[whowahhhh]

Hey, so I found some great looking fish with the actual pictures of the fish ..and they are impossible to find around here..I ordered them 2nd day delivery..I know I should technically quarantine ALL my fish but *** never had a sick fish..Anyone ever order online? Do the fish tend to be extremely stressed? I have about 300$ in fish in my tank and dont want to risk losing any because of adding my mail order fish..I could set up a quarantine 10 gal but it wouldent even be cycled..Im expecting the fish to arrive tomorrow (wednesday). Would I be better off putting them In a brand new 10 gal tank or just adding them to the existing if they "look" disease free obviously. Would putting them in a 10 gal further stress to the point that they would be better off just going in the new tank. I need some votes here if you were in my predicament. AND I know I could have waited until I had a quarantine tank set up and established but I couldent pass up this deal. Thanks.

 

[lotsofish]

If they are not too big, put them in the 10 gal. The tank doesn't need to be cycled if you use carbon in the filter and do frequent water changes to avoid ammonia and nitrite. You could also put zeolite in the filter to help with ammonia.

Why risk $300 worth of fish?

 

[Peacock88]

Yeah i'd do the same.

Um just wondering, where are you ordering from? I've been looking at stores/websites and just don't know what quality and price should look like. I've never ordered before so...

Oh and let us know what you got and how they turn out. Really curious about it because there's a way bigger selection then the LFS can provide.

 

[DJRansome]

Use the 10G and add used filter, filter material or substrate from established tank for instant cycle. Make sure you still test daily for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate however. If you get any ammonia, add more filter material or substrate from the established tank.

 

[ash01]

Sorry to butt in but i thought i would just say that i mail ordered 6 x Calvus yesterday which is my first time buying fish online. I was really nervous as i was worried about them being dead/handling of the box through the postal service.

The reason i bought the Calvus online was because i was finding it very, very difficult to get them where i live so that is what made me take the plunge and order them and im glad i did.

I recieved them today at 7.00am lol !!!! They are all a picture of health and as soon as i took the bag out to have a look they all had all their fins erect and not clamped which surprised me.

I have just put them in my tank and they all seem fine still apart from being really shy and hiding the now but that is to be expected.

I am very happy and i would now feel very confident buying fish online again now that i have experienced it.

Thought this might make people feel more confident about buying online for their first times.

 

[Alleycat]

I need some votes here if you were in my predicament. AND I know I could have waited until I had a quarantine tank set up and established but I couldent pass up this deal. Thanks.

Buy a 10 or 20g and do as DJRansome advised...I always put my new fish into a quarantine tank, even when I buy them from someone I know. It's a great habit to get into and will save you $$$ down the road.

No one's asked yet, so, what type of fish did you buy?

 

[whowahhhh]

okay I got the fish today. I ordered 2 females and 2 males. One of the females was DOA. And the whole shipping box smelled like dead fish when I opened it. So immediately I thought I was screwed but the other 2 males and remaining female were fine. they are Labidochromis sp "mbamba". I have two females right now I found at my LFS but they were mismarked of course and sold as " red top" zebras. It took me forever to figure out what they were but the females are suppossed to be drab brown and these females are actually quite nice looking. I eventually found some pictures of mbabma females that were quite nice looking as well and identical to the with my females. So now I have 2 males and 3 females and I reallly wanted 4 females but for now they are all doing okay. For anyone else apprehensive about it *** read almost all good reviews from online orders from many different websites. The 'reviews' tab on this site then 'retailer reviews' and then "mail order fish" post some reputable breeders.

 

[noj33]

hey, i'm in buffalo too... i'll be putting in an order in a few weeks, if you want to split s&h let me know. I'm not sure who you got your fish from but i'm leaning towards River City (they're a sponsor) and you can find them under links... let me know.