Ordering fish online

[FishStarter89]

It has been FOREVER since I have posted here. Two years ago, all of my fish died off from an ich epidemic and I have yet to regain the energy to restart my now-empty aquarium.

Anyways, my point: I am moving into a new place May and I was seriously considering giving it another shot. There, however, is a pretty big issue. The town I am moving has not local fish store or anything within a 90 minute drive (apparently, I am moving to BFE). So my question is: are the various online retailers of aquarium fish reputable or even plausible for consistent survival of shipped fish?

 

[Homedog98]

Well, for fish and live plants, HN1 and severum mama own their own store, and they ship. Another online store is liveaquaria.com, but they can be pretty pricey.

 

[i3k]

Liveaquaria is good. So is petsolutions.com. I think they have the cheapest shipping for live fish. They ship all freshwater fish for $20 overnight.

 

[mfdrookie516]

I have to second the HN1/severum mama suggestion. Not to mention, they're at least in the same state as you, so shipping should be relatively fast.

 

[beepboop]

I haven't lost fish when I use aquarium salt in my tanks, one tablespoon for every 5 gallons. That might help reduce the likelihood of loss. I find a drip acclimation system helps reduce stress of introduction too.

In addition, I avoid using a net to move fish into the new tank. I slowly dilute the water they come in, pour some off, and keep diluting it with tank water. I do that several times. When I don't use a net, add salt, and drip acclimate, the fish are active and don't hide. If I use a net to move them at any time, if I don't add salt, or if I don't drip acclimate, I get fish that hide and are more likely to die.

 

[Ilovemyfishies]

If you're looking for goldfish, I would suggest ordering from direct from Hawaii, Rain Garden goldfish and flowers They have awesome goldfish and the shipping is very reasonable. I have also ordered some fish off of AquaBid.com - Sell or buy aquarium related equipment and fish in an auction format! I was thinking about getting some from liveaqueria, but haven't done so as of yet. I've heard great things about them.