How To Buy Cheap Fish From A Lfs

[fozzy_wozzy_woo]

OK i have just been by my local LFS, well 20km from my house.

I have spent two hours taking with him on my plans and what plants i am looking at and the type of lighting and co2 system.

We then got into a conversation about what fish i will look at populating the tank. after making my list I was interested to see that the price was out of this world.

HE then told me that if i was to buy the fish still in the import bag i would get a masive discount.

e.g. i buy 100 tetras 1 bag. he then goes away to the importer on the normal day when he picks up his fish and buys my bags at the same time.

the catch is i have to be in the shop when he gets back as there is now space to keep the fish. so i then take the fish streight from the LFS to my house. In theory streight from land of import to my house in one go.

I will need to buy another tank as a hospital tank to do this but this will save me 100's of Euro's.. Oh im happy with that.

I will let you know exactly what the prices are wheni go to buy them and what condition they are in.

So if your now wondering why i am telling you as most of you only have small tanks. well if 4 or 5 of you get ot gether and buy 1 bag of whatever then split the fish at a road side petrol station then go home you will save money on your fish....

 

[jarmado]

i used to go around several places to look for bargain fishes...
i used to spend whole day 'window' shopping, comparing prices, driving more than 50 miles hoping to see a bargain or the fish i want...
at the end of the day, you spend the money you saved on petrol and time wasted...
you get a bargain on one lfs but you are not quite sure about the health of the fish...
and the fish ending up dead in a few days...
i now just stick to one lfs which is 5 miles away...

 

[annka5]

It sounds in some ways a great plan, but surely the plane journey is likely to result in some dead fish en route? I might be wrong, but think I recall someone (possibly the Wolf?) saying that it wasn't that unusual to get 25% mortality rates from a shipment. What if it's higher? what if its all the fish, or most of them?

 

[fozzy_wozzy_woo]

It sounds in some ways a great plan, but surely the plane journey is likely to result in some dead fish en route? I might be wrong, but think I recall someone (possibly the Wolf?) saying that it wasn't that unusual to get 25% mortality rates from a shipment. What if it's higher? what if its all the fish, or most of them?

This is true, but the price i will be getting the fish is roughly 1/3 of the price you buy from the shop.
Then once it is in your hospital tank you can sepend all your time taking care of them.

How many LFS's do you go to that they just chuck the fish into a tank and hope they are all sold before they die.

I was speaking with one shop and they basically get the orders in and buy the fish on a tuesday pick them up on a thursday and the people who have bough the fish have to pick them up by saturday lunch or the fish will be sold on.

This then means the fish dont need to be treated and they just get pushed out to people as soon as possible. Then if any fish die they say they must have died in the journey from the LFS to the house.

A verry smart way to do it. so every week you have a turnover of hundreds of fish that would normally sit for weeks and in thoughs weeks several more would die as the LFS staff are not that bothered for taking care of the fish.

So if i was able to get the fish before they turn up to the LFS theni could treat and nurchure them with 100% of time and effort.

If i have any spare then i could place them on Marktplaats.nl (Ebay but in dutch) and people from all around would come to the house and buy the extra fish

i used to go around several places to look for bargain fishes...
i used to spend whole day 'window' shopping, comparing prices, driving more than 50 miles hoping to see a bargain or the fish i want...
at the end of the day, you spend the money you saved on petrol and time wasted...
you get a bargain on one lfs but you are not quite sure about the health of the fish...
and the fish ending up dead in a few days...
i now just stick to one lfs which is 5 miles away...

Im not saying going around all the LFs's i am saying you go to one LFS and make a deal. he makes money for doing nothing except picking the bag up from the airport at the same time he picks up the 50 other bags at the ame time.

 

[dgwebster]

How many LFS's do you go to that they just chuck the fish into a tank and hope they are all sold before they die.

None.

The store I use gives you this information on how they transport/import the fish:

Fish Sources

Then this is their quarantine:

Quarantine

 

[jarmado]

How many LFS's do you go to that they just chuck the fish into a tank and hope they are all sold before they die.

None.

The store I use gives you this information on how they transport/import the fish:

Fish Sources

Then this is their quarantine:

Quarantine

nice shop!

 

[fozzy_wozzy_woo]

yea stay with that lfs ... is a good one.

Can i have them ....

 

[SamUK]

you get them cheap cos u buy in bulk.


what would you do with 100 neon tetras tho?


edit - sori, jus seen the bit about splitting with friends.


still think its a bit daft tho. youve already sed the fish wil probably be in a not so good condition and pretty damn stressed.

u think theyll survive being juggled about at a petrol station?

 

[vancouver]

I worked in a lfs for awhile.. the shipments we got in varied..

Sometimes we would get in 100 guppies, and within a week they all would be dead.. other times we'd get in 50, and half would be sold within the first week.. Depends on the # of fish, quality of fish, and how they are shipped.

If they are done overnight chances are a lot better getting a high survival rate as opposed to a shipment in the mail for 2-3 days.

I'm surprised a lfs would do that for you.. none around here would do that I don't think.. even though it's easy money for them.

 

[dgwebster]

the only other thing is at 50p per neon tetra or 6 for £2.50 any savings are not worth my time or losses lol

the other day in dobbies, I over heard a woman saying "ooh look theres the neons"

£2.50 each. Lets go to House of Pisces (a store I would rather buy from Dobbies than them) cos they were 4 for £6 thats £1.50 each a whole £1 cheaper.

I feel bad for eavesdropping but I HAD to butt in.

politely interrupting and apologising for my open ears, i explained that they were looking at cardinal tetras, very different from neons.

explained that dobbies charge 50p per neon., and that the fish in dobbies are of a better quality than HOP even though quarantine is poor. I then gave directions to the above store.

I spent around £40-£50 a month at UDA right now, but they are worth it.

 

[jarmado]

the only other thing is at 50p per neon tetra or 6 for £2.50 any savings are not worth my time or losses lol

the other day in dobbies, I over heard a woman saying "ooh look theres the neons"

£2.50 each. Lets go to House of Pisces (a store I would rather buy from Dobbies than them) cos they were 4 for £6 thats £1.50 each a whole £1 cheaper.

I feel bad for eavesdropping but I HAD to butt in.

politely interrupting and apologising for my open ears, i explained that they were looking at cardinal tetras, very different from neons.

explained that dobbies charge 50p per neon., and that the fish in dobbies are of a better quality than HOP even though quarantine is poor. I then gave directions to the above store.

I spent around £40-£50 a month at UDA right now, but they are worth it.

exactly my point in post # 2...
it's not the price, it's the quality...
you save a few $$££ but the fish end up dead in a few days...

 

[fozzy_wozzy_woo]

Well

What i am doing is buying

100 sumatian green barbs = 1 bag

10 angel fish = 1 bag

100 blood salmon 1 bag ( i think tey are rummy nosed tetras)

50 peper cory's 1 bag

50 filter shrimp = 1 bag

30 crabs (red)

100 fire shrimp = 1 bag

100 hatchet tetra's = 1 bag

10 L240 pleccos

umm i think that is about it.

Good thing is 1 /3 of all these fish will into another tank i have.

The total savings for me is around €350

I havent bought them yet but once the pants are in and its been running around a month then it will be time to add the fish slowly 1 bag at a time

 

[aberdeen aquarist]

How many LFS's do you go to that they just chuck the fish into a tank and hope they are all sold before they die.

None.

The store I use gives you this information on how they transport/import the fish:

Fish Sources

Then this is their quarantine:

Quarantine

the only shop in scotland that quarantines their stock (if you believe them!!)
i know plenty of other shops which do both, most of them unfortunately in the don't quarantine category

 

[SamUK]

Well

What i am doing is buying

100 sumatian green barbs = 1 bag

10 angel fish = 1 bag

100 blood salmon 1 bag ( i think tey are rummy nosed tetras)

50 peper cory's 1 bag

50 filter shrimp = 1 bag

30 crabs (red)

100 fire shrimp = 1 bag

100 hatchet tetra's = 1 bag

10 L240 pleccos

umm i think that is about it.

Good thing is 1 /3 of all these fish will into another tank i have.

The total savings for me is around €350

I havent bought them yet but once the pants are in and its been running around a month then it will be time to add the fish slowly 1 bag at a time

where are you gonna put them all?

 

[Bloo]

Possibly some (I hope not all !) in the 205 US gallon tank - but I think he's got 2 other tanks too.

Though that's a mega load of fish to dump into new tanks