Mail Order Fish Places?

[drwonga]

Hello all!

I was curious if anybody knew of reputable mail order sources for freshwater fish. Thanks!

[Sponsors]

[lauraleellbp]

www.franksaquarium.com; never used them myself but I've never heard a single bad thing so far, and they stock some nice and often unusual species.

[mgamer20o0]

what kind of fish? i also heard many good things about franks aquarium.

[ZooTycoonMaster]

Yeah, but their shipping is like $35 -_-

Try LiveAquaria.com or AquariumLivestock.com

[GreenThumbing]

I have ordered from www.thatfishplace.com several times, very low overnight shipping prices and their fish are top notch! THey even have biologists on staff to help you if you need it. I requested 1 male and 5 females of a typeof fish and got it no issues.

[drwonga]

I was looking for some dwarf rasboras, and pygmy corys...Thanks for the info, I'll check out franks aquarium!

[moogoo]

Originally Posted by ZooTycoonMaster

Yeah, but their shipping is like $35 -_-

Try LiveAquaria.com or AquariumLivestock.com

Liveaquaria is also $35 overnight shipping :P

I'm placing an order for some microrasboras from franksaquarium. I'm waiting for him to get more in so he can fill my order.

I personally would not order from thatfishplace because I've been to the actual store and I'm assuming that's where they get their stock to fill their orders. The tanks at the store, although plentiful, are not very well kept. The staff are a bunch of high school students just looking to make a buck working at the local fish store. Most, if not all of them, know little to nothing. I once saw an employee try to catch a fish for a customer (who was a friend, I think). She couldn't catch it properly with the net so she eventually cornered it and pinned it up against the glass. It was done with a little laughter and smile on her face, as she pulled the net away to see the fish now had a broken/crooked spine and was surely on its way to its death. She just laughed it off, and went for another one. I vowed never to purchase fish at that store after seeing such reckless abandon for the lives of the fish. But that's just me.

[GreenThumbing]

Originally Posted by moogoo

Liveaquaria is also $35 overnight shipping :P

I'm placing an order for some microrasboras from franksaquarium. I'm waiting for him to get more in so he can fill my order.

I personally would not order from thatfishplace because I've been to the actual store and I'm assuming that's where they get their stock to fill their orders. The tanks at the store, although plentiful, are not very well kept. The staff are a bunch of high school students just looking to make a buck working at the local fish store. Most, if not all of them, know little to nothing. I once saw an employee try to catch a fish for a customer (who was a friend, I think). She couldn't catch it properly with the net so she eventually cornered it and pinned it up against the glass. It was done with a little laughter and smile on her face, as she pulled the net away to see the fish now had a broken/crooked spine and was surely on its way to its death. She just laughed it off, and went for another one. I vowed never to purchase fish at that store after seeing such reckless abandon for the lives of the fish. But that's just me.

Hmmm, I never went there, but I have had great success with mail ordering fish from them, all were healthy and very well packed and the shipping for overnight was only $27.00

[JustOneMore21]

Another vote for Franks, especially if you are looking for microrasboras and pygmy cories. If the shipping is less than $35, Frank will refund you the extra. He's really great to deal with. I've ordered from him twice. His packing is great and he has good quality stock. Highly recommended!

[lauraleellbp]

www.oddballfish.com has a pretty good rep; especially with cichlids and rainbows.

[waterfaller1]

www.franksaquarium.com all the way! Shipping on fish that are treated, qt'd and are more rare types, is well worth it to insure they arrive overnight. To me. Maybe drwonga needs to make a road trip out to the island..

[Blue Ridge Reef]

I'll second Oddball. Liveaquaria has been a little more hit or miss for me. Once you factor in shipping, you really need to be dropping some coin to make a mail order worthwhile. I bet most of you live near an LFS that will special order for you at a cheaper price if you pick it up out of the box. Liveaquaria sells some stuff for more than my retail selling price, be sure to shop around. Edit, after a brief look at Frank's all of his stock that I carry appears to be more expensive than I sell it for, too.

[waterfaller1]

Originally Posted by Blue Ridge Reef

Edit, after a brief look at Frank's all of his stock that I carry appears to be more expensive than I sell it for, too.

You own an lfs? See for me, the problem is >0< cool freshwater stores in the area. And none that will special order in tiny fish, I tried. Most of the LFS are big chains. And the one I thought for sure would work with me, said " I won't carry little fish like that because they will get lost in my system".
I have worked at a sw LFS for years until recently, and I'm still sort of a fixture there. Still though even with that, I have ordered from Serdar & Live Aquaria, and others, when I was looking for something I could not find here at the wholesalers'. And as far as us ordering anything from the fw side of the wholesaler's~here you have to be willing to spend several hundred dollars worth on the fw side, before they will accomodate you along with your sw order.

[Blue Ridge Reef]

Originally Posted by waterfaller1

You own an lfs? See for me, the problem is >0< cool freshwater stores in the area. And none that will special order in tiny fish, I tried. Most of the LFS are big chains. And the one I thought for sure would work with me, said " I won't carry little fish like that because they will get lost in my system".

The kicker is buying it straight out of the box, and pick it up the day it comes in. If the store doesn't have to do anything but call you and say "Your fish are here," they shouldn't care what is in the box or how small it is! I think SuperPetz and some of the chains have a policy against that -or at least their price is the SAME as if you bought it out of their tank. But every Mom and Pop store around here (including mine) will special order for a nominal charge.