Your fish from. IME our LFS only has minimal stock. Plecos, corys, tetras, neons, platys, guppies, and a few angels. And I live about an hour or more away from petco. So I was curous about ordering fish online....like...how does that work? haha Do they usually arrive alive? is the shipping insane? Fill me in almighty fish gurus.

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"Being ignorant is not so much a Shame, as being unwilling to learn".-- Benjamin Franklin

I have gotten lots of fish ordering off aquabid. Shipping is pretty reasonable and the prices are usually pretty good.

ON aquabid lots of them have buy it now prices and several is done by bidding. You can always check around for pricing before bidding so you don't end up paying more than what the fish is worth.

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SUCCESS IS MEASURED BY YEARS, NOT MONTHS!!!
220 Tank build
http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/sta...late-3253.html

Petco and Petsmart are a bit dodgy near me... They have an okay selection, but their fish aren't always the healthiest or hardiest. If that's the only other fish store available to you outside of your LFS, it's definitely not worth the drive. I've only used Aquabid once, and it went smooth. The shipping can be expensive, as most highly recommend or require that you use 3 day shipping or less, and during the more extreme weather months they have to pack either cooling or heating packs with the fish to keep the temperature regulated. I've heard good things about LiveAquaria, though if you're like me and like to see a good representation of what you're getting before it arrives they're not the place to go for fish that tend to vary more from individual to individual like guppies, platties, swords, etc. Aquabid is a lot better for that.

Don't give up on your LFS - most mom&pop stores will special order any critters you want. I buy from PetsMart because they're cheap and I know how to care for them should one come home sick or stressed. If I want high-quality and awesome fish, I go to my LFS (got my Amano shrimp, emerald dwarf rasboras and scarlet badis from them). I'm currently on their "wish list" for more emerald dwarves when they come in in the spring.

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

I buy at petsmart for the prices, they always have fish on sale and i go there anyway for crickets for my toads. There is also a LFS close by that has a wonderful selection of everything you could even imagine that i buy at too. They're pricier per fish, but unlike petsmart, the offer bulk prices, usually 5 or more. Like take Tiger Barbs for example, 3.50 ea or 5 or more @ $2 each. They're staff is also very helpful and very friendly. They know alot and just don't just make sales.

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55 gallon FW community
20 gallon Goldfish
10 gallon firebelly toad

lfs, never petsmart IMO