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Hi...
Any suggestion where I can buy fish on line that is pretty reasonally cheep & not so high on there shipping? I leave in this small town and we don't have a pet store or anything only Wal-Mart (not much to pick from there).

Thanks,
Sugarcookie

Shipping is high no matter what, unless you get free shipping, which usually only happens if you pay some amount like greater than $100 or something. Since water is so heavy and you need to ship overnight, there's nothing dragging down the cost of shipping. That said, if you are within a radius of certain online fish distributors it can be cheaper; I have seen this mentioned on certain online stores, though unfortunately I don't live in any of these areas.

Just putting that out there. Personally I can't validate buying fish online unless what I'm actually buying is more than the shipping itself on top of the chance the fish won't make it to my house, hence why I have yet to order fish online.

I don't know where you live, but perhaps some of us could recommend fish stores if you live near some of us? For example, if you live anywhere near Lancaster, PA you should probably go to ThatFishPlace; it's a huge aquatic superstore, bigger than anything you could ever imagine. They have a website that sells fish too: http://www.thatpetplace.com.

Try http://www.liveaquaria.com and http://www.aquabid.com for two other online sources for fish.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

I agree it could be hard in a small town. You have not mentioned where you live at a guess USA as you mentioned Wal-Mart. There are many members in USA and they could be able to assist if they knew your town.

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Keith

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If you're not comfortable stating your town online, even a region would be helpful. For example, I wouldn't say the town where my grandma lives, but it is a small town in northwestern Illinois, about a half hour from the Quad cities. I don't think she has anything but Wal-Mart around either.

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It depends on what kind of fish you are looking for as well. There are plenty of good hatcheries which will ship and provide you with a good health and live arrival guarantee (eg for angelfish, plecos, discus). Shipping will not be inexpensive but these sellers provide you with a guarantee and customer service which can not be said for all online merchants. you will also get an idea when talking on the phone with an employee. However, you might be closer to a store than you think with abit of driving being all that is required. Approximate living area would help members to point you there (superlions approximation as an example).
Aquabid is a valued site and you can check the seller's reputation.

if you are anywhere in southern california there are so many options to choose from when you have petco, petsmart, the aquarium district (or pets district ) in downtown LA, and you got the thousands (if not millions) of small corporations or privatley owned stores.

also a region or city would be helpful, (nearest large city?)

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The cheapest shipping I've found for buying fish online is $24.75, at http://www.aquariumfish.net
They won't ship in cold weather though, so you'll have to wait until it warms up a bit.