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Do you buy most of your fish from the lfs, or from good sources on the net? My lfs mainly stocks the common, and after exploring the net it seems there are a lot more variety out there. Haven't had the guts yet to spend extra $ for shipping and chance getting dead fish in the mail. If you buy via net what's been your success rate?

I usually go around to different places in my area to look for lively fishes that I plan on buying. Thes stores usually have a 4 day replacement if anything should happen to your newly bought friends So far everything is fine from my locals.

I have heard people buying fishes online, and most of them recommend http://www.aquariumfish.net/ they have a wide selection. The shipping charge is a flate rate $24.75. No matter if you order 1 small fish or 100 fishes. The rate to ship them is only $24.75.

You can do what I do, find out what fish you like, and go around to different stores around your area and observe the fishes activity. If they seem healthy to buy, go for it.

And most shops do a water test, so bring in a sample of your tank water and see if it's suitable for your new friends.

Hope this helps.

I buy most of my fish either from the internet or from members of local aquarium clubs. you should check around in your area to see if there are any clubs near you.

as far as ordering from the net, I mostly keep cichlids, puffers, plecos and bichirs. I have ordered from both http://www.rehobothaquatics.com]http://www.rehobothaquatics.com[/link] and [link=http://www.tangledupincichlids.com]http://www.tangledupincichlids.com[/link] with a lot of success. I have also ordered from several people on [link=http://www.aquabid.com. you can always check feedback before ordering from anyone to see what experiences others have had from different sellers.

Jason

I have several Aquariums I frequent regually. Closest one only minutes away by car the others over one hrs drive each way.

Never bought any fish or supplies over the net. I like to see what I am buying and select my own fish and plants.

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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I don't see any online shop that sell live fish in Aust.


And those one from US won't ship overseas, so we aussie's just have to stick to our LFS...

I don't have any reliable LFS in the immediate area so I used to drive over an hour to a LFS that I trusted. I still got sick or low quality fish at a pretty high rate and had my 125G wiped out by a devastating bacterial problem that I added with a plant from the LFS. Took me close to a year to figure it out, break down and bleach the tank and then start from scratch and get it right again.

After that I started looking for other outlets. I have used WWW.AQUARIUMFISH.NET numerous times to restock the 125G and stock a new 55G. Overall, I have recieved 38 fish from them. All arrived alive, all but one acclimated to my tank without a problem (one SAE was sick and died shortly after he was in the tank)and they usually send an extra fish or two as freebies. The quality has also been much higher. In fact the G. Incisus I recieved from them are the best looking group of the species I have ever owned or seen.

On the other hand, I've bought about 11 fish from the LFS in that time and had problems with at least six of them. Think about it, ordering direct saves the fish a stressful stop and stay at an LFS where they have to acclimate to different water, wait in crowded conditions and be exposed to other fish with problems. There is less stress in being put in a dark box and shipped directly to the final destination. I haven't tried other online stores yet, I would but haven't found a better deal, but can reccomend aquariumfish.net.

Yeah, I've only gotten my cichlids from people and had them shipped. my apistogramma nijsseni I got from www.aquabid.com. My labs I got from a breeder friend in TN. I got my Pseudotropheus Saulosi from Armke's Rare fish. My "normal" fish I can find around town. If my LFS doesn't have them, most likely my Petsmart will.

I've ordered fish online a number of times and have had no problems.

Endler's aren't available very often at lfs in my area. I did find some males but to get females I had to order from a breeder I found online.

I've also ordered from LiveAquaria.com]http://www.liveaquaria.com/[/link] and [link=AquariumFish.net. AquariumFish.net seemed to do their best to fill special requests.

Because of the high shipping costs I try to wait and order a number of fish at one time. Another idea is to order with another person and split the shipping costs.

I've never had a DOA. Actually with my Endler's I paid for 5 fish and received 12...at least one of the females gave birth during shipment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

I buy most of my fish from the LFS. I only buy my bettas online. You can't get any good ones (i.e. Halfmoon, good colors, etc.) around here, so I get mine from aquabid. I haven't had any problems recieving them, and they've all come alive.

---

They shade the glow of it with their mossy-misty costumes,
They wear masks of silk, porcelain, brass, and silver,
So as not to mislead with their own, ordinary faces.

At this point I buy almost all my fish online. So far I've had a total of one bad experience. I had a medium one (USPS screwed up, two fish arrived DOA, all a day late) but the shipper had packed them so well, and with two extras, that these delicate fish arrived in otherwise perfect condition. Basically, though, it's all been good.

-Molly
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Thanks for all the great replies. I can see there is a time to buy local and a time to order out. Makes sense Steve that they are being saved extra stress by saving 2 extra trips. I feel a lot better about ordering after reading your experiences and am off to check out your recommendations, thanks again.

Week End: Sounds like you might have a business opportunity for yourself, fill the need! Or find out where Keith lives in Aus??? If he's not having probs finding what he wants maybe his lfs will ship to you.

I had a pretty top notch LFS by me. I get most of my fish from there. If they dont have what im looking for in stock, i will have them order it. If they cant get it, then i resort to online.

One thing I've noticed is the sheer differences in price of the fish being sold online. Even though you'll pay $25 for shipping or more, I've noticed its a lot cheaper online. Example, I've seen discus fish sold for $50 and the same fish sold at a good lfs will cost double that. How about fish like the zebra pleco. Online: seen one sight selling for $80, LFS: never seen anywhere that sells for less than $160. That alone is enough for me to at least try it. The only thing I don't like is the returns or refunds. But thats sucks with anything you buy online. Fish are a little different to me though because they're pets. One important thing to keep in mind. If you order and the fish is sent to your house, make sure your they're when the delivery is made. Otherwise it will get send back to the wholesaler and theres close to a 90% chance the fish will not live that long in that kind of environment. One other mention is that some sites like Liveaquaria.com sells fish that I've never seen at any LFS in S.D. Much bigger variety online.

there is collinsworldoffish.com.au which sell live fish in australia.. I tend to buy most of mine from LFS or private sales on classifieds

I buy all of my fish locally. Mainly it's just because I'm too cheap to pay the shipping to Canada and I like to support local stores when I can. I've developed a pretty good relationship with most of my LFS's, who will order specific fish in for me with a small deposit if it's something that may not sell to another customer. It really pays to ask, many stores will special order for you. If they don't just go somewhere else and tell them you are, a lot of the time they'll work something out if it means keeping a good customer.