Buying fish

[ketchup]

Ok. Don't bite my head off swf.com, but I never thought of buying fish online. Can anyone tell me or sell me on the benefits vs. the lfs. Believe me, I wish I could buy everything online, but not actually seeing the fish you are buying and the delivery dudes schlepping my fish around in the back of a truck scares me.

 

[ak_reefer]

Take it from me ordering fish online is as good as buying from your lfs. I have bought a couple of fish, live rock, and inverts online and have been extremely happy with them. I live in Alaska so my sources are limited I either have to fly to Seattle or order online. Most internet sites give a garantee on their fish so you dont have to worry.

 

[ebeckels]

i do it all thetime...swf.com has a good gurantee. i highly recomend them. i've heard their LR is awesome too.

 

[fshhub]

i would not hesitate to order on line again, and have heard nothing bad at all about swf.com, in fact, i am planning a purchase with them now, the only thing about MO is:
make sure that they have a good guarentee, make suer someone can recieve the order(ups will no leave it), make sure you ahve a quarentine tank ready to go, and make sure you have a way to get ehm into the q tank soon after arrival(meaning do not have your neighbor sign for the fish and not plan to be home for 12 more hours), they have already been in the bag for a day, no need to drag it out
HTH

 

[i3luedragon]

Ordering online saves you a lot of money if you buy in bulk, or with free shipping compared to the LFS. The quality should be the same or better. Sometimes not all specimens make it. The only downside is that if you are picky with your purchases, then online is not for you.

 

[putt_77]

I have never bought online, so my view is not totally reliable, but I tend to agree with Trojan. I need to see the fish to feel comfortable about it. No disrespect to swf.com, the site is great and I am sure I will purchase dry goods in the future, but livestock? Maybe snails, crabs or something like that. But I would be afraid to buy fish. Not to mention, I do not have a quarantine tank and it sounds like a huge hassle. I'd have to take the day off of work just to make sure my fish arrives safely and soundly.
Fish now makes three things I won't buy online along with cars and organ transplants.

 

[heavenly damsel]

My LFS does not offer a guarantee on SW fish. I will order fish from SWF.com in the future, have read the conditions of the guarantee and can comply. Am currently awaiting arrival of order of inverts and LR from SWF.com.
Some guarantee is better then none in my opinion. Being into instant gratification the hardest part is waiting for shipment to arrive.

 

[putt_77]

I go to 2 lfs and they both offer guarantees. One of them gives you up to 15 days.

 

[infinsable]

Chances are the fish at LFS arrived in the back of a truck as well.

 

[rolltide]

I don't think I'll ever buy from a local store again. Last time I bought an anemone it gave my fish a disease. I have ordered on line from 3 different retailers and have been very pleased with all of them.