Wholesale fish importers?

[mrjoseloza88]

Looking to get new fish, now here is my question, where do fish stores get there fish from. I'm looking to skip the fish store n go to the wholesale that sells to the fish stores. Any info can help thank guys.

[eklikewhoa]

Most require tax I.D. along with a minimum purchase order.

You get a pretty good savings but then again most are like $500-1000 minimum order for the good ones.

Sometimes you get the good wholesaler that will substitute with the closest thing available when they don't have what you want...

[cu0ngsayz]

i was thinking about doing the same but you have you have all kinds of paper work to get the fish shipped and like EK said usually a minimal ordering fee only worth it if youre selling or setting up a big tank. LFS marks up a lot cause the shipping the have to pay and sometimes the have to compensate for dead fish.

[mrjoseloza88]

Oh ok, so then I'm better off just buying from the LFS instead of going through the whole hassle of paperwork n stuff.

[eklikewhoa]

yeap... with the LFS you get to view a wide selection, pick and choose what you want to take home and most of the time they live.

Wholesale you take the chance of a loss, usually bought sight unseen and then you're usually stuck with like a hundred of the same fish depending on which. It's a bit less hassle buying from stateside farms but dip into the Importing world and most of the time minimum purchase is a few months mortgage.

[Tek]

i was thinking about doing the same but you have you have all kinds of paper work to get the fish shipped and like EK said usually a minimal ordering fee only worth it if youre selling or setting up a big tank. LFS marks up a lot cause the shipping the have to pay and sometimes the have to compensate for dead fish.

I was speaking to a guy at a LFS once and when he told me the percentage of dead fish I could not believe it. I liked that store though. On days they get shipments they are not open, they get the fish out of the boxes right away and quarantine them at the back. The fish we bought were fish that had been in the back of the store for a couple of days so the fish were always in good shape as the ones sold were already recovering from the stress from travelling.

Unfortunately the store is in San Antonio, but if I ever have to buy expensive fish I am gonna make a weekend trip and buying the fish there. The prices are not that bad either.

[alexrex20]

you don't have to deal directly with wholesales. you can find an individual that does, and order your fish through them. i get a lot of my SW fish that way.

[Tek]

you don't have to deal directly with wholesales. you can find an individual that does, and order your fish through them. i get a lot of my SW fish that way.

know anyone I can order 50 cardinal tetras from??

[MURRAY]

Houston Aquarium Warehouse has them in stock.

[jeb102385]

Haw anyways has nice ones... It's where I got all mine