Ordering and Shipping
If you are interested in ordering some of our fish you will need to contact us and tell us what you are interested in. The best way to contact us is by e-mail but you can call us if you prefer. We do not have a minimum order. You will need to tell us type and quantity of fish, zip code and which types of shipping you would like quoted. We can ship by FedEx (overnight, 2nd day), USPS (express or priority) or DHL(overnight, 2nd day). We can also ship by Delta air cargo for large orders. From November to April we use heat packs at no charge and we always ship fish in styrofoam boxes inside cardboard boxes. In most cases you will have a total cost of your proposed order including shipping, back to you in 24 hours. Payment can be made with Paypal or by sending us a Money Order. Addresses for Paypal and to send us a money order are on the "Contact" page.
Anyone who ships fish can tell you that no matter how
many precautions you take or how well you prepare the fish anything can
happen once you deliver them to the shipper. That is why I pack them as if
they will have to spend a week shipping in the bags and box and I have had
fish spend 14 days in shipping and have them all survive. I have been
receiving fish for many years and during that time I have received fish in
all sorts of ways with far more losses than is acceptable. When I started
shipping fish I made it my goal to be the best at packing that I could be. I
would never send fish in some of the ways that I have received them...it
almost assured losses. I have seen many, many things go wrong or done wrong
during shipping.
The first important area is the packing. I have received fish in just a
cardboard box with just shredded paper or packing peanuts to protect them
from the weather. I know good Styrofoam boxes can be hard to get or make but
if you can't get the right materials, don't ship fish!! The heat will kill
the fish in an unprotected box just as fast as the cold will. I have
received fish unprotected in the summer and the fish were just as dead as
cold fish. I have also received fish recently in the cold weather; the fish
where packed in a cardboard box with packing peanuts and the heat pack was
next to the cardboard and had the peanuts between it and the fish. Of course
they arrived dead with no styrofoam helping the situation. The other part of
packing is the bags. All fish should be double inverted bagged. This helps
prevent leaks and inverting the second bag helps to eliminate corners that
the fish will get caught in and die. When shipping large cichlids and some
spiny catfish you might have to take other precautions: lining the fish bags
with newspaper or using hard plastic containers. We have experimented with
plastic jars with mixed results. They seem to work very well with apistos
but not as well with others.
The second important area is how the fish are prepared. I have received fish that were dead but it appeared that everything was done correctly. The only thing I noticed when opening the bag was the smell of ammonia. To prevent this from happening there are a couple of things I do. First I stop feeding the fish 2 days before they are going to be shipped. This gives the fish time to excrete their waist before they are sealed in a bag. The second thing is how the water in the bag is prepared. I started out adding chemicals like amquel to the water (to lock up any ammonia) and using oxygen, however then I discovered Bag Buddies. Now I add a ¼ tablet to a small bag (about 4 oz of water) and that is it. I don't need a bottle of oxygen because the Bag Buddies adds it to the water, it locks up any ammonia that accumulates in the water and also has a mild tranquilizer in it. Also I use only about 1/3 water to 2/3 air in the bag. This becomes more important with the size of the fish. When you are shipping three inch fish or larger you might use closer to a ½ water to air and make sure the bag is big enough for the size of the fish.
The third area of concern is the shipper and I'm not
talking about which company or overnight vs. 2nd day. This is about what you
have no control over: how the shipper treats the box. By following the
procedure I outlined above, I have had fish survive shipping with delays as
long as 14 days. When I have fish that I have shipped not make it alive it
is generally due to poor handling by the shipper. There are two main
problems hear. First is rough handling. This can cause the bags to rupture
and I have also had the Styrofoam boxes broken. The second is they may leave
the box exposed to extreme heat or cold over long periods of time. If a box
that is left in a truck with temperatures over 120 degrees or as low as 20
degrees for 10 hours or more the fish doesn't have much of a chance. I have
not seen a heat/cold pack that is good enough to compensate for that. Most
of the time, thank goodness, this is not a problem but two years ago I could
not ship to Texas during the six warmer months and have anything live. I
suspected it was due to the boxes being left in hot trucks for many hours.
Now to the actual shipping methods. There are three basic ways to ship.
1) Over Night
2) 2nd Day
3) Air Cargo
Air cargo - If you have several boxes going to the same person then this is
a good way to ship. They charge a minimum of 100 pounds and depending on the
airline will cost about $60. The only problem with this method is you have
to be an 'approved shipper' with the airline to use them and that process
can take a couple of months. There is one airline that I have tried several
times to become an approved shipper with and have not been able to get their
cooperation. Air cargo should be overnight or same day. You must have a
major airport near you and you have to pick up the package at the airport
cargo building.
Over night and 2nd day - There are 4 main shippers for the overnight and 2nd
day. UPS, FedEx, DHL and United States Postal Service. You can talk to
different people and they will tell you that they have had problems with one
and not with others and everyone seems to like a different company. I am no
different. I have the ones I like and one I don't like but I won't bore you
with those details. First UPS will not ship fish unless you have a
pre-existing account with them, but other than that they work well. UPS is
the most expensive usually. FedEx and DHL are a little cheaper than UPS but
you as the shipper should be careful because they all charge by weight and
they have a minimum weight per the size of the box. If you have a standard
size fish box 17x17x10, that weighs 8 or 10 pounds, you could be charged for
15 pounds. Most of the time I use a small box 14x9x10 that has a minimum
weight less than what the box will weigh so it is not a problem with small
boxes. Also, with FedEx. you can ship ground for $10 within your state and
have it guaranteed for overnight delivery….that is very nice! The post
office is the cheapest but overnight is in reality 1 to 2 days and priority
is 2 to 4 days. During the warmer months I will use the 2nd day FedEx and
priority mail shipping but in the cold months I use Express mail and FedEx
overnight. I have had good results even though it sometimes takes 2 days.
Terms and Conditions
Live delivery is guaranteed on air freight and overnight shipments from us unless 1) carrier is at fault; 2) there are unusual and undue shipping delays over which we have no control; or 3) carrier fails to deliver shipment to destination within 24 hours of drop off time. In case of undue or other carrier failure, a claim must be filed directly with the responsible carrier or courier. We must be notified by phone or e-mail of DOA's on the date of arrival. All DOA's should be placed in salt for 24 hours to dry out the bodies. Then placed the dried out bodies in an envelope to be mailed back to us. This should only require a $0.37 stamp or a digital photo of the DOA's still in the bags emailed to us. Warranty is void if shipment is not claimed within two hours of arrival. We reserve the right to either replace or credit DOA's solely at our discretion. It is the customers responsibility to pay any freight /shipping charges on all replacement orders. If death is due to negligence on the part of customers or carriers we are not obligated to replace any fish, because we value all customers a compromise may be worked out. Orders are sent on a prepaid basis. Packing charge is $6.00 per box unless specifically waived. Heat packs are free if needed. Note: Live delivery is not guaranteed on any alternate methods of delivery(2nd day or priority mail) unless warranty is specified at the time of order. Under no circumstances do we guarantee time of delivery.