Buy fish online?

[Ayla1987]

I am not ready to buy fish, won’t be for a while, but so am wondering if it is okay to buy fish online. The only pet store we have around is PetSmart and they don’t have much of a selection. I am 3 hours from a big city and it isn’t even a huge city.

Which is he best online store? Are there some where I can see the actual fish I am purchasing?

Thanks!!

 

[dougall]

I would say think about what sort of fish you want before thinking about where to obtain them,

it sounds like you might not currently be keeping fish, so it really might be better to cut your teeth on something local, more affordable etc.

The problem with seeing the actual fish before is going to be that they are going to be way more expensive that way, check out https://www.liveaquaria.com/divers-den/category/11/freshwater as an example.


it might be worth looking into an clubs locally or such, they're normally a great source of cheap fish, and also the knowledge and expertise that will go along with them.

 

[fishorama]

Yeah, local-ish fish are more apt to be adaptable to your water & much less expensive even if you need to call ahead to see if the not-so-local shop has fish you might want to buy.

I have gotten fish on aquabid, a no longer in biz seller & in person at wetspot…& a AC seller on the mart here. I have heard good things about liveaquaria, but shipping can be really, really high if your only talking about 6 fish or so...take that into account...do you "need" those fish exactly? or what?

It's easy to focus on exactly what species or strain you want early in the hobby, but there are usually "similar" species that are "close enough", think about it before you order hundreds of $$ in "perfect" fish...you're still learning, no need for very expensive mistakes...That's for us oldtimers, lol.

Can you tell us what area of the country or big city you live near? There may be a club or lfs you could visit on a road trip with a good lunch too. We'd love to help! Ask us!

 

[Trey Turner]

If you do decide to do test run with some chain store inexpensive fish, I would suggest setting up a hospital tank and treat them for about a week for ich, bacterial and fungal diseases. Unlike your LFS these chains pass large number of fish through and don't pay as much attention to health as they do volume.

you can setup a quick hospital tank with a five gal bucket, small air stone and pump. A small cheap hang on filter, and leave out the carbon. Easy setup and take down when you feel they are healthy enough to go in your tank.

 

[tanker]

I buy fish on-line all the time without any issues. Where are you located? What are you looking for?