Order fish online - pros and cons

Often one hears spontaneously and predominantly on Facebook and other social media almost already  reflexively the opinion, it is not particularly animal-friendly to order fish online - one should rather go into the pet shop and buy the animals locally. Why do we at Garnelio still offer ornamental fish for ordering in our online store? We really care about the animals and their welfare is our top priority.

Why do we offer ornamental fish in our online store?

The fact that you can still buy ornamental fish from us has several reasons. Firstly, the very basic fact that aquarium fish in pet shops are not usually bred on site - not even guppies. They are not transported by natural waterways, but are shipped by the same shipping company that we use to transport our fish, namely GO! (Certified Live Animal Shipping)

The professional animal transport

In Germany it is not allowed to send vertebrates simply by parcel - and rightly so! Professional transport ensures that the shipment is as stress-free as possible for the fish. For one thing, GO!'s trained professionals make sure that the fish are properly packed, and they ensure that the transport goes smoothly.  The crates are not loaded by treadmills, but are carefully stowed by hand so that the  fish are not exposed to sudden abrupt movements. Then we ship by overnight express so that the fish are not on the road a minute longer than is absolutely necessary.

Proper packing

Ornamental fish transportation on behalf of Garnelio is carried out in thick-walled styrofoam boxes. They protect the fish not only from knocks and bumps, which can happen accidentally despite the most careful handling, but also from temperature fluctuations. Styrofoam insulates very reliably and ensures that your new aquarium favorites neither cool down too much nor that the water gets too warm. The fish are packed in sturdy ornamental fish bags, and only a quantity that does not overload the water in the limited space of the bag. An air cushion in the bag ensures that gas exchange can take place in the water and that the fish always find sufficient oxygen dissolved in the water.

Advantage of the large selection

The aquarium fish that you can order from us in the online store come directly from the German breeder / wholesaler to you. On the one hand, this has the great advantage that we can offer you an incredible selection of ornamental fish! Often pet shops have a space problem - the different ornamental fish species should not necessarily all be crammed into one aquarium, because the risk of disease would increase greatly and also catching them out becomes a real problem. Therefore, they can only fall back on a limited number of aquariums and usually only offer a standard assortment of the most popular aquarium fish here. If you are fed up with the same Red Neons and would like to keep fish that are just as easy to keep but more rare, you will often be left out in the cold, because the desired fish species are not in the assortment and often cannot be ordered separately, especially from chains. Here at Garnelio you can order from the full range and also real rarities!

Advantage of short ways

Another huge advantage of ordering online at Garnelio is also the fact that the fish do not see our plant at all. The fact that you get the fish directly from the wholesaler saves the fish transport stress and acclimatization stress. Here they don't have to be put into our facility for a long time, only to be delivered again a few days later - this time to the customer - where they are again exposed to different water values. This saves the fish a very stressful intermediate step, which includes not only two short-term acclimatization processes within a few days, but also catching them twice and, of course, transporting them from the wholesaler to the pet shop and from the pet shop back home to your aquarium. This way the fish have much less stress and are therefore much less vulnerable.

Which fish do we offer for sale in the Garnelio online store?

In our online store you can buy fish from different sources. Wherever possible, we use German offspring, which can be recognized by the abbreviation DNZ in the product description. Where this is not possible, we offer offspring preferably from other European countries, and only if this is also not an option, we resort to wild-caught fish from responsible sources.

But in the pet shop I can look at the fish myself ...

That's true, of course, and that's actually the only argument that might speak a bit against ordering ornamental fish online. However, even in the pet shop you see only the fewest problems with the fish directly, because obviously sick fish may not be sold ... and very often problems do not even occur in the dealer tank, but only after the renewed acclimatization and further transport stress in the home aquarium. This stressful situation you save the fish ordered from us in advance - and our wholesalers look at the fish very carefully before they send them on the journey.