How Do We Ship Live Fish?

How do we ship live fish?

We get this question all the time and it is one of our favorite questions to answer. 
All our fish are born and raised with care on our family fish farm in the United States. Our fish are then shipped for overnight delivery directly from our family fish farm to your door using Fedex or UPS. We ship all across the continental United States. Our family has been shipping live fish for over 100 years and we have seen the industry develop from shipping fish in metal cans via the railroad to shipping fish as air cargo to now shipping them UPS and Fedex. We have the experience needed to make sure your fish are packaged in industry leading standards for live fish and arrive safely at your door. Let’s go over our packing and shipping process.

 🐟 1. Family Farm Raised Fish

All our live fish—including goldfish, koi, minnows, as well as crayfish, tadpoles, and snails— are born and raised in the US on our family farm in the Midwest. Our farm raises high-quality healthy fish that are tested at the highest level with yearly USDA inspections and third party fish testing multiple times a year. We bring your fish from our production ponds and into our shipping facility. Once in our shipping facility the fish are sorted and prepared for the shipping process including a rigorous fish health protocol. Our goal is to raise healthy beautiful fish and while they start their lives on our farm, we do our best to make sure they get to your door in great condition. 

📦 2. Expert Packaging for Live Fish Shipment

We have been shipping live fish for a long time and have industry leading shipping methods for packaging and shipping our fish for transit. Your fish will be packaged depending on the type of fish, size, and quantity with insulation dependent on the time of the year and temperature. 

Boxes - Our reinforced double walled cardboard boxes are extensively tested to stand up to the strain of shipping. Our box sizes depend on the type of fish, size, and quantity ordered. We have worked hard and extensively tested our shipping methods to balance how many fish we are shipping in a box with making sure they are arriving to you in the best possible way. 

Ice & Insulation - Depending on the temperature, we add ice packs and/or styrofoam or foil insulation. Not all shipments need ice and insulation year round, but when the weather is too cold or too hot, shipping with ice or insulation is a must. 

Double Bagged - Fish are packed in double bagged plastic bags filled with oxygenated water. This helps prevent leaks in the unlikely event one of the bags has a whole or an issue. This is not common but some fish can have sharp fins. 

Shipped with Oxygen - The most important thing for our packaging is adding pure oxygen. Our ratio is usually around 1 part water to 2 parts oxygen. While the water may seem low in your box, the water is actually not as important as the oxygen. 

🚚 3. Overnight Shipping

We ship for next day delivery on Tuesday - Friday. Orders placed by 10 AM EST, Monday-Thursday are shipped the same day, and orders placed after the cut off time are shipped the next business day. Orders placed Thursday after the cut off time through Monday morning are shipped Monday for Tuesday arrival. We do not usually ship for Saturday delivery as it is not as reliable and not available everywhere. Our fish are packed and shipped as late in the afternoon as possible to minimize the amount of time they are in the box, so sometimes you will not get your tracking number until late afternoon.   

✅  4. Live Arrival Guarantee

We do guarantee our fish to arrive alive and in good condition and encourage you to reach out as soon as possible if there are many issues. Please make sure to take pictures so we have a better idea of what’s going on with your shipment and always make sure to count the number of live fish you received as most orders include extra fish. 

🚨  5. Unexpected Delivery Delay

We ship all our fish for overnight delivery, but like all other shipping these days, there is an occasional unexpected delay by the delivery service. It doesn’t happen often and we do our best to package our fish to be okay in the event this takes place. Please do always accept the shipment, open it and get it into freshwater as soon as possible then let us know if you have any issues. 

LIVE FISH ORDERING & SHIPPING TIPS

• Order fish to arrive early in the week, avoid ordering on Thursday for Friday arrival as its harder to recover if it does get delayed
• Always check your weather and make good judgements when ordering live fish. If you have a store coming through wait or request a later ship date.
• We suggest looking into options to have your fish held for pickup at the delivery carrier facility, so the fish are not in the back of a delivery truck all day, especially when temperatures are extreme. It needs to be a Fedex Ship Center or UPS Customer Center for them to hold them for pickup.
• Please reach out to us for questions or to adjust your ship date at info@toledogoldfish.com! 

📦 6. Upon Arrival - Care/Acclimation Instructions

All orders are shipped with acclimation instructions on the inside and outside of the package. We do encourage all customers to do a little research on what is the best way to acclimate their fish in their specific systems as all water systems are different. You can find a copy of our care instructions here. Following these steps promptly upon arrival is crucial for the health and well-being of the fish.  

A lot of thought and care goes into making sure our packaging and shipping processes are the best they can be. We are always reevaluating and tweaking our process to make improvements and love to hear feedback from our customers. Our goal is to raise healthy beautiful fish and we do our best to get them to your doorstep as quickly as possible and in the best possible condition so that they thrive in their new home.