Buying fish via the internet....anyone's good or bad experiences!!!!!

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dionysios

AC Members
Apr 16, 2007
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Hi there, I live in the middle of the Mojave desert at Fort Irwin, California. I have to drive from an hour to 3 hours to go to a decent fish shop to get fish. I noticed that the gas to drive there is practically the same cost as shipping for fish that are bought online. What I want to know is have you ever bought fish online? How is the quality of fish. Are they healthy? Did they arrive alive and on time? What online store do you recommend? Which one's are good? Which should I steer away from? I would really appreciate your input.
Thanx.
 

lucy42083

AC Members
Jan 20, 2008
751
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0
Wappingers Falls, NY
I also don't have a good LFS within 100 miles, though I think you have me beat living in the Mojave Desert! I've ordered fish several times through LiveAquaria.com and they have been excellent. It is pricey, but like you I don't really have a choice. All of my fish have come very healthy, great looking specimens IMO. All have arrived alive and well with 1 exception (long story, freak 2 day snowstorm, FedEx was delayed 3 days...can't really blame liveaquaria) in which they immediately refunded my money for the fish that died as well as shipping, no questions asked. They have a 14 day guarantee.
 

wolf13

AC Members
Mar 13, 2007
354
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I have bought fish online four times. In all four cases, I got what I paid for and more, sometimes a lot more and top quality because i dealt with specialists and breeders. if you know exactly what you are looking for, shop around on specialist boards and see who sponsors are (there are some here as well, twofishguyz.com for instance, i bought from them last week and they were excellent). those are usually the dedicated, experienced guys who know their fish and exactly what they are selling and honestly love the hobby. many of them also have aquabid accounts. I'd much rather deal with folks like that then places like live aquaria where you don't know if the person filling your order knows an a. panduro from a baby oscar except whats labeled on the tank.

I've had them shipped DHL, Fedex and USPS. all arrived fine overnight. the experienced guys know how to pack em. your also better off ordering as close as you can to your location, but the overall transit time won't change to much. Also, be aware of your local delivery times, i made the mistake of using DHL for the first time and found out they deliver here at 5 to 5:30 instead of 10:30 for fedex. thats 7 extra hours of in transit time. Bone up on your quarantine and acclimation procedures, I usually spend at least an hour and a half on slow drip acclimation, do not under any circumstances risk osmotic shock. be prepared to set aside most of the day to receive the shipment as well and thoroughly read the sellers conditions. most have a requirement that you send a photo of a dead fish in an unopened bag within two hours of the first delivery attempt, anything else voids it for a credit towards a replacement, but NOT shipping. Not all of them have those terms but its pretty common so read carefully, and they may ship only on certain days.
 

davidtcb1

AC Members
Aug 20, 2004
202
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Nashville TN area
You may also check out www.**************** They are based in the San Diego area if I'm not mistaken. They may be able to do an overnight in your case.
 

grannylvsfish

have you been bad this year ??
Dec 6, 2006
3,124
1
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Montana
well, I bought live fish fropm MG here and loved my fish, they came so happy and there growing out well. also got shrimp from him, yep there happy to.
I bought 20 fish off ebay from a woman from California ( I live in Montana ) and they came so well packaged. there also doing very well.
 

Yadokari

AC Members
Feb 10, 2008
552
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16
If you can help it, buy from breeders, rather than online stores. You will get much healthier fish this way.
Aquabid, the classified ads section and other various forums is a good place to look.
Mg does send great endlers, as I bought some from him before :)
(Shrimp too if you're interested!)
 

Mgamer20o0

BobsTropicalPlants.com
Staff member
Jun 4, 2003
31,221
19
89
www.bobstropicalplants.com
though i see my self more as plants then fish i only have like 2 things. it depends what your looking for. i would try for breeders my self first for the most part. a lot of times you can pay less get better stock then a big site though you might be limited to one kind of fish from each person. if you want a bunch of different fish it might be the best cost efficient to order from one of the bigger sites.
 

vanillarum

AC Members
Jan 4, 2008
1,230
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36
Mass.
I have purchased many fish (and shrimp) online. In fact, all of the fish in my 46 except my 3 glass cats were purchased online. I have bought from Brians Tropicals (he's the best), liveaquaria, Arizona Aquatic Garden, Exotic Finds, Two Fish Guys, River Wonders, and Aquarium Fish.net. Also from Heather at Chambers3530 on aquabid, and she is great, also. I don't have any complaints for any of them. Blue at Exotic Finds can be difficult to contact thru e-mail, and AAG will not tell you if some of the stuff you ordered is out of stock UNTIL they ship your order, but I've always gotten all my stuff eventually. The only local fish stores within 50 miles of me are PetSmart and Petco, so it's either drive or off the net, and I just about live here, so it's no contest. Besides, much more interesting stuff on line. Now if I could only find some zebs !! Good luck.
 
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