Ordering fish online

Taken my first tentative steps into ordering fish online which i must admit as taken me some while to try out. Im still going to buy most my fish from my LFS because i dont think you can beat the experience of picking and viewing your new fish in person but i now know after trying online that you can get a really good reliable service that delivers quality/Healthly fish to your door.

Thought id do a thread about my first journey into online ordering so other folk know what to expect in the whole process. (Sorry if this as already been done)

So the company i used was "Tropco" (id highly recommend them) I ordered a group of Hoplo catfish -(Megalechis thoracata)Tuesday morning and recieved a call within a hour to arrange delivery.

Delivery was set for between 8am-4pm which arrived at 9am so very prompt.

Fish arrived very well packaged



Box was very strudy with plenty of inside protection. There was heat packs and extra bags of water to help cushion the fish from rolling or move too much.very well packaged indeed.

Fish themselves was very active in the bag and in super good health I will definitely try this process out again when my LFS cant get in what im looking for and dont need to feel apprehensive about ordering online anymore

Hope this puts some fishkeepers at ease if they come to try it out.

Beautiful fish! Keep the pictures coming!!!

Only reason I don't order fish online is because I never buy a load of fish at once and paying £15 for delivery + cost of fish is much more expensive than going to the LFS.

Phreaker said:

Only reason I don't order fish online is because I never buy a load of fish at once and paying £15 for delivery + cost of fish is much more expensive than going to the LFS.

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Yeah i get that, the del charge does add to the expensive and if you just want one small group of fish its not worth it. Ive paid more this time round because i didnt want to commit too much until i knew the company was reliable.

If you have multiply tanks tho and want a few groups of fish it can be cheaper even with the del charge.

My LFS isnt that cheap to be honest. 9 Panda cory cost me £75 where as if i used Tropco it would of cost me £60 with del.

If i added my Odessa barbs to that order i would of saved £40 in total

So it swings and round abouts really. I wont order online that often but its another option for me if i need it

Cheers. They’ve got medaka in stock! Nice to know.

I use TropCo too and they are great Lots of interesting stock too which makes me want to get another bigger tank.

jonnyc88 said:

I use TropCo too and they are great Lots of interesting stock too which makes me want to get another bigger tank.

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I know what you mean, it had me thinking of future acquisitions. They have "1300" tanks!!

If i knew what i know now i would ordered more

Need info on what fish can survive 2-3 days in a bag, some of the fish I want are not available locally.

2tank said:

Need info on what fish can survive 2-3 days in a bag, some of the fish I want are not available locally.

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Most can if shipped well.
Cories though sometimes do not ship well, but ive done them many times.

The cats look great! Nice and active already in the bag

NCaquatics said:

Most can if shipped well.
Cories though sometimes do not ship well, but ive done them many times.

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awesome I really want some julli cory for breading stock its a 2 day DHL international shipping.

NCaquatics said:

The cats look great! Nice and active already in the bag

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They are lovely, really nice markings on them. They look like across between a Panda cory and yoyo loach
Killing me leaving the light off tonight lol want them to settle in rightly tho

Thanks for the shout on them

Russjw said:

They are lovely, really nice markings on them. They look like across between a Panda cory and yoyo loach
Killing me leaving the light off tonight lol want them to settle in rightly tho

Thanks for the shout on them

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Lots of people think hoplos are ugly, but theyre just so goofy they don't need to be "pretty" lol
Id love to see how they grow

NCaquatics said:

Lots of people think hoplos are ugly, but theyre just so goofy they don't need to be "pretty" lol
Id love to see how they grow

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I think they are cool
Ill make sure i post some pic's has they grow. Only about 4 to 5cms at the moment.

Russjw said:

Taken my first tentative steps into ordering fish online which i must admit as taken me some while to try out. Im still going to buy most my fish from my LFS because i dont think you can beat the experience of picking and viewing your new fish in person but i now know after trying online that you can get a really good reliable service that delivers quality/Healthly fish to your door.

Thought id do a thread about my first journey into online ordering so other folk know what to expect in the whole process. (Sorry if this as already been done)

So the company i used was "Tropco" (id highly recommend them) I ordered a group of Hoplo catfish -(Megalechis thoracata)Tuesday morning and recieved a call within a hour to arrange delivery.View attachment 123027

Delivery was set for between 8am-4pm which arrived at 9am so very prompt.

Fish arrived very well packagedView attachment 123021
View attachment 123025
View attachment 123022
View attachment 123024
Box was very strudy with plenty of inside protection. There was heat packs and extra bags of water to help cushion the fish from rolling or move too much.very well packaged indeed.

Fish themselves was very active in the bag and in super good health

I will definitely try this process out again when my LFS cant get in what im looking for and dont need to feel apprehensive about ordering online anymore

Hope this puts some fishkeepers at ease if they come to try it out.

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Ah thanks so much for documenting this, I've been very close to ordering from there too - good to know its definitely an option