Pros and Cons of buying fish online

[Rewcolee1]

Hi all,

 I’m looking for some advice here. I’ve never purchased fish online so given the cost I’m a little hesitant about it. I’m not looking for anything “fancy” per say, tetras, maybe some pea puffers and pleco’s. 
 I’m considering this because my “local”, 1hr each way LFS, has been very limited in stocking options with no end in sight. Any good or bad experiences that can be shared would be appreciated.

Located in North East Ohio if that helps.

[DiscusLover]

On 3/24/2023 at 7:32 PM, Rewcolee1 said:

Hi all,

 I’m looking for some advice here. I’ve never purchased fish online so given the cost I’m a little hesitant about it. I’m not looking for anything “fancy” per say, tetras, maybe some pea puffers and pleco’s. 
 I’m considering this because my “local”, 1hr each way LFS, has been very limited in stocking options with no end in sight. Any good or bad experiences that can be shared would be appreciated.

Located in North East Ohio if that helps.

Every website that sells fish has pros and cons, a tip I would give is to search up reviews of the website on forums or Reddit posts and see how people rate it. Most of the time websites selling fish are always great, I have ordered fish multiple times and never got a DOA, there are DOAs for some people's cases but know that refund is always there. A con is that the fish might not be well suited to your water, assuming you use your tap, some fish might acclimate not well and fall apart, that's why it's always recommended to buy fish from lfs since they are more acclimated to your waters.

Edited March 25, 2023 by DiscusLover

[lefty o]

buy from a reputable source, and still consider its like rolling the dice. just like buying from a local shop, you could get sick fish.

[Kendall’s Aquarium]

Aquabid, getgills are great sources as well. Just make sure to pay attention to the sellers and read reviews 

[Rewcolee1]

@rockfisher a big thanks for the thoughtful and detailed response.

@Kendall’s Aquarium @lefty o @DiscusLover Thank you as well. 
 

 I haven’t been on this forum all that long, but this community where everyone is willing to help out other fish keepers is really amazing.

[nabokovfan87]

On 3/24/2023 at 7:32 PM, Rewcolee1 said:

 I’m looking for some advice here. I’ve never purchased fish online so given the cost I’m a little hesitant about it.

Pro (adv. of shipped fish):
-better genetics (assumed, probably likely)
-better quality (depends what is available locally)
-less steps / stress on the fish
-potentially better care
-better options (selection)

Cons (adv. of local fish):
-cost (less shipping)
-you get to see the fish
-potentially in your water parameters
-limited options based on shop size/specialty

The biggest thing to keep in mind is that you generally don't get to choose how a fish is shipped. You do get to choose what is shipped....

You might trust yourself to get a fish home locally much better than you do the postal worker, but that's all relative.  You might trust the local shop to pack things better than the box arriving on your doorstep.  There is a lot of variability in either situation.  Based on what's available to me, I order online now.

[Cinnebuns]

On 3/24/2023 at 11:13 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

less steps / stress on the fish

This is one I see people miss all of the time. I've seen people say "I don't want to order online because the fish get stressed while shipping."  Uh...how do you think the store gets them? Lol. It's actually LESS stress for you to order them than to get from a store. 

[jwcarlson]

I have bought a mix to populate my fish room.  Things hard to get locally, I have shipped.  My discus, my apistos, my CPDs... 

Locally, we have a pretty good store an hour away.  I had bad luck initially with his fish, but once I went to plop and drop the only fish I have lost was one kerri tetra when I clipped the bag and it zipped the tear completely around the circumference and dropped down into the catch bucket.  One got crushed.  Can't really blame that on fish quality. 

Plus they are also an ACO partner store, which is really awesome.  For one offs I hit the local store, but if I am buying something bigger or plants I order from the Co-Op online. 

[Guppysnail]

On 3/24/2023 at 11:36 PM, rockfisher said:

. I love places I can buy from actually people. Aquabid is good. I have done well on eBay but not everyone does. I have the most issue buy from some of the bigger companies on line.

I completely agree with this. My experience is buying from people the person bagging is the one who has to deal with you if there is a problem and often the one who raised them. 
Dealing with companies it’s a production line with a few noteable exceptions. There are 2 larger places that I trust. 
I recommend overnight shipping. 
 

[Goosedub]

On 3/25/2023 at 6:39 AM, Guppysnail said:

I completely agree with this. My experience is buying from people the person bagging is the one who has to deal with you if there is a problem and often the one who raised them. 
Dealing with companies it’s a production line with a few noteable exceptions. There are 2 larger places that I trust. 
I recommend overnight shipping. 
 

IMO, shipping fish, overnight shipping doesn’t have significantly better survival rates than priority. It is just an additional expense. If a fish is packed well, it will last 2 days or 3-4 days. If it is not, it won’t make it to the destination intact. I have done a lot of learning shipping fish out and the most important factors are:

1. Insulate the box (obviously)

2. Be careful about the amount of fish you put in each bag. I try to do 3 small fish maximum in a bag. 1 medium fish. If you stick too many in a bag, they will not survive no matter how long they are in transit. This is the major limiter with overnight shipping. It is based on weight and more bags equals more cost. So overnight is fine if you are shipping one-3 small fish, but after that it is very cost prohibitive. 
 

3. Heat pack for cold temperatures 

Following these, fish generally ship pretty well 

[jwcarlson]

I don't disagree that fish can survive a lot of time in shipment, but would challenge that you shouldn't ship as quickly as you can if possible. 

While 2 or 3 days isn't a big deal, what if it's delayed a day?  Or sits in a hot warehouse for a whole day?  Or takes an extra day and ends up sitting over a weekend somewhere? Overnight shipping helps eliminate so many of those problems.  

I haven't shipped any fish, but I have shipped a number of queen honey bees.  Transit time and conditions makes a huge difference for bees.  Differences that cannot be seen with the naked eye.  My assumption would be it is similar in fish, though perhaps not with as many reproductive ramifications as it has with honey bee queens as it can lead to sterility, decreased pheromone production, and ultimately death or rejection as a result. 

There are quite affordable overnight options, I had apistos overnighted for $35 a few months ago.  Is it worth saving $20 to risk it?  Nah. Usually the overnight services have more reliable delivery times/schedules as well.  

Edited March 26, 2023 by jwcarlson

[Lennie]

I have never ordered fish online, only snails and shrimp. So I better not comment on that one.

The things I would like to mention about buying from an LFS or a local breeder is, you have a chance to observe to fish yourself. I think that is really important. 
 

Also I believe in bonding moments happening with animals. I always connect better with the fish and snails I buy in person. 
 

Another thing is, every single time I decide to increase my stocking or start a new tank, my plans change once I enter the store. Fish in videos and pictures online versus fish irl changes a lot. Their vibe and look differs a lot, in my opinion. And I am not talking about colors per se, as they are subject to change at home with better conditions. 

I found whiptails ugly. I never thought of keeping rams. Rosy barbs seemed unattractive to me, as well as black emperor tetras. When I saw them all in the store irl, my decision directly changed. 
It happened in the opposite direction too. I thought I would like dwarf rasboras for example, but I found out that they are not something I am looking for when I saw them irl.

 

 

Edited March 25, 2023 by Lennie

[Goosedub]

On 3/25/2023 at 10:18 AM, jwcarlson said:

I don't disagree that fish can survive a lot of time in shipment, but would challenge that you shouldn't ship as quickly as you can if possible. 

While 2 or 3 days isn't a big deal, what if it's delayed a day?  Or sits in a hot warehouse for a whole day?  Or takes an extra day and ends up sitting over a weekend somewhere? Overnight shipping helps eliminate so many of those problems.  

I haven't shipped any fish, but I have shipped a number of queen honey bees.  Transit time and conditions makes a huge difference for bees.  Differences that cannot be seen with the naked eye.  My assumption would be it is similar in fish, though perhaps not with as many reproductive ramifications as it has with honey bee queens as it can lead to sterility, decreased pheromone production, and ultimately death or rejection as a result. 

There are quite affordable overnight options, I had apistos overnighted for $35 a few months ago.  Is it worth saving $20 to risk it?  Nah. Usually the overnight services have more reliable delivery times/schedules as well.  

Sure, overnight has more wiggle room for things to go wrong and the fish be ok. Honestly, Indont know how people ship overnight for $35. If I could do that, it is all I would do but when I have tried overnight with USPS, the cost is about $65 for me (I suppose if I was shipping a couple small fish I could get it as low at $56) as opposed to $17 for a medium flat rate box. That’s a big difference 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

I am happy to provide some resources to purchase online DM me on the forum. I don’t dispute the experiences and knowledge above, loads of excellent points. I first received shipped fish around 2008 when I got a group of shell dwellers on Aquabid mileagris I think. 15 years later I receive most of my plants and occasionally fish through online sources and still use Aquabid - ironically it still looks the same and that’s a frequent criticism but I suppose if it ain’t broke and all that. I’ve also bought through pages on Facebook and Reddit. I’d highly recommend finding your closest club and attending their annual auction the quality and value will be excellent. Many people in Washington state join our club in Seattle to come to our 2 annual auctions which is totally worth it. 

Welcome to the forum. Have fun. 

[anewbie]

On 3/24/2023 at 10:13 PM, Kendall’s Aquarium said:

Aquabid, getgills are great sources as well. Just make sure to pay attention to the sellers and read reviews 

I consider these awful sources UNLESS you are familiar with the seller; this also true for ebay as none of these sites are the actual store - but 'warehouses' of stores and the quality depends on the individual seller or store.

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A lot of generic things are being said but you need context:

over night vs priority - depends on species and temp - and size of fish. In some cases overnight is mandatory and other an extra expense.

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As to buying local or mail-order - in part money can play a role - but it also depends on the quality of your local store. I rather buy from a reliable place via mail order than unreliable place locally.

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I can't remember if we are allowed to list specific stores on this site so i will play it safe and not give you my list of reliable stores - but all the reliable one shipping is between $40 and $65 and they only send overnight. 

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I know we can mention aquahuana - and i will say over all the quality of their stock is a bit lacking compare to the first tier stores - but for simple stuff like tetra, barbs and such that are a dime of a dozen they are ok - their fishes have been disease free; they have cheap shipping and good prices. However for rare species, cichild, or fishes or 'substance' (i.e, not dither or groupie) i won't use them any longer - the quality has been disappointing over-all. Too many runts/ammonia burn or similar issues. I can give some direct comparison but to do so i would have to mention the alternative store and i don't think that is allowed here. Having said that i would use aquahuana for stuff like cheap tetra, barbs, rasbora, ... they are inexpensive enough that a few duds of defects isn't a big deal.

[Rewcolee1]

@anewbie great feedback. Thank you.