Buying fish... local or online

My local pet stores are Petsmart. I am going to purchase some guppies. Petsmart is cheap but the variety is slim.

There are some online fish stores that will ship you fish. That seems to me to be kinda hard on the fish.

So, if having fish shipped to me. What places are most trusted to buy from??

 

The fish are shipped to pet stores too. One way or another, they get shipped.

If you want to pay for the shipping, an entire world of fish species will open up, but if you havnt noticed, its not cheep.
There are reputable big companies that ship fish, and there are sellers on e-bay and Aquabid. You need to look at feedback and reveiws. I can recommend anyone specific as I havnt used them.

I only had fish shipped to me one time, it was a seller on e-bay, It was insanely stressful, They sent them on Monday, the box got to my house Friday morning, I ran up the stairs in my pajamas hoping to save some half dead fish. But they were fine. They wanted out! but they were and are still fine! They were packaged very well!

 

I have only ordered fish from pwillysfishemporium

They came in great shape! He also happens to be a forum member and usually has a lot of guppies.

 

If fish ship straght to you, they don't have to be dumped into the noisy, possibly dirty, pet store tank with hundreds of strange fish, possibly handled by minimum wage employees who may not care what happens to them. Then moved to your quarantine tank, then moved again finally to Their home.
FYI, not all petstore employees are uncaring! I have talked to many great petstore employees that were passionate about there job. , and had friends that worked in petstores. But you dont always get that kind of luck, so skip the middle man if you can.

 

I hope this puts your mind at ease because bottom line.....having a reputable breeder ship straight to you is the absolute best way to go.

 

My LFS often does not have the fish I am looking for (despite a pretty good selection), so many of my fish I have purchased online.

I recommend:
The Wet Spot Tropical
Imperial Tropics
Aquatic Arts (though can be a bit pricey in my experience)

I have also purchased fish on eBay with some success. . .

Just keep in mind you are going to pay a lot in shipping. Expect to pay between 30-75 dollars.

 

My local pet stores are Petsmart. I am going to purchase some guppies. Petsmart is cheap but the variety is slim.

There are some online fish stores that will ship you fish. That seems to me to be kinda hard on the fish.

So, if having fish shipped to me. What places are most trusted to buy from??

Just try searching "local fish stores near me" on google, they tend to have a little bigger selection than big box stores. It really depends if there's a specific guppy you're looking for, in that case online shops may have a more niche selection that Pet Smart or even a local store.

 

One of the best "check yourself" comments made I saw in a few youtube videos - "how do you think they get to the local pet/ fish store?" Yep. Mail. So take the middle step out You'll be glad you did, but just try and make sure you're home when they arrive instead of baking on the front porch (or freezing). Not a huge issue as they are usually packed with temperature management packing but still be aware. Good luck!

 

I purchased blue dragon guppies ( 2 female, 1 male), then green dragon guppies ( 2 females) followed by black Moscow guppies ( 2 females 1 male). All online at ebay and I had no issues - all arrived alive
It was 2 day shipping
they were in their own tank, so no quarantine.
I have also purchased a few bettas online, no issues.

I buy locally usually to avoid shipping costs, but sometimes there's a fish you really, really want.

The sellers packaged the fish really nice & marked box live fish so shipping ppl did not ignore the package (unlike a live plant package the seller had not marked 'live' so it died after 11 days stuck in shipping last sept)

overall, I'm really pleased with my guppies & think they are gorgeous.

Just be aware bloodlines are not 'pure' as I somehow have coral pink guppies but never purchased them - some female guppies are shipped pregnant.)

One of the best "check yourself" comments made I saw in a few youtube videos - "how do you think they get to the local pet/ fish store?" Yep. Mail. So take the middle step out You'll be glad you did, but just try and make sure you're home when they arrive instead of baking on the front porch (or freezing). Not a huge issue as they are usually packed with temperature management packing but still be aware. Good luck!

the shipper (FED EX in this case) left 1 of my packaged with next door neighbor back in Sept when high temp was around 80 degrees. Left me a note telling me where it was too.

 

One of the best "check yourself" comments made I saw in a few youtube videos - "how do you think they get to the local pet/ fish store?" Yep. Mail. So take the middle step out You'll be glad you did, but just try and make sure you're home when they arrive instead of baking on the front porch (or freezing). Not a huge issue as they are usually packed with temperature management packing but still be aware. Good luck!

So true.. my issue with petsmart is how old are they and how long have they had them. I am going to petsmart tomorrow to take a look.