GreatBetta

If you have been reading this blog, you will know I recently purchased a Pineapple Betta from a breeder in Thailand known on AquaBid as GreatBetta. I asked for a female as well and got a great quality fish to breed with the male. I had been watching this breeders fish for a while before deciding to buy from him.. and was impressed with the over all quality I was seeing in fish after fish.

I happened to stumble across pictures of some of his fish on the web and just want to share. To see more of his fish, please check out this link.. GREATBETTA .These pictures are from his photo album. There are 34 pages of beautiful bettas. And, if you want to get one of his bettas for yourself, please check out his actions on AquaBid HERE.

For those of you wondering how difficult it is to import a fish from Thailand.. let me tell you it isn’t. A breeder like GreatBettas  exports fish to the U.S. weekly. After you pay the cost of the fish, you pay an export fee of $5. That’s right.. $5. The fish is sent to the U.S. and are received by a Transhipper. There are several in this country who receive the fish. They then unpack the fish and change their water out for clean, fresh water. The fish will be re-bagged and boxed to send to you. Most fish are sent Express mail for about $35-$42. There is the cost of the shipping as well as insulating the box. If the weather is cool the package will also get a heat pack.

You will want to be there when the fish arrive. Having them sit on a porch in heat or cold is not good for the fish. Although you will be excited to see your new fish, remember the fish is in a stressful situation and coming out of darkness into sudden bright light will increase their stress. Open the box gradually and set the bag in the water the betta will be going into to allow their shipping water to reach the same temp. Open the shipping bag and gradually add their new water to their old to get them used to the new water conditions. Bettas coming from Thailand are used to soft water so really go slow if you have harder water conditions. Allow them to get settled then feed lightly. They have been fasted several days to make the trip to you.

 On occasion the fish will not make the trip and be dead on arrival [DOA]. Should that happen do not open the bag. Take a clear, close up photo of the fish and send a copy to the breeder. Most of them will offer a like replacement or a refund of the cost of the fish. Shipping charges are not refundable. If you are worried about how often that happens.. it is few and far between. These breeders and transhippers ship hundreds of fish a month.. so losses happen.. but not often.

So how much are one of these beauties gonna cost you? On average a male like these will run $30. So to get to the U.S. it will cost you $35. Add roughly another $35 for the Express shipping to you and you have $70 in a fish.. that is not guaranteed to breed. The most economical way to get these fish if you are a breeder is to get several. You can get 4 fish in that box to you for $35.. and only have to pay that once. U.S. breeders charge about the same for a fish and shipping to you.. all there is is that $5 export fee. When you can get fish as exceptional as these.. that $5 is more than worth it!