Shipping From Thailand Qs

[PlakatLuv]

Hello all!
I am starting to cycle a 3 gallon betta tank and have been oogeling some AquaBid plakats. All of the pretty boys are in Thailand- the sellers say that it's $5 from Thailand to the US and do not mention what it costs to ship from customs to the door. Anyone have experience with Thailand purchases? How did it go and what range was the shipping cost in? I imagine the fish need to be quarantined somewhere before I can get my hands on them... and I want them, want them, want them...

PS- how can they charge $5 for shipping live fish overseas? All of the overnight carriers around here are in the $30 range, and that's from US point A to US point B!

 

[azulfire24]

see they charge u what it take them to get it in the mail to a transshipper, then you have to pay the transshipper to mail it to you and yes can be very expensive, if the seller wants to sell without a transshipper its illegal and u can get heavy fines if u r caught, where do you live some of the breeders on here have very nicebabies, i am usa and i breed hms. constaine also usa and has very very nice fish, in the uk modaz is the guy to go to i hear, so there are just some possibilities. good luck

 

[constantine03]

My experience with having fish shipped from Thailand is that it costs around $50 just for the part of going from the transhipper to you. You have to pay a handling fee, an import fee, the fees for shipping supplies, and then the actual shipping fee, which is typically express and starts around $32.

I tend to order at least 4-5 fish when I'm doing any sort of importing b/c I figure if I'm paying that much for shipping, I may as well get a lot out of it at once.

Oh, and thanks for the plug, Azulfire! I do have some nice HM babies right now. I also have two sets of HMPKs that I'm getting ready to spawn, but those babies won't be ready until Oct-Nov. If you MUST have a PK and are in the states, I know of a seller from another forum that has some very nice coppers and dragons right now. Her AB seller ID is Dkb1006.

 

[PlakatLuv]

Thanks guys!
I'm looking to get a white hm plakat, those ones aree gorgeous. Sometimes I fall for orange ones, but it's mostly the whites I love.
I'm still cycling my 3g so I can wait The rediculous thing is, I can't get the ammonia to even start! I've thrown in fish food for about a week, tested the water today and no ammonia at all, no nitrites or nitrates, nothing. You'd think the water was perfect, except that it is very foggy and looks like s**t.

 

[azulfire24]

really to get a tank to cycle hyou need to have a fish in it to make poop, or buy they cycle stuff from the store, though i have my doubts on weather or not it works....i always staarted wioth a new tank and put the fish in the keep on eye on the levels and the tank cycles in a few weeks, or at later stages i just borrowed some mature media from another tank to clone it off, and instant cycle ,, as long as ther is a fish in it too poop, no poop, bacteria that eats poop dise from starvation..a white hm placket? my sister is breeding her white female at the moment ,, i''l let ya know what happens! all my babies look to be grenish, blue or pastel purple.. my sister says she has dibs on those lol!mom is a hm and daddy is forest the green ft. i think there is a pic of him here somewhare on the forem.

 

[newfishy]

you can buy ammonia as a cleaning product from some stores...as long as you make sure it is pure. look to the ingrediant list. also give the bottle a good shake...pure ammonia will not bubble.

if you want to use fish food as an ammonia source dont use betta pellets...you have to use a ton to get the ammonia high, use plain old cheap goldfish flake and dump a ton in. then test test test....after ammonia and nitrIte are zero and nitrAte is rising, do a big water change without touching the filters and your tank should be pretty and cycled then.