Buying Fish Online

[channing]

I am wondering about the wisdom of buying fish online. Not just online in general but stores across the country compared to ebay or aquabid etc.. I am not close to a good fish store so am wondering about this as an option instead.
Some of the ones I have heard of are oddballfish.com, doctorsfosterandsmith.com and liveaqua.com, bluebettausa.com Has anyone had any issues with these sites? Any thoughts on buying online?

 

[Crossfire]

liveaquaria.com is run by doctorsfosterandsmith.com, and they are quite reputable and they guarantee 100% that the fish will arrive alive, I've considered buying from there, but after my LFS aqcuired the fish i wanted there was no need

 

[TetraUk]

liveaquaria.com is run by doctorsfosterandsmith.com, and they are quite reputable and they guarantee 100% that the fish will arrive alive, I've considered buying from there, but after my LFS aqcuired the fish i wanted there was no need

Hi, Guessing your not in the UK by the Aquabid mention but it's hard to tell as you have no location set in your profile

Here in the UK, I have tried twice ordering fish via the internet... Once from an experienced private breeder, my first time and three out of five Corydoras were dead on arrival (One bag of three) other bag of two was fine and secondly a long time after as I that put me off was from a store that also trade on eBay... Second attempt proved much better all fish arrived safely and were so well packaged and arrived by the time I was told. The heat pads were also still warm so I was very impressed. Three weeks on all (Touch wood) are doing well!

Personally after two attempts, I would now only use a store that was fully experienced at shipping and not attempt private breeders...


Just my thoughts


All the best,

TetraUK

 

[the_lock_man]

liveaquaria.com is run by doctorsfosterandsmith.com, and they are quite reputable and they guarantee 100% that the fish will arrive alive, I've considered buying from there, but after my LFS aqcuired the fish i wanted there was no need

Hi, Guessing your not in the UK by the Aquabid mention but it's hard to tell as you have no location set in your profile

Here in the UK, I have tried twice ordering fish via the internet... Once from an experienced private breeder, my first time and three out of five Corydoras were dead on arrival (One bag of three) other bag of two was fine and secondly a long time after as I that put me off was from a store that also trade on eBay... Second attempt proved much better all fish arrived safely and were so well packaged and arrived by the time I was told. The heat pads were also still warm so I was very impressed. Three weeks on all (Touch wood) are doing well!

Personally after two attempts, I would now only use a store that was fully experienced at shipping and not attempt private breeders...


Just my thoughts


All the best,

TetraUK

Funnily enough, my experience is exactly the opposite. I bought from a private breeder, who packaged the fish perfectly, and all 5 were alive on arrival. The other time I bought was from a shop who advertise on Aquarist Classifieds, and all fish were DOA. Obviously, they replaced them.

Wherever possible I buy face-to-face, my last HM betta was purchased from a private breeder locally, even though an online merchant was cheaper (even with carriage charges).

 

[Gazo]

What UK online fish suppliers would anyone consider to be reputable please?
I'm looking to ship as BAS never seem to have what I want at that particular moment in time (and I dont drive to go further afield).

Kesgrove Tropicals are on eBay and seem great, but are there any other online shops I may have missed who offer a quality service?

 

[the_lock_man]

What UK online fish suppliers would anyone consider to be reputable please?
I'm looking to ship as BAS never seem to have what I want at that particular moment in time (and I dont drive to go further afield).

Kesgrove Tropicals are on eBay and seem great, but are there any other online shops I may have missed who offer a quality service?

Other forum members recommend Kesgrave, Trimar in Truro and Coxwell Aquatics in Abingdon. I have personally never used any of them, so wouldn't recommend them myself.

 

[TetraUk]

What UK online fish suppliers would anyone consider to be reputable please?
I'm looking to ship as BAS never seem to have what I want at that particular moment in time (and I dont drive to go further afield).

Kesgrove Tropicals are on eBay and seem great, but are there any other online shops I may have missed who offer a quality service?

My Angels and Kuhli loach actually came from Kesgrave and they were the store I was mentioning earlier that I purchased the fish from on eBay, arrived really well packaged and have all settled well so I can say from my personal experience that for me they were very good.

Also accepted a lower price offer on the kuhlis, as they offered the option on their listing I took advantage of it and save a few pounds..

Shipping is good at £12 for a small box, can fit quite a lot in also as I ordered 4 Sml/Med Angel fish and 6 Kuhli loach and there was still room in the box so had to be padded out. If your not after much it's worth seeing if anyone else you know local wants anything and sharing the postage costs


All the best,

TetraUK

 

[Twinklecaz]

+1 for Kesgrave being good!

 

[creeker]

In the U.S., I highly recommend these guys. My former employers. Super knowledgeable and caring about the fish. They also sell wholesale in large quantities, so they know exactly how to pack and ship.

http/www.aquariumfish.net/

 

[snowflake311]

Aqua bid. There are a few sellers I have bought from on there and was very happy. Wetspotcx is one of my fav so is bobs tropical plants. Snook21 is ok but I did not have the best time with him. For discus Hans did amazing packing and shipping.

I bought from that pet place and they are cross country from me. I had no problems.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Along with the other UK stores already mentioned, Wildwoods (through "tropical fish 2 your door") is one I have personally used and Sweet Knowle Aquatics are held in pretty high regard.

 

[tmh0921]

Aqua bid. There are a few sellers I have bought from on there and was very happy. Wetspotcx is one of my fav so is bobs tropical plants. Snook21 is ok but I did not have the best time with him. For discus Hans did amazing packing and shipping.

I bought from that pet place and they are cross country from me. I had no problems.

I've bought from wetspot and bobs tropical plants with great success as well

 

[Jay-93]

A word of warning with Kesgrave tropicals, expect young fish.

I've bought some of their fish before, they arrived very healthy and all alive, but apart from a Killifish, I genuinely thought I had been sent the wrong order. The fish look absolutely nothing like their associated pictures.

I asked at a later date if I could be sent an actual picture of his stock so I could see what I was going to get, no response.

So ultimately, the fish are healthy, but don't expect to get what is shown in the image