online fish stores

[briscott]

I have never bought a fish online before but i am now thinking of trying. I am having trouble keeping fish from the lps and i would like to know what is the best online store to order from or if it is a good idea to buy fish online. any inf would help me out thank you.

 

[musty baby]

Better slow down. You're having trouble finding fish at the LPS, or trouble keeping them alive?

 

[musty baby]

Good god, I, too, just typed LPS. LFS!

 

[briscott]

i am having trouble keeping the fish that i buy from the local fish store. it is not my tank becouse i have bought from another store and the fish are still alive but ever time i buy a fish from this store the fish die within a week or two.

 

[hookdonreefs]

I have had great experience with saltwaterfish.com. I ordered lots of stuff from there and it always looked great. Corals and fish are top notch.

 

[KDodds]

Why not just buy from the other store then? IME, there's no substitute for hand-picking fish (or corals) from a trusted LFS. When one of the prime rules for purchase is "see it eat", I have a very hard time justifying on-line fish purchases.

 

[delor]

I agree with KDodds... I like to be able to physically inspect my fish before paying for them. At my LFS, I usually pick one out and have them hold it for an extra week just to besure that it is doing ok (even though he QTs all incoming fish for a few weeks first).

 

[simonmr]

if you reall want to do online I have had good sucess with marinedepotlive.com

 

[bureau13]

I've had good success with both saltwaterfish.com and www.vividaquariums.com. I too prefer to hand-pick my fish, at least in theory, but I think I've actually had on average better luck with the online stuff, strange as that may seem.

jds

 

[KDodds]

It can go both ways, certainly, and a lot depends on the LFS and the quality of the fish they bring in, and the quality of care thereafter. My results are drastically opposite. From my LFS, I've had exactly one death, and that was a fish that was not feeding and returned because it never fed. I though I'd try to rescue it, to no avail. That probably puts the DOA rate from my LFS around 1% or less. OTOH, when I did buy fish online, which I haven't done seriously for quite some time with the exception of one fish (DOA in 24 hours, I should learn my lesson, right), about 3 or 4 years ago, the mortality rate within the first few days was horrendous, and the DOA rate was no better. Counting "replacements" for "guaranteed" fish, the mortality was greater than 60%. Some fish actually shipped with various maladies, including fungus growth in place of a missing pectoral fin in one case. The only online fish vendor I had good experiences with was The Marine Center, but they cater mostly to rarities.