Online places to buy plants and fish?

[kamanut]

Hello!

Curious to see where are everyone's favorite places to buy plants and/or fish from? Thanks!

 

[Lilyann]

I would say that the best place to buy fish and plants are at your local Aquarium society. If you live in a small town where meetings are not held, look to a bigger town close by that holds monthly Aquatic society meetings and auctions. You will get healthy home-bred fish at sometimes up to 1/2 what you will pay for at many online retailer sources. Also, you will not have to pay often very high shipping charges.
In addition, the plants will have been grown submersed as opposed to immersed which will allow you to put in your own aquarium ( in many but not all cases) without having to experience die-back from adjustment to growing submerged.
But, local sources may not have what you are looking for. In that case, I would recommend ( if you are in the US) Wetspot out of Portland for a large overall selection. Also Aquatic Clarity has very unusual, rare selections.

For certain fish, like wild discus, domestic discus, my wild geophagus and biotodoma cupidos and wavarini, for instance, I bought from dealers who specialize in this stock. Tangled Up in Cichlids is a good option for South and Central American cichlids.

For plants try purchasing from Hobbyists on The Planted Tank(These are most often already grown submersed.)
I also buy from Buce Plant and Liquid Creations for good stock.

Hope this helps!

 

[Munroco]

Are you in the UK?

 

[Jan Cavalieri]

Judging by how few of Pet stores there are and how few fish the carry I don't think we have an Aquarium Society. Perhaps in a bigger city they might. So I get my fresh plants from azgardens.com - they say they sell to NASA, colleges, etc - they have a huge selection of plants all in top condition. They are expensive but they are even more expensive to ship since they get them too you in 2-3 days , they include heater bags or cooling bags depending on the weather. LiveAquaria.com also sells plants and may be a little less expensive but they don't have the huge variety - they also do a good job of shipping.

Oh and if shipping plants is expensive you should see how much you pay for shipping on fish! But they use Styrofoam coolers and heat/cold pacts as needed.

 

[kamanut]

Lol, there's a reason I asked for online places. I live in the middle of nowhere in the US. There is barely civilization out here, much less aquarium clubs/societies. I don't have a stop light in my county. It's 3.5 hours to the "city" (one way)... of 75,000-100,000 people. So online it is, because it costs me more in fuel to drive to PetSmart or Petco than it does to just pay online shipping.

Given that I ship blood and urine products overnight shipping for my job on a daily basis, I know what that costs. I was just curious what others have found as far as quality with reasonable rates. Thanks!

 

[Back in the fold]

@kamanut that's my predicament too. I live in the deepest bowels of nowhere. No local aquarium society and one LFS that carries only the most very common fish and few plants. That is slowly changing as we got a new LFS that looks very promising. Billings Montana may not be the armpit of America but you can see it from here. I hope that new LFS can hang on long enough to get a toe hold. I've been giving them my small amount of business. I joined the International Betta Congress and the American Killifish Association to find different fish. The AKA has panned out splendidly. I ordered some plants from Aquarium Plants.com out of Florida and I was very pleased. The portions were generous and the plants were healthy. They have a great selection and the website is highly informative. For fish check out Dan's Fish. He operates out of somewhere in Wyoming. He has a You Tube thing and carries unusual fish. His website is awesome. Good luck.

 

[seangee]

I live in the middle of nowhere in the US. There is barely civilization out here

Goes without saying innit?
Sorry couldn't resist - of course I don't mean it.

I have had success buying plants, snails, shrimps and fish on-line. Just make sure its a reputable company with good reviews. I won't buy livestock from companies unless they are willing to phone and book a guaranteed delivery slot. This is not just to make sure I am home, but to make sure they are really using a guaranteed same day or overnight door to door service. I would hate for them to be collected from the supplier and dumped in a distribution center and only shipped onwards a couple of days late. For that I accept that I have to pay more for shipping.

 

[dennis r]

@kamanut that's my predicament too. I live in the deepest bowels of nowhere. No local aquarium society and one LFS that carries only the most very common fish and few plants. That is slowly changing as we got a new LFS that looks very promising. Billings Montana may not be the armpit of America but you can see it from here. I hope that new LFS can hang on long enough to get a toe hold. I've been giving them my small amount of business. I joined the International Betta Congress and the American Killifish Association to find different fish. The AKA has panned out splendidly. I ordered some plants from Aquarium Plants.com out of Florida and I was very pleased. The portions were generous and the plants were healthy. They have a great selection and the website is highly informative. For fish check out Dan's Fish. He operates out of somewhere in Wyoming. He has a You Tube thing and carries unusual fish. His website is awesome. Good luck.

Check out Aquabid.com. It is like e-bay but for Aquarists. Sellers are all over the US. A lot of sellers are hobbyists selling extra fry. Others are collectors. There also stores(e.g.The Wet Spot) selling inventory. Most accept Paypal. Shipping is dicey this time of year. Between the weather and Christmas, I would not try it. Before you buy, check a seller's reviews, like the rest of society , there are bad characters. In the spring, check out a guy in western NY. I have purchased killies from him, awesome fish. Also check Mike's wet pets. He is a retiree near Buffalo that breeds all fish that he sells and plants. He had 6 albino long fin ancistris cats for $30 last week. Last year, he sold me a box of swordplants and crypts for $50 that filled a 125. Hope you enjoy the site but it is addictive

 

[Back in the fold]

I don't know man. I've heard that Aqua Bid is full of con artists. I fully agree with @seangee , be sure you are dealing with a legitimate operator.

 

[yeti79]

I got some of my java fern wendelov from Aquarium Co-op and some java fern trident from
Aquarium Plants Factory. Both were very good. I buy from Aquarium Co-op a good bit they have great products and am a big fan of their youtube channel.

 

[dennis r]

I don't know man. I've heard that Aqua Bid is full of con artists. I fully agree with @seangee , be sure you are dealing with a legitimate operator.

I agree 100%that there some bad guys. That is why I always go over the reviews that customers have posted. For example, if a guy has 100 sales with 100% satisfaction, try him out. If a guy has 1500 sales and 50 bad reviews, be wary. If a guy has 1500 sales and twenty bad reviews and the last one was in 2010, give him a shot if you really like his fish. The vast majority are good folk. Watch how it works for a few weeks or until spring then try someone local. A lot of guys welcome pick up. Yes, I got stiffed a few times, fish way smaller than listed for example. You have to read the fine print, e.g. fish size. Don't expect a two inch cichlid when the say "just started free swimming last week". Look where sellers are located. There is a killie seller in Scotland and people in the US buy from him. Not the sharpest thing to do. Most breeders will include extra fish in a sale. Check shipping costs also. I have around 200 purchases from aquabid from killies to cichlids to plants. When I was a kid, each town had a pet store. Here in north NJ, there are just a few left. You would be surprised at some of the funky stuff on the site.

 

[Back in the fold]

@dennis r when I started out in 1965 my town was considerably smaller than it is now and we had 5 shops that were overgrown fish rooms run by local guys. I really miss those guys. SS Kresge, Woolworths and Sears also sold fish. I think it was the tail end of the Golden Age of freshwater tropical fish. It's sure a different time now but it's kind of chugging along in a good direction. I am pleasantly surprised to find the interest among young people in fish. Maybe I'll try Aqua Bid but I'm not in any hurry.

 

[kamanut]

@kamanut that's my predicament too. I live in the deepest bowels of nowhere. No local aquarium society and one LFS that carries only the most very common fish and few plants. That is slowly changing as we got a new LFS that looks very promising. Billings Montana may not be the armpit of America but you can see it from here. I hope that new LFS can hang on long enough to get a toe hold. I've been giving them my small amount of business. I joined the International Betta Congress and the American Killifish Association to find different fish. The AKA has panned out splendidly. I ordered some plants from Aquarium Plants.com out of Florida and I was very pleased. The portions were generous and the plants were healthy. They have a great selection and the website is highly informative. For fish check out Dan's Fish. He operates out of somewhere in Wyoming. He has a You Tube thing and carries unusual fish. His website is awesome. Good luck.

Funny thing is...you're in Billings. That's the "city" I'm talking about that's 3.5 hours away!! I truly am in the middle of nowhere.

When I lived in Sioux Falls, SD...I actually went and visited aquariumplants.com when they were stationed in Tea, SD and bought plants from them in person and was very happy with their stuff.

I've seen Dans Fish on AquaBid but hadn't been able to find his website.

I have sold fish on AquaBid when I was in college and it was pretty easy. I will have to pay attention to reviews now tho!

Thanks!!

 

[Back in the fold]

@kamanut if you are ever in Billings check out Treasure State Aquariums. They're on Grand Avenue in the building that Bonanza Health Foods was in. 900 block of Grand on the north side of the street, right next door to where Ernie November was before they moved. You will not be disappointed.

 

[kamanut]

@kamanut if you are ever in Billings check out Treasure State Aquariums. They're on Grand Avenue in the building that Bonanza Health Foods was in. 900 block of Grand on the north side of the street, right next door to where Ernie November was before they moved. You will not be disappointed.

I certainly will!! I usually go to Bismarck instead of Billings, and they have no freshwater LFS. But if I head to Billings sometime I'll check out that place!