fish, lfs or online

[White Hair]

just got the rock sand and water in my 29 gal tank. I bought saltwater at my Lfs and in the way out inquired about the cost of a common clown fish, with out hesitation she said they were running $20, i’m new, but that seemed really high. First ami i correct about the price, next, i live on the out skirts of Dallas, where they have some really nice salt water stores. Then on a whim i looked at one of the online stores for fish, just for comparison i picked a fish, doesn’t matter what kind, fish was $9.99 frt $29.99 and handling fee $9.99, crazy right? Ok,do you guys buy local and if not is it safe to buy online if you can find a decent price. Thanks

 

[fcmatt]

A fair price for a common clown that is not a baby is about 20. 10 for tiny ones a local breeder brings in.

With your size tank I would stick to local. They will pretty much have everything you want. Buying online is kind of pointless unless your lfs just wont get certain fish.

Also seeing what you buy to make sure it eats, healthy, has good attitude (if you are into that kind of thing), and etc... is a big plus.

And I am serious about the attitude thing. I like friendly fish for the most part. Some are plain mean or super shy.

 

[Orectolobidae]

just got the rock sand and water in my 29 gal tank. I bought saltwater at my Lfs and in the way out inquired about the cost of a common clown fish, with out hesitation she said they were running $20, i’m new, but that seemed really high. First ami i correct about the price, next, i live on the out skirts of Dallas, where they have some really nice salt water stores. Then on a whim i looked at one of the online stores for fish, just for comparison i picked a fish, doesn’t matter what kind, fish was $9.99 frt $29.99 and handling fee $9.99, crazy right? Ok,do you guys buy local and if not is it safe to buy online if you can find a decent price. Thanks

20$ is kinda high for a clownfish since they are usually charged at around 15$ on average from what I've seen however its better to get from a lfs since you can check whether the fish you'll be buying is sick or not.

Online is a bit of a gamble but usually the fish would arrive in a healthy state

 

[fcmatt]

I dont mean this in the wrong way but you are in the wrong hobby if you worry about 5 bucks more when buying a fish sight seen. That lfs has a lot of overhead to give you the luxury of browsing everything whenever you want. 20 dollars for a happy healthy clown that is 1 year old is perfectly normal.

 

[BeejReef]

No harm in price shopping, but $20 is in the ballpark. You'll find that most online vendors require orders of at least $100-$150 before the very expensive shipping is included. When you add in the hassle and expense of acclimating shipped fish, that $5 feels very trivial.

If you're not planning a separate set up for a quarantine, I'd go local every time. Ask when they get their fish deliveries and try to buy a fish that has been alive and eating in their system for a week or so. It's small protection, but better than nothing.

Another approach is scouring local classifieds and facebook groups. Clowns are often near free bc only two are generally in any given tank. Anyone tearing down or consolidating has to find homes for their clowns. In that case, there's an even better chance of landing a disease free fish... not near 100%, but better than from an LFS or online.

 

[Sailingeric]

I am lucky I have two very good fish stores near my where I have gotten all my fish. I want to see it, how it looks, how it is acting and if there are several of one kind of fish in a tank- like a clown, I want to pick the one I want not some random picking from some fish warehouse 500 miles away.

 

[C. Eymann]

LFS, esp for more finicky species

 

[Fishurama]

IMO the only reason to shop online is if your LFS can't/won't order what ever you are after in, can't find it/get it,etc. Then order online. You get to see what you are getting in person, get to see the actual color and not a photoshopped/ nothing but blues picture, get to see the health, you also get the pleasure of looking at other cool fish and coral even if not buying,etc. It's also only 5 bucks... To save the stress on shipping the fish alone is worth 5 bucks....
Not to mention some of the online retailers horrible return policy for DOAs.