Finding A Specific Fish.

[blfoster]

Suppose I decide I want a certain species of fish. The problem is, it's not something regularly stocked by any LFS around me. How do I find it? Will pet stores special order a fish? Considering some of the wild species some people around here have, there must be a way.

The reason I ask is that I was about to post a thread asking for a recommendation of something small that will eat algae off the sides of my tank, but then I realized that once I had a recommendation, I wouldn't be able to find one easily unless it was something really common.

 

[nmonks]

Good "mom-and-pop" aquarium stores will often order stuff in, especially if you are a regular customer. If the fish is one they can easily sell to others, and you convince them so, they may order in a batch, which means you can pick out the best specimens. Chain stores are often less flexible, because their stock is ordered in centrally at head office, and the guys working the floor have little to no say on what gets sold.

Personally, I'm not wild about mail order because in some many cases (especially with L-number plecs, for example) you need to be sure the animal is in good condition before buying. Half-starved fish just aren't going to make it, even if they are alive when you get them.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[guppymonkey]

Depending on the store and the fish you can sometimes get special orders. For some rarer species its easier to find them on online auction sites like aquabid (if you are in the US). As for a good algae eater it all depends on the size of the tank. If its a small tank you could consider some Otocinclus they are usually very easy to find and do a great job at algae eating. They only get to be a couple inches long so get a few of them as they are basically gregarious but not quite a schooling fish. They should be available quite easily in most pet stores.

 

[Teelie]

I can get some special orders via my LFS but had to get 3 species of fish via websites. Both of the websites were well established/respected sites with good reputations so I wasn't too worried about quality. Some of the L-Number plecs I want to get though may be harder.

Ask the LFS first if they can get them in. It's usually cheaper that way although in my case, 2 years was too long for me to wait.

 

[MoMa]

I see you are from NY.
I used to work for a tropical fish distributor, and am aware of the "catalogs" of most of the distributors in the Northeast. Name your fish, and I'll let you know how hard it'll be to get.

cheers,
MoMa