Is ordering fish online a good idea or not?

[Lavender]

So, I might be about to order a betta (Or possibly two) online from a shop in the US, Prism Bettas. They are both beautiful bettas, both with a extremely rare color pattern that I can’t find in my four local fish stores. I have separate quarantine tanks set up and cycled for both. One, the male, will be going into his own tank, but the female will be going in my 75 gallon community tank (Was supposed to be a Amazon river biotope…but whatever, she’s a cutie.) I plan to overnight them to my area. The shop where they come from is about six hours away, but my parents won’t drive there just so I can get a betta. I’ll be checking out petsmart in the morning, just to make sure I can’t find anyone I like more there, but I think I’ll likely be getting my bettas from this shop. Any insights on shipping the fish? I’m really worried, and these bettas are both very beautiful, and very rare, so it’s a huge thing if they are DOA.

Edited June 19, 2023 by Lavender

[Root]

It really depends. This is one of those things where you will have to do research and confirm that the source you’re wanting these fish from is reputable. There are some awesome online fish stores that go above and beyond and some really bad ones that don’t. When I purchase fish online, I typically look at reviews from within the website. Once I do that, I Google them to see if there are reviews anywhere else. I might even look at forums to see if they are mentioned there as well. You also have to keep in mind that shipping in general can be the hardest obstacle. If the online fish store does well, the shipping service might not, or bad or extreme weather could have a negative effect. There are many risks, but at the end of the day, make sure they love their fish as much as you do. Try to make sure there’s a dead on arrival policy or that they are willing to make it up somehow if everything is up to their policy.

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

It’s rare to have a debacle but they happen. A good retailer will make it right. A poor one blames you and then ghosts you. In general, my online experiences are with retailers with long term reputations- when I lived in a state other than Washington it’s been Aquahuna, The Wet Spot, and then with people who have years of experience selling on Aquabid or by word of mouth on here or other forums. I wish you luck. I say go for it and I hope it’s a fun and happy experience! 

[Beckybettas]

Ive bought several bettas from Prism and they have all been very colorful and active little characters. I did have one terrible experience tho but it was not Prisms fault at all. I had purchased a rare wild female sorority and was expecting them to be delivered the next morning as the tracking info showed them to be at a facility just 30 miles away. They didnt arrive, I should have called but I had covid and was in no shape to drive to pick them up. They arrived the next morning in a cold box and were DOA. I was heart broken. She did give me a prompt refund for the fish and shipping. Like Root said check their feed back. I would buy fish online only if they were sent overnight and follow the tracking info closely. I have bought 4 from Prism and they arrived very healthy and beautiful, just like their pictures. There is another online fish store that I wont buy from again as they arrive healthy than slowly die off and I have major probs in one tank right now with them.

Buying online is pretty much the only way for me to get fish. Nearest box stores are 30 to 60 miles and they are iffy. Nearest FS is 60 miles and every time I go they have several tanks with sick or dying fish.

 

 

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/18/2023 at 8:13 PM, Lavender said:

both with a extremely rare color pattern that I can’t find in my four local fish stores.

One of the biggest things people don't really understand sometimes is what is available. 

95-99% of the "top 5 fish for" or "top 10 fish for" videos you see online, I literally do not have them available locally.

I was right where you are and I was someone who would buy poor quality / sick fish and treat them with meds and get them healthy just for the sake of trying to get something fun.  I would drive to the local store weekly and just try to find out what on earth they had available from the shipment that week.  Weeks, months of checking in, even after the pandemic, I still see the same few fish species and it's extremely rare for me to find something that is of interest.  It's bad when "variety" comes in terms of the number of glo-fish species and the tanks themselves are lack luster.  One of the shops I have locally that is what I consider to be the top tier show consists of something like 15 tanks.

half of those tanks are salt, and then of the remaining tanks 3-4 of them are feeder fish with another 2-3 of them glo-fish.  this leaves betta cups, a snail tank, and 2-3 tanks with actual fish of interest to me.  And I'm not asking for the world, but I can't even get a barb or a tetra sometimes.  I can get so many different cichlids and it's the same ones you see all the time, but that isn't a fish I want to toss in a community setup.

Long story short, I have zero issue paying the cost of shipping to get a fish that I am happy to have.  I would rather have quality, selection, and even a cheaper price at times for the sake of having what I want as opposed to the time and energy hoping the local shop has something that one random time.

The one time they brought in SAEs, man, I swear it was Christmas. 😂

On 6/18/2023 at 8:13 PM, Lavender said:

Any insights on shipping the fish? I’m really worried, and these bettas are both very beautiful, and very rare, so it’s a huge thing if they are DOA.

If they are DOA, that is the sellers issue and they usually will make it right.  The main concern is your setup on your side to receive the fish and get them acclimated and comfortable.

[gardenman]

They should do fine in shipping. Bettas are pretty tough little fish and can breathe air which increases their survival chances. Many wholesalers ship the bettas in very, very little water. Check out some betta unboxing videos on YouTube. Bettas are often packed in very small bags with as little water as possible, but oxygen to breathe and they do fine. 

[Beckybettas]

@Lavender

which ones are you getting?

[Lavender]

The female is a very nice betta they’ve called “Blacklight”, with a black body and blue fins. Looks almost…glowy. Very, very beautiful fish. The male is a mustard gas betta with a strange light coloration that I really love and can’t find outside of the Thai fish sellers. His tail looks almost…blond instead of the regular yellow and his scales are shimmery, but as far as I can tell, he’s not a pastel, because the look is too light. I have no plans to breed either Betta: it would be a nightmare to find females and males for both and then house them. The shops around me are one non-chain store that mostly carries saltwater fish and cichlids, one Petco, and two Petsmarts.

It’s good to know the shop is trustworthy. 

[Lavender]

On 6/19/2023 at 3:15 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

One of the biggest things people don't really understand sometimes is what is available. 

95-99% of the "top 5 fish for" or "top 10 fish for" videos you see online, I literally do not have them available locally.

I was right where you are and I was someone who would buy poor quality / sick fish and treat them with meds and get them healthy just for the sake of trying to get something fun.  I would drive to the local store weekly and just try to find out what on earth they had available from the shipment that week.  Weeks, months of checking in, even after the pandemic, I still see the same few fish species and it's extremely rare for me to find something that is of interest.  It's bad when "variety" comes in terms of the number of glo-fish species and the tanks themselves are lack luster.  One of the shops I have locally that is what I consider to be the top tier show consists of something like 15 tanks.

half of those tanks are salt, and then of the remaining tanks 3-4 of them are feeder fish with another 2-3 of them glo-fish.  this leaves betta cups, a snail tank, and 2-3 tanks with actual fish of interest to me.  And I'm not asking for the world, but I can't even get a barb or a tetra sometimes.  I can get so many different cichlids and it's the same ones you see all the time, but that isn't a fish I want to toss in a community setup.

Long story short, I have zero issue paying the cost of shipping to get a fish that I am happy to have.  I would rather have quality, selection, and even a cheaper price at times for the sake of having what I want as opposed to the time and energy hoping the local shop has something that one random time.

The one time they brought in SAEs, man, I swear it was Christmas. 😂

If they are DOA, that is the sellers issue and they usually will make it right.  The main concern is your setup on your side to receive the fish and get them acclimated and comfortable.

I see the same…half the store is salt, and I love salt, don’t get me wrong, but rarely anyone can house those things and they sit there for years on end. And they’re not even cheaper. They’ve just sat there. And some of them are extremely creepy-looking and/or get huge, like the massive blue fish they have that has sat there for a year that has tiny teeth in its mouth. Then they’ve got this tank full of cichlids, which encompasses half the freshwater section. Not even easy cichlids many people keep…they’ve got oscars and African cichlids and stuff. The very last section of the store is bettas and tetras, otherwise known as the common stuff people like to keep. The tetras are mostly random things you can buy from petsmart, plus Rummynose tetras. The bettas…they’ve got a bunch of fancy long-finned females, which is great, but like…how many people do you think are making a sorority in a tiny town? Otherwise, they have plakats and regular-colored bettas. No halfmoons, ever. I’ve only ever seen deltatail and plakat. The rest is one large koi tank, a beautiful angelfish display with some random electric blue Acara in it (why?), and a weird little 2 gallon cube where they’ve stored a bunch of random inverts, kuhli loaches, plecos, and otos. 
 

I’ve got two quarantine tanks set up for each of them. The female will likely stay in hers (I put silk plants in all my quarantine tanks, so she has hides and such) until my 75 gallon is mostly finished and I’m ready to put her in. The male will stay for the regular time period of six weeks there and then go in his tank, which is a 5 gal Iwagumi (Giant hairgrass in the back as cover.)

Edited June 19, 2023 by Lavender

[Beckybettas]

On 6/19/2023 at 9:18 AM, Lavender said:

The female is a very nice betta they’ve called “Blacklight”, with a black body and blue fins. Looks almost…glowy. Very, very beautiful fish. The male is a mustard gas betta with a strange light coloration that I really love 

It’s good to know the shop is trustworthy. 

I think I know which ones.....they are lovely.....how exciting! Good luck with them!