Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Pet Shops and Product Reviews => Buying Tropical Fish Online => Topic started by: AndreaC on September 04, 2014, 01:33:04 AM
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Hi everyone :) I've just come across a site that lets you buy fish online and they will send them to you in the mail. They have such an amazing range of fish and their reviews are really good but I still have reservations about how good this is for the health of fish. Has anybody done this before? Is it okay?
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Was it "aquatics to your door?"
I came across this too and was thinking the same! I would imagine they have experience in the transport but I didn't order anything just incase.
I still contemplate it as they have a much bigger selection than my local store.
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Live fish can only be delivered by licensed couriers who are approved for this work, e.g. no Parcel Force!
Retailers receive their fish this way and so even if you buy from your LFS the fish will have been delivered by courier at least once anyway. I don't think there's anything to worry about. The main issue is the cost of delivery if you only want a few fish.
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It's called live fish. It's an australian site so i didn't really expect anyone here to have used it. Okay, well their prices look pretty reasonable so i might order a few fish to make sure they're good :) thanks for your help
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I'm sorry to be a party-pooping, tub-thumping, soapbox-standing, parade-rainer..... but I think that any fish supplier such as 'Aquatics To Your Door' who supply Nemo Fish Packs (here (http://www.aquaticstoyourdoor.co.uk/Nemo-Pack-Pack-1.html)) without any suggestion of how big some of them get or what care is needed should be shunned by every responsible fish keeper on this planet. :isay:
Actually.... I'm not sorry at all!
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Andrea, in the UK it's the price of postage that puts most people off. But if you intend buying a lot of fish, the postage is usually the same a for one fish, so it doesn't seem too bad if you are getting a lot of fish after a fishless cycle.
Before making any purchases, check the postage! Any shops that seem cheap probably don't do next day delivery. In the USA, they seem to take 4 or 5 days to deliver which is far too long for fish to be sitting in a small bag.
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Hmmm okay, because the postage is really not that bad but they say they only deliver on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I assumed that meant that they only put the fish in bags on the day they were going to be delivered though. If that's not the case then I'm not so keen.
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I have bought fish online from a well known reputable supplier in the North East. They insited that there was someone to accept delivery and aranged a convenient delivery date. Fish were dispatched late afternoon and arrived mid morning the following day. Packaged in a study polystyrene box with heat pads. The fish seemed fine and I did not lose any. Whilst I much prefer to browse before I buy I had been unable to source these from a local supplier so would not hesitate to buy online again if necessary :)
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Okay, I will keep that in mind :) I have actually been struggling to find honey gouramis in any of the fish shops around me so might try the online store. Thank you :)
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With fish like gouramis where their sex matters, ask the shop before buying if they are prepared to select a male and female, or whatever ratio you want. With fish like neon tetras, it doesn't matter.
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Yes, I've come across these sites before and I'm always a bit dubious. I assume there's some kind of regulation in place that makes them legal and safe for the fishes though? Or am I being naive...?
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That's a really good idea Sue, I'll make sure I do that :) I honestly don't think that there are many regulations for these places in the form of laws- most governments don't seem to think of fish as real life forms :/ I think that the incentive for these places to operate ethically is that the risk of losing business is really high if word gets out that their practices are poor, but how much difference that actually makes I don't know