Shipping fish
- Thread starter honeybee105
- Start date
A
Well actually, I dont think its that bad. If you think about it the suppliers have to ship them to your LFS. So as long as you choose a good supplier and they ship them well insulated then what do you have to loose, they are only then shipping it to you in stead of the store down the road. Although I have never ordered fish this way. Where I live esp. this time of the year the weather is just to unpredictible and the chances of a flight being cancled are high thus the possibliliy of loosing the fish are high. Just check out the supplier, see what kind of guarantee they have on shipping fish. Maybe someone else here may be able to recomend a supplier.
Good luck
Johnmac
Good luck
Johnmac
Oh, the wonderful joys of shipping fish. Yes, they come to your LFS in little styrofoam insulated carbord boxes with one or two heat packs, in plastic bags of water, about a dozen to a bag depending upon species...
If you do wish to order from somewhere online, there are many things to take into consideration. The foremost is the weather. I once had a shipment of fish delayed by bad weather, the fish sat in FedEx and arrived to me nearly dead and ice cold. Not only will bad weather delay fish, but here right now, it is freezing, and fish that are improperly packed will definately suffer waiting to be picked up.
The first thing you'd want to do is make sure you use an overnight service, counter to counter. Yes it means you'll be inconvienced having to pick your fish up, but it's better than having UPS abuse it. Also will cost more.
Make sure you can get in touch with your seller -directly-. That means be able to email the person who will be handling your fish. Inquire as to how they pack the fish, if they use any meds in the bag (yes fish are given an anestetic when shipped), what courier they use, heat packs, etc. If they can't answer this, don't trust them.
Shipping fish is expensive. You might buy a one dollar fish on line, and pay thirty to get it shipped to you properly. The best thing you can do is find a LFS that might be willing to order it from a repudible wholesaler for you. You might have to put a deposit on the fish and guarentee to buy it depending upon expense (That's what I'm arranging to do with an LFS near me for a Zebra Pleco, which my wholesalers don't offer). Or just keep crusing the shops. Season does have a lot to do with fish availability, some fish onle "come into season" at certain times of the year based on breeding or import influxes.
~~Colesea
If you do wish to order from somewhere online, there are many things to take into consideration. The foremost is the weather. I once had a shipment of fish delayed by bad weather, the fish sat in FedEx and arrived to me nearly dead and ice cold. Not only will bad weather delay fish, but here right now, it is freezing, and fish that are improperly packed will definately suffer waiting to be picked up.
The first thing you'd want to do is make sure you use an overnight service, counter to counter. Yes it means you'll be inconvienced having to pick your fish up, but it's better than having UPS abuse it. Also will cost more.
Make sure you can get in touch with your seller -directly-. That means be able to email the person who will be handling your fish. Inquire as to how they pack the fish, if they use any meds in the bag (yes fish are given an anestetic when shipped), what courier they use, heat packs, etc. If they can't answer this, don't trust them.
Shipping fish is expensive. You might buy a one dollar fish on line, and pay thirty to get it shipped to you properly. The best thing you can do is find a LFS that might be willing to order it from a repudible wholesaler for you. You might have to put a deposit on the fish and guarentee to buy it depending upon expense (That's what I'm arranging to do with an LFS near me for a Zebra Pleco, which my wholesalers don't offer). Or just keep crusing the shops. Season does have a lot to do with fish availability, some fish onle "come into season" at certain times of the year based on breeding or import influxes.
~~Colesea
I've seen fish shipped. My friend is as local tropical fish wholesaler to the surrounding LFS's. Make sure who ever ships your fish packs & insulates it properly. The packaging box should state livestock contained within on the outside & the exact temperature ranges to keep it at. Also make sure to get it ASAP, try earliest delivery times. I've seen many fish come in packed from outside the U.S. that don't exactly come immediately and the fish are fine. Bettas (Siamese Fighters) come in small plastic triangle bags smaller than a baseball, usually 75 fish per box, from Thailand, and always arrive alive. Discus on the other hand come in about 3 to 4 small to medium sizes in a 2x2 foot box in foam insulation. And my friend never takes them out of the bag. Only opens it to exchange air, change small amounts of water & feed them. They stay in there for at least a week! After that, then they're transferred to a 20 gallon tank if there are not sold yet. One of the things that generally harms them during shipping, is the lack of biological filtration. They mostly die of ammonia poisoning, & ammonia gill & fin burns. So depending on the company you order from, if they ship alot of fish to wholesalers, they they should arrive OK, just make sure your there to get them. *thumbsupsmiley*