. I normally get my fish from www.aquabid.com where some sellers ship to Canada but some don't. You will find that not only are the mailorder companies cheaper they typically have a wider variety of products.

Not that I don't also buy from my LFS when I can. He will usually have better quality fish than the chain stores and I don't have to worry about shipping charges.

 

[smn723]

I buy supplies from drsfostersmith.com and bigalsonline.com. I buy fish and inverts from aquabid.com and liveaquaria.com. I buy plants from aquariumplants.com and classified on this forum and another forum (I won't mention which ).

 

[jsoong]

Shipping to Canada is $$$ - all the listed site only ship UPS to Canada & UPS charges something like 20% of your price as the brokerage fee!!! < UPS has "free" brokerage if you ship 2nd day air ... guess how much that costs....>

BigAl's also won't honor the US price. If you are in Canada, you have to order from the Canadian site which is quite a bit more that the US price. <BigAl's has a store in town, so at least I can save shipping ... but why a Canadian chain offers lower price to their US customer is beyond me...>

I have been eying MOPS.ca, a Canadian retail site with pretty decent prices. I have not bought anything yet, so don't know about service ....

 

[OldMan]

I have seen some good reviews of MOPS by canadian fishkeepers on other forums but since I live in the US they are not an option for me.

 

[jrp1588]

I've never been able to find that great of a deal with live stock online. I put together a huge order on fish at liveaquaria.com, and even then it would have cost only a tiny bit less than the LFS after the super high shipping. I've looked at aquabid as well, while the prices are better per fish, they usually sell them in lots of 10+ fish. I don't need that many. Basically all I want that I can't get locally are GBR's...just can't seem to find an acceptable deal

 

[black hills tj]

I've never been able to find that great of a deal with live stock online. I put together a huge order on fish at liveaquaria.com, and even then it would have cost only a tiny bit less than the LFS after the super high shipping. I've looked at aquabid as well, while the prices are better per fish, they usually sell them in lots of 10+ fish. I don't need that many. Basically all I want that I can't get locally are GBR's...just can't seem to find an acceptable deal

Most of the sellers on aquabid are pretty flexible on their deals. If you shoot them an e-mail they will make a "custom" package for you.