susitna-flower

OM.......What a pleasure! I'm in trouble now, my MTS is out of control!!!

This week for the first time I bid on fish through Aquabid, and won two auctions.....Which in turn started the whole process of contacting the sellers and arranging for shipment etc.....

Living in Alaska poses all sorts of questions and problems in that it can take longer to get packages. But I just want to report, BOTH of the sellers were a total pleasure to work with, one shipped USPS Express, the other FEDEX. Both shipped out Wed. and I had them in hand by 3:00 pm Thursday. Both packed expertly, and all fish but one made it. Both had shipped extra fish, and I feel very well taken care of. I plan to buy more fish this way, and am only sorry some folks placing fish for sale this way will only sell to the Continental US. My experience now tells me it is possible to get fish safely as long as I am willing to pay the express price, and I will always be willing to take the loss if one does occur, but would also like at least the chance to have some of the lovely fish that are only available to me by purchasing in this way.

Now I have to look for more tanks!

Fish in the Frozen North

armadillo

That's fantastic, Sutsina! So... Definitely something to look into, hey.

AlisonChristine

Well, that's really good to hear, actually... Buying inanimate things online worries me enough that buying living things online isn't even something I've looked in to.

susitna-flower

I understand your concern, but where I live everything has to be shipped in. The Local Fish Store has one knowledgable person working, and several that don't know what they are doing. They get all their fish in FEDEX, on Wednesdays, and depending on who is dealing with the shipment, there are losses. IF I am the person responsible for unpacking my own fish that I order, I have an inpact on the outcome.

As for trusting the shipper. All I can say is that sometimes you just have to step out in faith, and if you check the comments on the seller, and they are mostly positive, then it is worth the chance. Like I said, both these packed beautifully, and the fish were actually in better shape than when I have just gone to the LFS and bought fish which had been shipped that week, then I buy them and move them again!

Now I can look forward to having silver sailfin mollies when I have never even seen them for sale in this part of the state before!

Fish in the Frozen North

nmwierman1977

Congratulatios!! Natalie

capekate

Congratulations... ahhhhh I love the sailfin mollies as well! How nice that you were able to find a shipper and seller to work so well with. I'm sure it must be frustrating to see different fish that you would love to have in your tanks and not have the availability to do so. I'm very happy for you Susitna-Flower. cant wait to see some photos of your new fish!
~ kate

susitna-flower

Thanks Capekate and Natalie,
I would take pictures, but I've spent all my $$$ on fish, and I don't have a camera!, and I'm a Grandma and don't even have one to take pictures of my lovely granddaughter who is coming to visit for a month starting this next Monday!

I am going to have to do something about this....The picture I want for sure is of Heidi watching the Shish in Grandma's 125 g. tank...That is going to give me so much pleasure and I want to be able to enjoy it for years.......Hummmmmmmm, maybe it's time to bite the bullet and get a camera. We'll see.

Fish in the Frozen North

COBettaCouple

No bullets! please don't knock off a convienience store! :P

Butterfly

I love Aquabid! Thats where I got my Orange Laser corys and have just won two auctions of plants. received one of the boxes yest and there were twice as many plants as there was suppose to be and such nice plants. Now there is still one more box to come
carol

susitna-flower

Very fun Carol, I have been looking at those Lasers, but till I see how the tanks settle in, I will have to wait.

One of the other things I got were 25 cherry shrimp....I have NEVER seen these up here in AK either.
Now I have them crawling all over!

This MTS is an interesting addiction isn't it! The pleasure vs. the pang of guilt. Then the instant gratification of buying at the LFS vs. the anticipation of buying on line..... I think the on line wins out. I got to plan and dream for 3 or 4 days instead of it all being over when I walk out of the store!

Fish in the Frozen North

AlisonChristine

You do know that what you've done is a very evil thing that my parents will never forgive you for, right? Showing thier daughter a site where she can get basically any fish she wants? If they knew, they would be mad. But they won't know... And someday, (this coming summer), I shall have Endlers. Ooh, and those orange laser corys. That would be a sweet neon tank...

susitna-flower

There are many pit falls to the internet. You must make adult decisions! Self control!!!! Problem is, don't bid on something unless you have the $ to pay for it. But I must admit we are all kids in a candy store where fish are concerned. I like your idea of a neon tank. What else would you have in it?

My ultimates are zebra pleco's, check them out! But alas, I don't have $8,000.00 to spend on fish just now.

Fish in the Frozen North

armadillo

Have they gone up to 8000! OMG, they were 200 USD last I looked!

Allie

That's my cream pleco too..isn't it everyone's who like plecos. The wanted Zebra pleco

voiceless_kat

Just cruising the forum a bit and came upon this post, Aquabid...........oh my..........self control out the window. It is so good to hear that they arrived in good shape. My question is:

I have won a 55g tank and my days are consumed now by researching fish I would like to have. I have lists, and lists, and lists, reworking them until I can find what I believe will work together. ( I am expanding my fish world from bettas to the whole rest of the freshwater fish world!!)

The sail fin mollies really caught my eye...and I thought I would like these in my tank. So many beautiful colours and I would have room for a group of them. So I have been on the web and am finding some conflicting info, as we always do. So the latest I find is that they are not good community fish, and should be kept in a species tank, or with guppies. Apparently these girls are baby machines...LOL. While guppies are beautiful, I don't want guppies.

Do you have any info to offer regarding community fish, salt or no salt ( I have seen testimonials saying you need salt, you don't need salt).....

Those little fat mollies are cute too...they look like someone blew them up with a straw....LOL...when I first saw them at Walmart I thought they were all sick..( such a bozo)...

Anyway, any and all advise appreciated! Val

AlisonChristine

Adult decisions? What? Sorry, I'm too busy looking at pretty fish that I want to think about making adult decisions... (Don't worry, I think my family and friends would have an intervention before I got to a financially detrimental state of fishkeeping.)

I didn't even know about the Zebra Plecos until maybe two days ago when I saw Dave referring to them by a number, and I looked up a picture, and now I covet them like everyone else on here.

I don't know what else I'd put in the "neon" tank. It would need a centerpiece fish... I'd like something green, but the only thing I can think of that would be the color I want are the Emerald Corys, and if I've got the Orange Lasers already, that kind of defeats the purpose, although I like Corys enough that I could have an entire tank just for them. I'd actually really like to have a really vibrant betta in there, maybe a red one (although if I ever see a bright green one someplace, that thing is MINE, no matter what the complications are.) But I would imagine the "bettas+guppies=NONO" rule applies to the Endlers as well...

susitna-flower

Not for one! You really should look it up, $8000 wasn't the highest, (this was for a breeding group) The highest I saw was
$18,000.00!

I can spend hours on that site.

Fish in the Frozen North

capekate

Hi Val
Im thinking, if i were you.. I would start a new topic.. that will give us all a chance to put our input on the kinds of fish you may like for your 55g tank. I have some ideas that I would like to share, but not sure if this topic is the place to do it. I hope that you do start another thread so that we can have fun with this!
~ kate