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MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,958
Location
Germany
If I had the tank space and a car I'd come over for a group of them in some months. :D

Glad it all worked out thus far.
 

TCMontium

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
179
Location
Germany, Kassel
If I had the tank space and a car I'd come over for a group of them in some months. :D

Glad it all worked out thus far.

If I had a car and a licence I would have so many more tanks in my room... Ebay Kleinanzeigen is torture for me with all the rare species people breed and sell at absurdly cheap prices just with "no shipping" in description. But it's understandable, I would also not be able to send fish via shipping.

Also there are dwarf cichlid, killifish etc meetings where people exchange and sell extremely rare species they breed. One day, when I have a bunch of free tanks, I must buy some train and bus tickets to visit one (but I guess most likely I should talk and arrange the fish I want to buy beforehand by contacting the breeders, idk how it works exactly).
 

MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,958
Location
Germany
If I had a car and a licence I would have so many more tanks in my room... Ebay Kleinanzeigen is torture for me with all the rare species people breed and sell at absurdly cheap prices just with "no shipping" in description. But it's understandable, I would also not be able to send fish via shipping.

Don't even get me started...

Also there are dwarf cichlid, killifish etc meetings where people exchange and sell extremely rare species they breed. One day, when I have a bunch of free tanks, I must buy some train and bus tickets to visit one (but I guess most likely I should talk and arrange the fish I want to buy beforehand by contacting the breeders, idk how it works exactly).

Depends very much, but right now there are few meetings anyway. At swap meetings you usually neither know what will be offered exactly, but when you know somebody that has a certain species is definitely there, you can definitely talk to them beforehand and get a deal worked out, maybe even on species they originally didnÄt even plan to bring. Just depends on your connection.
 

Mike Wise

Moderator
Staff member
5 Year Member
Messages
11,201
Location
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
I personally prefer to see what I buy first. Still, I don't understand the hesitancy to ship fish through the mail/common carrier. I do trade fish with those I know and trust and generally have no problems in this regard. Maybe different countries are different.
 

MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,958
Location
Germany
I personally prefer to see what I buy first. Still, I don't understand the hesitancy to ship fish through the mail/common carrier. I do trade fish with those I know and trust and generally have no problems in this regard. Maybe different countries are different.

Yeah, it's a very german thing. Plus shipping live animals is limited by certain legal hurdles not every breeder can take. Especially older ones are more unwilling, than unable in my experience.

I also like to see what I buy first, hence I still don't order via mail.
 

TCMontium

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
179
Location
Germany, Kassel
I sadly have no places that sell any rare species nearby, pretty much always the same species have been available for years. Buying fish from online stores is a gamble for sure but it's fine more than 50% of the time in my experience. Sometimes they send different species or famished or sick fish tho, or when they write "pair" in the article the fish can be a big male and a sneaker male...
For me shipping is not really possible since the only company I know that can ship live animals, Go!, charges 40 euros minimum for shipping the smallest live animal package I think. I doubt anyone would be wanting to pay that cost to buy some semi rare dwarf cichlids from me lol. Go! charges much less for live fish stores tho, I guess they have some deal or something. It costs only 20-30 euros when I order from a live fish store online, however many fish I order.
Also I don't have any oxygen tanks, idk how long the fish would do well in the bag without pumping oxygen.
 

MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,958
Location
Germany
I sadly have no places that sell any rare species nearby, pretty much always the same species have been available for years. Buying fish from online stores is a gamble for sure but it's fine more than 50% of the time in my experience. Sometimes they send different species or famished or sick fish tho, or when they write "pair" in the article the fish can be a big male and a sneaker male...
For me shipping is not really possible since the only company I know that can ship live animals, Go!, charges 40 euros minimum for shipping the smallest live animal package I think. I doubt anyone would be wanting to pay that cost to buy some semi rare dwarf cichlids from me lol. Go! charges much less for live fish stores tho, I guess they have some deal or something. It costs only 20-30 euros when I order from a live fish store online, however many fish I order.
Also I don't have any oxygen tanks, idk how long the fish would do well in the bag without pumping oxygen.

You're mentioning almost all the problems you have here usually.

Go! is indeed the only one that also serves private customers, the other one, which name I forgot, only takes business customers. The lower prices are also due to deals they have with commercial sellers, only delivery on Saturday also costs 40,- when ordering in from those.
(Info for our international friends: On Sundays there is no delivery service at all, and almost all businesses are closed.)
Another reason private sellers don't do shipping is they have to pay in advance and usually would have to replace doa fish, so they don't even risk that.
 

TCMontium

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
179
Location
Germany, Kassel
I did buy fish from private sellers I think twice since I came to Germany. They said they wouldn't take responsibility if the fish arrived dead and asked if I accepted that condition. They arrived just fine fortunately. It was like this in Turkey too. If you bought animals from private people, not companies, the dead on arrival would be at your own risk. If I'm ordering an animal from a private person it usually is cheap and a species so rare I can't find it from anywhere else so I think it's worth the risk. They usually pack better than most companies too. Rare fish breeders that is.
 

MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,958
Location
Germany
I know a few people specialized in certain fish (wild bettas, malawis and cories) that gave that reason as why they don't ship. But yeah, on Ebay you see often "no guarantees". Smart sellers you got your's from.
 

Mike Wise

Moderator
Staff member
5 Year Member
Messages
11,201
Location
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
In the USA, where fish are shipped regularly, most sellers have a "live arrival" guarantee. My guess is that shipping fish is more common in my country because it is so much larger in size. For example, the closest city that is the same size as mine is 1000 km from me. I live in the West (Denver). The eastern half of the US is different. As for oxygen? I never use it. Overnight delivery or 3 day delivery with BioBags work just fine.
 

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