Where To Buy Fish

malky.g · Mar 7, 2008

From reading many threads in the great forum I get the feeling that not many people here like, use or trust their LFS. So from this I assume that most here buy on line or know there local breeders. I was just wondering, what are the best sites to use to buy fish, plants and accessories. Is there a common site or does everybody have there own favorite.
Thanks.

fergalthefish · Mar 7, 2008

i buy most of my food and accessories from ebay mainly cos it's cheaper than lfs. as for fish themselves i buy from my lfs(maidenhead aquatics) cos they generally have good maintenance of tanks, cleanliness of shop and fish look fine, the only thing i don't do anymore is ask their advice on anything, like suitable tankmates etc as i have found they gave me wrong advice in the past so now i do my own research from internet on what fish i can happily house in my tank.

screamingdonkey · Mar 7, 2008

malky.g said:
what are the best sites to use to buy fish, plants and accessories

Quite a few people rave on about Trimar - a good selection of fish, well-priced. There is a delivery charge though.
Alternatively, you could look on Aquarist Classifieds which is a popular site. NB: these are generally sales from individuals but the top 6 or so ads are usually from respected companies.
And, of course, there's the Buy, Sell & Swap section on this forum

As for plants, a lot of people rate Greenline Aquatics.
Personally, I have used Java-Plants and have always found their plants to be reasonably priced and of good quality. NB: they're delivery policy is order by Thu 4pm and they will be delivered the following week - I usually get mine on the following Tuesday.

Hope this helps

littlest · Mar 7, 2008

There are some good lfs's around, it's just there's some bad ones too. It's worth having a look round ones local to you to see what they are like.
There's also a thread reviewing lfs's in the UK. Maybe have a look through it here

Like fergalthefish I go to Maidenhead Aquatics, which generally has a good reputation, but having a look on their website, they don't seem to have any branches in Scotland.

One good rule of thumb when visiting an lfs: don't assume the advice they give you is correct. Always do some indepedent research ( or ask on here) before buying fish.

An awful lot of the complaints on here about lfs's is about the bad advice they give.

For online shopping I've used Greenline Aqautics (screamingdonkey posted a link) for plants, and been happy with the service.
I used Aquatics Online for decor, accessories etc. Sometimes had delayed orders from them but they have a good range of stock.

england · Mar 7, 2008

i find personally that you just have to look around fish shops<always check the tanks first and every individual fish in the tank for problems if you see things like fin rot/white spot/dead fish all furry on the bottom of tank just walk away,,,,,i have two good local fish shops where i get all my fish and they are both independent owners who have turned the passion in bussiness and of course theyre different because they actually care what fish are compat not like big chain stores, although there are quite a few people working in big chain stores who care so if you find one then your lucky

pastabake · Mar 7, 2008

For plants I've used the LFS, ebay and Greenline. The pro's of shopping online is cost and selection. The pro's of shopping at LFS is you see what you're getting.
For fish I normally buy them from my LFS as the fish they stock are acclimatised to the local water supply. I have bought online from tropical fish finder, because I couldn't find it locally and the supplier had what I wanted in the same water parameters as mine. I am also thinking of getting some fish from a breeder who advertised in the aquarist classifieds, again because his fish are in the same water params as mine.

I wouldn't want to put fish into very different water and I don't have the space etc to do a proper job of acclimatising fish ... perhaps someone more knowledgeable could give a heads up on this?

I found buying fish online to be very expensive , the fish cost £10 and the delivery (very well done packaging) cost £17. If I use them again I think I will order a lot more or more expensive fish. The fish themselves though tend to be cheaper than the lfs.

Miss Wiggle · Mar 7, 2008

generally i think people will try to find a reliable lfs, if you can find one the benefits are immesurable, for those of us unlucky enough to not have a decent lfs (or whose lfs while decent doesn't stock the fish the like) they'll use some of the reuptable internet/mail order shops above.

waterdrop · Mar 7, 2008

So how about internet fish shopping in the US? Any recommendations anyone?

-waterdrop-

kj23502 · Mar 7, 2008

Thatpetplace.com

Drs Foster and Smith live aquaria

i haven't ordered fish from any of these sites yet. I haven't needed to yet. I got mine off of ebay actually, because they didn't have the type of african cichlid i was looking for at the time. However, these two were recommended to me by my brother in law who's been keeping fish and ordering off the net for a long time!

I have these sites bookmarked in my fav list. Good luck with what you decide to do!!

here's another one fish on the net

hope that helps some! I have ordered fish products from drsfostersmith.com and that has been a good experience. I've called their company to ask questions and that was a good experience as well!

waterdrop · Mar 8, 2008

Thanks kj!

madjoker14 · Mar 8, 2008

yea thanks for the link in the usa, the shipping is a bit pricey but then again they are shipping live fishes

kj23502 · Mar 8, 2008

madjoker14 said:
yea thanks for the link in the usa, the shipping is a bit pricey but then again they are shipping live fishes

When I bought fish off ebay, shipping was $35. :crazy:

Basically they overnight them because they are live creatures that shouldn't be in the small bags for any longer than neccessary. I bought 15 fish like that and all arrived in good health and I haven't lost any.

One thing I made sure to do was check the water parameters in the bag before I put them in my tank. I also emptied the bags with fish into a clean container and scooped them out with the net and put them in like that. (i bought african cichlids and wanted to make sure the ph they were in was the same as my tank so it wouldn't shock and kill them). You may already know that, but I'm putting it in for the people that may not have thought of it. Do not dump the bag water into the tank! The water in the bags were blue from "bag buddies etc." that are used during shipping. The buddies are supposed to lessen the stress on the fish among other things. I'm planning on raising and then selling my african cichlid fry :wub: