Opinions On Buying From Liveaquaria.com

[Fishmanic]

I'm thinking of buying my initial stock of fish for my 35 gallon tank from liveaquaria.com.  They have the species I want at decent prices.   They stock the German Blue ram that some LFS don't have.  They ship in insulated containers via 1 day air and have a 100% 14 day guarantee that fish will survive.   
 
Any opinions on drawback from ordering from an online company?  Has anyone used them?  What was your experience with them?

 

[GetItSahn]

I was under the impression that their shipping is pretty expensive, to me, $35.00 is a pretty penny to spend just to get the fish. I prefer AquaBid, I think it's a great site. Watch out though, you might get addicted!

 

[Fishmanic]

I will be ordering about 13 fish and a few of their prices are much less than LFS base on percentage.  I would be buying based on convenience and species availability.  
 
what guarantee do you have that the fish will arrive healthy if you buy on aquabid?   Seems more risky than the guaranteed shipping on liveaquaria.com and they have more variety although the fish are pretty small but they will grow with time.

 

[GetItSahn]

I will be ordering about 13 fish and a few of their prices are much less than LFS base on percentage.  I would be buying based on convenience and species availability.  
 
what guarantee do you have that the fish will arrive healthy if you buy on aquabid?   Seems more risky than the guaranteed shipping on liveaquaria.com and they have more variety although the fish are pretty small but they will grow with time.

On aquabid, it's all seller dependent. Some do complete refunds of shipping and all and some people only do refunds on express shipping. I tend to lean towards people who have live arrival guarantees on priority shipping as well.
As far as size goes, most people who ship fish very small have them listed as unsexed so you might want to avoid that if buying pairs although usually the younger fish can adapt to the new tank better.
If you're worried about the risk in buying from AquaBid, I would buy from a seller who has made lots of sales. I have personally never had a bad experience but I'm sure everything will work out regardless of who you buy from

 

[Fishmanic]

I would think some seasons would be a no-no for shipping fish---like in the dead of winter or a scorching summer day.  At those times, overnight shipping would be a must in my opinion.