On-Line Fish Shopping, UK...No! No! No!

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Bruce Leyland-Jones

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So I absorbed the fact that it's possible to post live fish to my door, after realising that they obviously travel thousands of miles to get here in Blighty.
So I go browsing on-line, to see what's available and the P&P costs involved.

I got as far as one retailer, who was offering what they loosely refer to as 'Starter Packs' and 'Tank Filler Packs', consisting of an assortment of fish, some plants and/or snails or frogs!
One pack;
2x Assorted Cory M
3x Glowlight Tetra M
3x Assorted Danio M
3x Neon Tetra M
2x Gold Honey Gourami
2x Red Honey Gourami
4x Black Neon M
1 x Spotted Pleco

Another one;
6 x Neons
4 x Assorted Platy
1 x Siamese Fighter (Red or Blue)
2 x Frogs

Bear in mind that there's no indication anywhere about water parameters, or tank sizes, although there is this: "Please check the suitability of the fish in the packs with any existing fish."

Is it me, or is fish welfare still not a consideration?
I think I'll stick to driving long distances.
 
So I absorbed the fact that it's possible to post live fish to my door, after realising that they obviously travel thousands of miles to get here in Blighty.
So I go browsing on-line, to see what's available and the P&P costs involved.

I got as far as one retailer, who was offering what they loosely refer to as 'Starter Packs' and 'Tank Filler Packs', consisting of an assortment of fish, some plants and/or snails or frogs!
One pack;
2x Assorted Cory M
3x Glowlight Tetra M
3x Assorted Danio M
3x Neon Tetra M
2x Gold Honey Gourami
2x Red Honey Gourami
4x Black Neon M
1 x Spotted Pleco

Another one;
6 x Neons
4 x Assorted Platy
1 x Siamese Fighter (Red or Blue)
2 x Frogs

Bear in mind that there's no indication anywhere about water parameters, or tank sizes, although there is this: "Please check the suitability of the fish in the packs with any existing fish."

Is it me, or is fish welfare still not a consideration?
I think I'll stick to driving long distances.
Fish welfare isn't a consideration, $$$ is.....
 
So I absorbed the fact that it's possible to post live fish to my door, after realising that they obviously travel thousands of miles to get here in Blighty.
So I go browsing on-line, to see what's available and the P&P costs involved.

I got as far as one retailer, who was offering what they loosely refer to as 'Starter Packs' and 'Tank Filler Packs', consisting of an assortment of fish, some plants and/or snails or frogs!
One pack;
2x Assorted Cory M
3x Glowlight Tetra M
3x Assorted Danio M
3x Neon Tetra M
2x Gold Honey Gourami
2x Red Honey Gourami
4x Black Neon M
1 x Spotted Pleco

Another one;
6 x Neons
4 x Assorted Platy
1 x Siamese Fighter (Red or Blue)
2 x Frogs

Bear in mind that there's no indication anywhere about water parameters, or tank sizes, although there is this: "Please check the suitability of the fish in the packs with any existing fish."

Is it me, or is fish welfare still not a consideration?
I think I'll stick to driving long distances.
What…..
 
So I absorbed the fact that it's possible to post live fish to my door, after realising that they obviously travel thousands of miles to get here in Blighty.
So I go browsing on-line, to see what's available and the P&P costs involved.

I got as far as one retailer, who was offering what they loosely refer to as 'Starter Packs' and 'Tank Filler Packs', consisting of an assortment of fish, some plants and/or snails or frogs!
One pack;
2x Assorted Cory M
3x Glowlight Tetra M
3x Assorted Danio M
3x Neon Tetra M
2x Gold Honey Gourami
2x Red Honey Gourami
4x Black Neon M
1 x Spotted Pleco

Another one;
6 x Neons
4 x Assorted Platy
1 x Siamese Fighter (Red or Blue)
2 x Frogs

Bear in mind that there's no indication anywhere about water parameters, or tank sizes, although there is this: "Please check the suitability of the fish in the packs with any existing fish."

Is it me, or is fish welfare still not a consideration?
I think I'll stick to driving long distances.

I dont really 'get' fully online stores like this for the UK surely no one is more than a few miles from a pets at home at the very worst? I cant see what kind of beginner would actually head online first and get something like this.

I actually think the beginner packs of fish are not a terrible idea, sometimes people make bad decisions early on because there is so much choice. Where as if a store knew what worked in their area (hard or soft water), average tank size they sold etc a lot of new owners would be put on a good path pretty early on. Eg a shop in my area would sell live bearers and rainbow fish :p

Wills
 
It's a store? I thought it was Ebay! 😂
 
Starter Packs? It's like they're selling flower or vegetable seeds instead of live fish.
 
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I dont really 'get' fully online stores like this for the UK surely no one is more than a few miles from a pets at home at the very worst? I cant see what kind of beginner would actually head online first and get something like this.

I actually think the beginner packs of fish are not a terrible idea, sometimes people make bad decisions early on because there is so much choice. Where as if a store knew what worked in their area (hard or soft water), average tank size they sold etc a lot of new owners would be put on a good path pretty early on. Eg a shop in my area would sell live bearers and rainbow fish :p

Wills
Yeah...so you pay over the odds good money for the shop to make the bad decisions for you. :rolleyes: There are only a few of the combination packs that they offer that would work and even those give you not enough Corydoras or tetras for them to be un-stressed.
 
Just to clarify I'm not saying these lists are good (they are terrible). But the vague concept of it is not a bad idea for me, I bet this forum provides it each time we help one person with a stocking list I bet 10 or more others will take inspiration from it.

Wills
 
Just to clarify I'm not saying these lists are good (they are terrible). But the vague concept of it is not a bad idea for me, I bet this forum provides it each time we help one person with a stocking list I bet 10 or more others will take inspiration from it.
I take your point and my first thought was to agree 100%, but then I got to thinking about the customer's reluctance to be wholly honest with regards their set-up at home and the 'I want it and I want it NOW!' mentality. A shop may know the water parameters in its mmediate local area, but this soon changes as you travel further away. For example, my tap water pH is currently 7.5, from 7.0 a week ago...and just up the road, it's 6.3. Then there's decor, where the addition of limestone rocks, or untreated bogwood, can make a difference.
The problem with these starter packs is that they appear to offer immediate gratification of need, as in all the fish you need to start your tank. I started to stock my tank after some 3 weeks cycling and am still slowly and carefully adding fish.
 
Not every online shop is like the parasitic idiots that sell these starter packs.
To get a wide variety of family tree for my fish I’ve ordered from a few. I prefer to pick the fish up in person though.
Im not sure of the forums attitude to mentioning shop names so won’t.
 
So I absorbed the fact that it's possible to post live fish to my door, after realising that they obviously travel thousands of miles to get here in Blighty.
So I go browsing on-line, to see what's available and the P&P costs involved.
There are decent ones out there. I have used Tropco and been very happy with them. They also call to confirm that you will be in for the delivery time slot BEFORE shipping. But they are based in Kent - so you need to decide if that's too far for shipping to Cumbria. IIRC they charge £25 for overnight using APC. Fish have always arrived well packed, well insulated and with heatpads that are still warm.
 
Pets at home being GOOD? In my experience I'd recommend buying online over pets at home

They've misidentified species before, given incorrect advice and they usually don't have a clue what they're talking about!

However I have got some great looking rosewood from them!
 
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