Buying Stock

[markandhisfish]

hi would be interested to hear other members opinions on buying stock....... ie do you buy your fish from 1 store and only that store or has anybody bought from more than 1 store? i ask this becuse i have a local fish shop which is very good in terms of quality and care but very limited choice, i am due to double the capacity of my tank this year and want fish that i would never get in my lfs example i would like a pair of rams , i have been searching the net for tropical fish retailers that are members of the oata and have found a couple that look really good... if you could share your experiencees of this i would be gratefull thanks

 

[rabbut]

I watch a tank of fish that I am interested in for arround 5-10 mins, then look up-close for a few more minuites to see if I can see anything on them I observe for flicking, rubbing and hirachy in the case of discus. Once these have been established as either not there or the order or rank, I look up close at finnage condition and for white-spot e.t.c anything to indicate disease realy Anything suspiccious, and I tell a member of staff and walk away without buying.

If adding stock to an existing tank, all fish then get 4 weeks of quarenteen to ensure they are clean before going into the main tank. If it is a new tank, they go strait in.

I buy from arround 5 different shops on occasion, but one main one. Choose retilers that you can feel you can trust for quality and healty stock, and avoid the rest of the "chaff" I travel as much as 2 hour round trips for fish

All the best
Rabbut

 

[jacko9901]

hi would be interested to hear other members opinions on buying stock....... ie do you buy your fish from 1 store and only that store or has anybody bought from more than 1 store? i ask this becuse i have a local fish shop which is very good in terms of quality and care but very limited choice, i am due to double the capacity of my tank this year and want fish that i would never get in my lfs example i would like a pair of rams , i have been searching the net for tropical fish retailers that are members of the oata and have found a couple that look really good... if you could share your experiencees of this i would be gratefull thanks

i get my fish from 1 shop because it has a good range of fish but i dont see why you cant get diferent fish from different shops.

 

[loachman]

I typically get most of my stock from one shop, although I've bought from 3 different ones in the 18 months.

 

[martyn21uk]

I want fish that i would never get in my lfs example i would like a pair of rams

Have you tried asking your lfs if they can order your rams for you? The reason they wont stock them will be due to demand but it doesn't mean their suppliers don't have them. If they are a trusted shop then you've got to be quite confident that their suppliers will give you good fish

 

[jflowers]

We have 4 LFS and we will only buy from 2. This is purely from experience as fish purchased from the others have died very soon or advice/labels on tanks have been very misleading. One shop we wont buy from has a Misc African tank full of african lake chiclids they dont know anything about.

You will learn who to trust very soon, when buying a fish, research it first, then go to the LFS and ask about them. if the LFS staff know thier stuff they will answer your questions confidently with similar info to what you have found in your research. If they tell you that the shovelnose catfish you have been looking at will be fine in your biorb... go somewhere else.

Jon