FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Hi,
Good to be back on fishprofiles.com. I was wondering does anyone know of a good online wholesaler of tropical freshwater fish ? Im looking into doing some restocking of my tank and wanted to see if it would be cheaper going through a wholesaler.

While fish prices may be cheaper you're going to pay quite a bit in shipping charges...usually around $30 and up depending on the number of fish you buy.

James

agreed, as said above the fish might be cheaper and in some cases they are not even cheaper... they are the same... with that said there are some online wholesalers that will give you a discount on shipping, but nothing that will be significant as opposed to a lfs

( also it depends on the type of fish you are looking to purchase, there maybe a small maybe $5 discount on the fish but most likely those $5 will be made up on shipping)

It might be worth a try to do this:

If you know the management at your LFS pretty well, ask them if it is possible that you get a wholesale price on the fish if you are there right when they are delivered. The store will not have to unpack them, care for them, or feed them, so it will not make them lose money to give you the wholesale price. My LFS lets employees do this, but you might be able to strike up a deal with your store.

The downsides are that (1) they may not let you do this, and (2) you don't know what shape the fish are in when they come, but you are stuck with them (sometimes fish arrive sick or even dead).

---

I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

a problem with online whosalers that u dont know usually only sell to jfs , so many times t will have to buy many boxes + shipping so just buy the fish @ reg $

You can go at your LFS & order the fish you want there. They will bring them for you with their shipment at a small extra cost.


http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/s8xi5heh/my_photos
http://www.geocities.com/s8xi5heh/classic_blue.html
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/buzaqq/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

Cory is 100% right about this.

Go to a small LFS store, maybe even a small pet store that carries fish. Having worked in both a LFS and managing a pet store with fish, the second option is the best.

There is usually a minimum charge that a store must order, and if they can't make that minimum with normal fish, and don't want to order extra fish, special ordering for a customer is a great way out.

However, there are some downside: usually they will make you pay in advance; partially or fully. That guarentees that they just didn't order fish they can't or wont sell. Now this might not be a problem if you are 100% sure you want the fish. Another problem, like cory said, is that you don't have any idea what condition the fish will be in. Now the store may be able to get a 100% refund on your dead fish, and order them again next time, but this requires a little bit of cooperation on both parts, yours and the store's.

And remember, depending on the store, you may have a minimum amount of fish to order. Sometimes its 25, and even 50.

Good luck

Usually by the time you order a fish online and pay shipping it comes out the same as the lfs so it's only worth it if a store won't get in the fish you want. A problem I have seen with ordering through a store is one guy was asking for a pleco by a common name and the store couldn't find it under that common name. They found one that sounded very similar and matched the description but he had to pay in advance for a fish he wasn't 100% sure was what he wanted. Even using scientific names some stores or the place they get their fish from may make mistakes. I've seen that problem alot less buying online but I've also gotten fish from reputable sources online that turned out to be a similar species but not the one named and sometimes not even the same one as the picture they offer. Majority of the time I've had better luck finding a more uncommon fish correctly indentified online than trying ot get it through a store but if your looking for something easily identified or more common your better off going through a store.

Last edited by sham at 27-Oct-2005 16:37

Call your LFS to see who they go through, and see if they allow the public to come and pick out their own fish if you're local.

The shop i used to work at got fish from two wholesalers, Fish Fish Fish in palisades park, NJ and Segrest Farms in Florida.

Fish Fish Fish would let us come and pick out all our own fish and bring them home in private vehicles, all while paying wholesale prices. If you don't mind the drive, it's the best way to get fish, because you can look at all the fish before you get them, get a professional pack and pay wholesale prices!!

Segrest, however, doesn't sell anything to the public, so it's up to your local wholesaler.

thats like me, but that is funny, b/c u tim are north of me, and i drive north to my wholesale, and i am south and u drive more south than me, anyway (sry me just being stupid)

anyway, it is a fun deal getting ur own fish were at lfs they usually dont let u. did u try online wholesalers, like

[link=http://aquariumfish.net]http://aquariumfish.net" style="COLOR: #FFFF00[/link]

I would buy online only those fish that are rare or very hard to find locally. If it is something you really want and can't get otherwise, then it might be worth the shipping costs to get those particular fish.

i would have thought most lfs's would special order, like mentioned the smaller ones would probably be more co-operative. especially if you make friends with them, we've just had a small one open up in town, one owner who obviously loves fish as much as we all do here, so is more than happy to talk, advise and special order.

I say, support the local store, even if it means paying a little more, at least you've got a face to go back to if you need advice or have a problem, plus the oportunity to bargain or get a deal on things you buy in store later, online you would never get that...

just my thoughts