Where to buy fish ?

[freshcichlid]

living in the middle of know-where put me in a hard spot because there are no stores within an hour from me that sell fish. the closest store that selld fish is trying to tell me that Demasoni usually go for $20 and thats a good deal.. im not buyin it ! yellow labs are about 15$, little high i think as well. my only option is to order online and shipping to me is $40 min. I am stuck with a hard option, either buy expensive fish or pay a lot for shipping. OR Atlanta, GA is about 1.5 hours away, is there a way that i can purchase fish in atlanta and drive them home myself or will they die in a car for at least 1.5hours ?
please help i dont know what to do !

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

1.5hrs is fine, idealy you want to get the fish in your tank and acclimatised within 2hrs although its fine to take up to 3-4hrs as i have done this in the past and had no problems- just make sure the fish are in a nice dark secure place in the car where they are not going to get bumped around and to have the tank completely ready for their arival when they get to your place; do a water change in the tank earlier on in the day to make sure water quality is top notch and to turn the tank lights off for the rest of the day while the fish are acclimatising in the tank and settling in as this will lower their stress levels. Also if you are getting quite a few fish, try to make the staff at the store put as few fish per bag in to help keep them less stressed .

 

[camshaft]

good info tokis, i have wondered about this as well.

 

[tttnjfttt]

I have also asked for the fish to be put in a larger bag with more air in the bag to help keep the oxygen levels up. Just give the LPS/LFS heads up that you are going to be traveling 1.5 hours. Also, try to avoid hitting rush hour, or having buying anything else that will need your immediate attention once you get home.

 

[freshcichlid]

what about a cooler, filled half way with more room for them and with ore air ?

 

[tttnjfttt]

I'd still use bags, incase the cooler were to tip over (some of the smaller ones I have can do this). Also, you have to make sure the cooler is VERY VERY VERY clean. Coolers are good to put fish in so they will be in the dark for the ride home, and a fairly stable place too.

 

[shuhu]

about the oxygen levels... some LFS put your fish in these extra tall bags, make sure the bag is filled with like 1/3 of water and the rest with air, if possible more. And the cooler containers are a must.

 

[steelhealr]

FYI...sometimes (not always) the total price of the fish off the internet maybe less with shipping than the cost of the same fish from an lfs. If a long drive is a hassle, call them up and ask them what they charge for the fish you want. Liveaquaria.com has done extremely well by me. The shipping charge is about $26 for overnite but they guarantee the fish for 14 days. Never got a dead fish so far. In fact, I have some from them coming up on a year alive and well. Just an option if you get stuck. SH

 

[camshaft]

how do they "ship" fish?

 

[fish_r_great]

They put the fish in bags with oxygen in them and then usually cover them with newspaper to keep it dark. In winter they have heat packs for if its very cold. Ten after the fish are snug in the box the ship it overnight to you.

 

[fish_r_great]

Liveaquaria and Foster & Smith are great I've ordered from there before too. I work at F&S so I may be biased but maybe not.