Buying Fish Online ?

[Rotaripsnoc]

Since my LFS is poorly stocked, and I would prefer not to buy from chains due to Ich and such, I'm left with 2 options.

I can order the fish online directly, and hope they are not overly stressed, or dead when they arrive.
or
I can order through my LFS pay a markup to him for them, and have similar results as ordering directly.

Does anyone order online, have suggestions of sites, or have other solutions ?

Ultimately I will be turning our 60 gal into a Discus tank, but that's 6-12 months away.

Thanks in advance.

 

[FreshyFresh]

All of the threads I've read on mail-ordering fish are very positive. It seems the outfits who do this regularly have the packing and shipping down to a science.

Probably the easiest way to go if you want something specific.

 

[exhumed07]

I just ordered some apistos from my lfs. I worked out a deal with them as I usually do. a lot of times with either harder to keep fish or expensive fish an lfs will work with u if u try to breed them. I'm getting the apistos at cost which is close to 30 bucks a fish. and I'm going to try to breed them. I'll sell them to my lfs for say 5 to 10 bucks a fish. well say 5 a fish and I get 12 my first batch. my fish are now paid for and then my lfs has them to sell at say 15 to 20. they can sell cheaper then anyone else who gets them in. its a win win for both u and the lfs. that's how I've kept fish for 10 years with hardly paying a penny out of pocket. u work with them and they will work with u. to me its safer then ordering a living critter through the mail without ever knowing the sender or seeing the fish

 

[OrangeCones]

I'm getting the apistos at cost which is close to 30 bucks a fish.

What species of Apistogramma? Are they wild caught or captive-bred?

to me its safer then ordering a living critter through the mail without ever knowing the sender or seeing the fish

I agree that it is important to know the seller before ordering fish online. Except for a dozen Paracheirodon innesi (neon tetra) and one Farlowella vittata, every freshwater fish I've ever owned has been bought from an online seller, sight-unseen.

The only fish I had issues with was a group of 10 Otocinclus cocama that I bought from an exporter in Peru. They arrived with ich, and 2 died within 24 hours. The other 8 recovered fine. When I emailed photos of the fish still in the bag to the seller, they asked me to keep in touch as far as losses were concerned. I let them know, after a week, that I'd lost 2 in the first 24 hours, but the rest seemed to be recovering. They refunded me 20% of my total cost (including the shipping, which I was not expecting).

 

[exhumed07]

thats a good seller OC, i just am paranoid about buying offline. and i ordered the double red. the owner of the lfs said that he has orded them before years ago and they said double red but turned out to be triple reds. as for being wild or captive i don't know and neither does the owner of my lfs. i'm not sure where he orders his fish from. honestly i do hope captive for a couple reasons. i've heard captive fish are easier to breed and of course i don't want to help strip the natural areas of thier treasures. there is a guy i know who went to peru last year and netted a bunch of fish. they sifted through what they wanted and returned the rest to the water. think he came back with 20 cory cats, 6 angels, 3 apisto, and probably 20 other fish in total. at least he only took what he could house and didn't take every fish he could get like alot of other outfits. but u take 200 people a year just doing that and u could potentially destroy an ecosystem over time. thats something i realy don't want to help be a part of.

 

[OrangeCones]

i ordered the double red. the owner of the lfs said that he has orded them before years ago and they said double red but turned out to be triple reds. as for being wild or captive i don't know and neither does the owner of my lfs.

'Double Red' is not a species. Just in doing a websearch, I can find two species: Apistogramma agassizi and Apistogramma cacatuoides. Is it one of those?

As for being wild or captive-bred, it is definately captive-bred. The 'double red' description is a man-made variety, done by inbreeding over many generations for a specific color or color pattern.

i've heard captive fish are easier to breed

From my own fishkeeping experience, I've found that captive-bred fish are usually easier to acclimate to captive conditions vs. wild-caught fish. However, breeding is much easier with wild-caught fish as long as you give them the correct living arrangements. Some captive-bred fish, depending on what inbreeding has been done and for how many generations, lose the 'instincts' to procreate successfully. Some can only be induced to spawn artificially by using hormones.

 

[exhumed07]

it's the apistogramma cacatuoides.
Also my experiences with breeding fish is pretty much exclusive to african cichlids. i don't have much experience with south american cichlids or south american fish in general. so i'm just going by things i have read online. which alot of those things u read online can be hit or miss lol

 

[OrangeCones]

Most of my fish are from South America or Asia currently.

I'm going to try breeding some Mikrogeophagus ramirezi as soon as I can find some at a decent price.

 

[exhumed07]

I'm looking forward to trying to breed my apistogramma. need to make some breeding caves though and hope they use them. think i'll use my 20 gallon as a grow out tank. been reading about how i can transfer my females with her eggs to another tank for them to grow up without any fear of being stressed or eaten.