Shipping fish: How far is too far?

[Patrick M. Bodega Aquatics]

Hello everyone,

 

I am looking to buy some new fish from California. The location is 600 miles away from where I live and the farthest I've bought from was 300 miles away. What is your rule of thumb of how far is too far? And how far have you bought from before? Thanks!

[Daniel]

Distance is not the most important concern when it comes to shipping fish.

I live in North Carolina and I have purchased fish from Washington State and California and they have arrived in just as good shape as fish from sellers 1 state over from me.

Washington State is 2700 hundreds miles away from if I took I-90.

And if you are concerned about how long the fish will be in the shipping process, then overnight is overnight no matter where the seller is located.

What is more important than the distance of the seller is the quality and experience of the seller.

[WicketTheRat]

I have fish sitting in a tank next to me that were born on Bangkok, Thailand.  I am in Las Vegas, Nevada.  The weather, how they are packed and the reliability of your shipping method mean more than distance.  If you trust the seller I would say go for it!

[FrostiesFishes]

3 days it’s the max I like to deal with. But as I get more and more headaches from shipping. I almost always pay for next day. And I stopped selling fish under 50 bucks it seems at that number people are more willing to be pay the overnight shipping . 

[Patrick M. Bodega Aquatics]

Since the place I will be buying from gives next day delivery, I'll likely go with that. Thanks for the info!

[Andy's Fish Den]

The most important thing is how the fish are bagged up and packaged. If they are shipped correctly fish can be shipped to the other side of the globe with no issues.