Several General Questions About Purchasing Fish

jcinnb

1. Are tropical fish prices cyclical with seasons, i.e., do they cost more during the colder months?

2. Are the risks on buying fish from, say Oregon, significantly greater, than from Pennsylvania, if they are being shipped to NC. I mean, is there more to "overnight" than just "overnight?"

3. Is there a magic handshake to get the LFS to order fish, specifically? I have struck out, admittedly since I am just starting over, I do not yet have any real relationships yet, but I figured paying up front would do the trick. It did not. Any tips, or is this a non-starter?

4. Bonus question: Why do the fish I like seem to be located the farthest away?

Thanks in advance for any and all responses.

jcinnb

redchigh

In my experience, the fish prices don't fluctuate with the seasons (barring sales that the pet store might have).

As for overnight- if the fish is sensitive, then I wouldn't order unless you can get a live arrival guarantee. In that case, it doesn't matter.

Most LFS will order fish... If yours doesn't them find a new one. Even pet supplies plus will order fish.

cbirk

I think building up a repore with your LFS owner is crucial. Even if you don't like how they do business, you might still be able to get them to order you stuff. I have 3 LFS here, two privately owned and a pet smart. Pet Smart will attempt to order anything but they won't guarantee the quality they arrive it. I pretty much only shop their for bulk supplies, or tanks, I wont get fish or advice there. One privately owned won't order at all, and the other just recently has agreed to order things for me after a year and a half of being in there every week. I have 6 tanks between 10 and 55 gal so I give him a lot of business.

Even then you have to understand their ordering methods. For instance, I can get him to order more tiger barbs, but for whatever reason he can't specify between black/green/albino, etc he gets what he gets. He is also only offered a set list to order from each time he makes an order that depends on what his suppliers have readily available.

Maybe this is because he doesn't have a large supplier list or he just has a weird ordering system but either way this could be an issue with your store as well.

As far as prices go, I have never seen prices change with the season, however I have seen them change mildly with supply. Last year I was looking to add a few more yoyo loaches, but for whatever reason no one around here could get them in, suppliers were not offering them. When they did finally get in they were a little more expensive then they had been before.

beachcire

You could also look into a local club. You may find someone local that breeds the fish you can not get from your LFS.