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[SittingDuck]

I'm looking for something that is a little more unique than just regular fish. Something to add to my tank that doesn't have fins. I was searching for things like Freshwater Lobsters and eels, and came across shrimp which not only look pretty cool, but will do an excellent job of cleaning floating algae and left over food. The Below ones look perfect:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1842

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1898

I'm going for a purely community tank with tetras, mollies and platties. I might add a pleco at some point, but there's no algae for it to eat at this point.

I've looked at my LFS for the above shrimp, or any shrimp for that matter, and the only thing I can find are Ghost Shrimp. They are way too small and will probably get eaten by...well, everything. They're also practically invisible and I'd like to have something that I can see and enjoy.

So my question is, what experiences have people had ordering stock from an online retailer? I'm in Canada, so if anyone has any links to trusted online retailers that would be awesome. Are there special considerations when ordering online? You can't choose your stock, for example, so you have no idea if the tank they come from is ridden with ich or other diseases. So what should I be looking for when ordering online?

 

[Guest]

Most reputable online retailers won't send unhealty fish/inverts out to the consumer. They wouldn't want to make the customers unhappy as well as make a bad name for themselves. (or have the creature die during or right after shipping, which would mean the refund your money). If you have a spare empty tank, quarantine them. If not, just look for visible signs on them of any thing not normal.
HTH
-Stewie

 

[SittingDuck]

Has anyone had any good/bad experiences with online purchases? It seems that to be able to do the correct amount of research, and to get the most exotic type of fish, online is the only way to do it. The LFS may be stocked with the more common varieties, but if you want to get anything that isn't in every single aquarium across the country online is the best way to do it.

 

[SittingDuck]

I can't find anyone that will ship to canada ...Does anyone have any links for Canadian distributors in the freshwater market?