Frequently Asked Questions

We ship through FedEx for any overnight shipments and USPS Priority Mail for the 2-3 day shipments. If you chose FedEx Overnight, then we will ship it for a flat rate of $59. Priority Mail takes 2-3 days and is a flat rate of $25. If you choose Priority Mail and we feel the fish you purchased should go FedEx Overnight we will contact you and give you the option to upgrade the shipping or cancel the order.

We ship Tuesday through Thursday with FedEx Overnight and Tuesday through Thursday with Priority Mail. We usually don’t ship on Monday’s because many of our suppliers do not allow pick-ups on Monday because they have fish coming in that day. “Overnight shipping” refers only to the method by which the package carrier will deliver your fish. We generally ship the first shipping day after you place your order. If you need an order delivered on a specific day, send me a message and we will do our best to take care of you.

Your fish will be professionally bagged with oxygen, an ammonia remover, and a mild sedative in a heavy-duty, professional fish packing bag. We use non-toxic, recycled packing material to cushion and prevent bags from moving around much in shipping and it also acts as an adsorbent in case a small number of water leaks during shipping. When necessary, we add heat packs to your order to keep them warm if they are traveling through colder areas. The sedative we use may affect different fish in your order in different ways. Some fish may look and act normal as soon as they are put into your tank while others will be very sluggish and almost completely sedated. All fish should be back to their normal state by the next morning. Your fish can easily survive the three-day trip or even longer as long as the post office or FedEx keep them indoors during the trip and out of the cold or hot weather. One trick some of my customers use if no one can get them inside right away is to leave a cooler on the front porch with an inside dimension that will accommodate a 12x12x16 inch square box. You can leave it near the front door with a message on top for the delivery driver to leave the fish inside.

We measure all fish tip of the nose to tip of tail unless stated otherwise in the description.

If you have fish that are already established in your tank that may be aggressive towards their new tank mates the time to address this is right before adding your new fish. In most cases, you can do a minor rearranging of the tank to confuse the established fish. You can put the rocks, driftwood, etc. back to suit you the next day. Open bags after they have acclimated for temperature and pour through a net over a bucket or sink. Do not add any bag water to your tank! If you have established fish, take the fish in the net and slide it down the front glass to the bottom of the tank and then release it. The fish in your tank are used to food coming from the top so releasing the new ones near the bottom won’t draw as much attention in the tank.

We inspect all fish prior to shipping to ensure they are healthy and free of defects. We photograph all orders prior to packing in the box so we can reference it if we need to.  Sometimes during the shipping process, unusual issues may occur that can affect the health of the fish. If you have an issue or have lost a fish in shipping, contact me as soon as you have taken care of your other fish.  Our e-mail is: contact@goodjosephlivefishstore.com. Please provide a clear picture of the fish in question when you contact us. It will also be helpful for you to provide me with your order number (top of invoice) when you e-mail us as it makes it much quicker to look up your order. We guarantee at a minimum to provide credit for a future order but we normally replace any problem fish with a new one at no cost to you. If we ship a replacement, it will be shipped via Priority Mail. Although there should never be any reason for a customer to file a chargeback on a credit card, Amazon, or Paypal, if you feel the need to go that route this is our procedure for handling them. If you dispute a payment to us, any charges that are incurred will be invoiced to you. We require all items purchased on that transaction returned to us, there will be no exceptions to this no matter how the dispute is settled with the exception of you withdrawing the dispute. If we do not reach an agreement regarding a dispute, the dispute is found in your favor,  and all items have not been returned to us, you will be invoiced for all original charges. In addition, any fee’s incurred from the dispute and a $25.00 administrative fee for invoices under $100.00 or a $45.00 administrative fee for orders over $100.00 will be applied. Any unpaid invoice will be charged a 2.5% a month late fee for the first 90 days and on or after day 91 the invoice will be considered to be in default and will be turned over to credit reporting agencies, our collection agency, or may be filed in a lawsuit at the Hillsborough County Clerk of Court in Tampa, FL.

This is why it’s important for you to do your research prior to ordering. Most pictures are taken with adult fish who are showing their maximum color and size potential. Any fish that was just shipped will be stressed. Allow a week or more for the fish to acclimate to their new environment – they will color up as they mature if they are supposed too.

We only recommend one method and 20 years of experience doing what we do proves it works.  Float the unopened bags in the aquarium for 10-15 minutes to acclimate the fish to the tank’s temperature.  Open bags after they have acclimated for temperature and pour through a net over a bucket or sink. Do not add any bag water to your tank! I can not stress enough, this is the best acclimation procedure to use and the only one we will guarantee your fish with.

I know and deal with many fish farmers, fish wholesalers, and importers. If it’s available, there is a good chance I can make a few phone calls and find it. Contact me.