OKC Cichlids How To Order

HOW TO ORDER FISH FROM OKC CICHLIDS

To order fish from OKC Cichlids, contact us via email at sales@okccichlids.com or you can contact us through our social media. Include the tank number designations for the fish you would like to purchase in your email. The tank number is the letter-number designation at the top of each listing on the available fish page. For 'bulk' listings, include the quantity of each item you would like to include in your order. Additionally, we will need your shipping information to calculate a shipping quote. Prices on the website are for fish only, and do not include shipping. We ship via UPS and airport-airport via Delta Cargo. To quote a UPS price, we will need your zip code. To quote the cost of air cargo, we will need the airport you would like to use for pickup. Minimum order for UPS shipping is $35. Minimum order for cargo shipping is $100. Some fish may be required to ship with certian methods.

FOR UPS SHIPMENTS
Once shipping is quoted, we will respond with the total cost of your order with shipping included. In the case of UPS, there may be multiple options available for different methods. Once an agreement is reached, payment is arranged. Once payment is sent, the order is placed. Name, shipping address and phone number is all that is required to place a UPS order. UPS orders ship on Monday unless an exception is arranged. Orders must be placed by Thursday in order to ship the following Monday. Orders placed after Thursday will ship the following week. Please be aware of your local weather when placing an order. Low temperatures can be dealt with through packing and planning, but storms can cause delays. In times of extreme heat or extreme cold, orders can be shipped to a specified UPS store for pickup. This avoids the extra exposure the package would endure on the delivery vehicle. For orders delivered at the recipients address, please make sure someone is available to bring the box inside when it is delivered, so that it is not subjected to the elements any more than necessary.

FOR CARGO SHIPMENTS
Air cargo shipping is an affordable, very safe overnight option for shipments of large fish or large quantities of fish. Cargo shipments are airport to airport, with the recipient picking up the shipment at the cargo desk at the airport of their choice. Our primary cargo carrier at this time is Delta. Cargo desk hours vary by location, and flight times vary by destination. Cargo shipments are scheduled on days other than Monday, at least one week in advance of shipment date, depending on flight times and availability. Orders that are shipped via air cargo will need your airport and pickup availability to check flight times and quote cost. Shipments can be sent COD, but it is usually less expensive to pre-pay. To book a cargo shipment, an itinerary must be agreed upon between the buyer and seller, depending on flight times and scheduling availability. A cargo booking requires the name and address of the person picking up the shipment as it appears on the photo ID (diver's license) they will be using for pick-up. A phone number is also required, and an email may be given if the recipient would like to receive email updates.

DOA GUARANTEE AND SHIPPING
All shipments are 100% guaranteed with a standard DOA policy. DOA claims require positive, multiple clear proof of DOA. In case of DOA please record as much information as possible- condition of the water, box, packing material, bags, heat pack/cold pack condition, temperature of the water etc.., as any and all information that can be collected will help us identify the cause and prevent future issues. We have a very good live arrival rate -above 99.97% live arrival for all shipments, even 2nd and 3rd Day- and do everything we can to ensure that this remains the case. DOA guarantee may be voided by the customer, for example by mishandling the shipment, not picking up the shipment during extreme weather, or not acclimating correctly. Though we know that the customers of OKC Cichlids are experienced hobbyists who are competent in receiving and handling shipped fish, so this rarely happens.

We ship to all states in the USA. For Alaska shipping only air services are available (UPS Next Day Air, 2nd Day Air, and Cargo). Customers in Hawaii please inquire about ordering first, as a permit is required to ship to HI. Orders outside the USA please contact us to inquire.

PAYMENT
We accept PayPal, Venmo, and Cashapp, and can also accept some money orders, though money order is not the preferred method. Payment must be process before an order is finalized. Once payment is sent, the order is placed. Until the order is finalized, the fish has not been reserved, and still may be sold. We do our best to ensure that fish are not sold out from under potential buyers, and will double-check if an order has been discussed but not finalized if we have other buyers inquiring about the same fish at the same time. Fish can be reserved for future shipment for a limited amount of time with full payment, and subject to the terms of our hold policy. Please inquire for complete terms policy terms.

ACCLIMATION
Our fish at OKC Cichlids are raised in water that is hard and alkaline: pH 7-7.5~, total hardness >300mg/L CaCo3. For water chemistry that is close to ours, simple temperature acclimation is usually enough. For water chemistry that is significantly different, we recommend drip acclimation to prevent osmotic shock.

QUARANTINE
It is always best practice to quarantine fish, regardless of source. We will never sell a fish that is sick, and our fish are always bred to be resilient and resistant to disease. But because of the different environment and microbiome in different places, there is always a period of adjustment during which it is recommended to keep any new fish isolated. It is better to let the fish adjust to its new environment -and to let the environment to adjust to the newcomer- under controlled conditions, before releasing into the main tank or mixing with other fish.

SEXING DESIGNATIONS
How to read the sexing designations on the available fish page. Sexing that is denoted as just 'male' or 'female' on the available fish page, has been determined through venting. All sexing cannot be 110% guaranteed, but we are very good at venting, having so many years of experience doing it. We also have developed a classification scheme to quickly denote the surety of the sex determination. It is as follows:

'Unsexed' is used for small fish sold in bulk, where they are at a size that is not possible to sex or are sold by random pick in quantity. No sexing is given.
Typical sexing: 'male' or 'female' means that the fish was vented and the vent looks clearly male or clearly female.
Unsure sexing: 'likely male' or 'likely female' means that the fish was vented and the vent does not look clear, but we think it is a male or think that it is a female. This is usually a fish that was not in a social position to be likely to breed when pulled from the growout. In this case the vent may be retracted and not easily visible. In most cases in adult fish, we end up being right about these guesses, but feel that for full disclosure that it is useful to have this designation. Vent pictures are available upon request so the customer can make up their own mind.
Juvenile sexing: 'suspected male' or 'suspected female' is used in small fish that are too small to sex from venting. 'suspected' means that this sexing is our guess based on other cues (coloration, relative size, behavior, etc). We are fairly good at guessing, but this is still the least sure means of differentiation, and can be complicated by the fact that cichlids may change sex at small sizes.
Confirmed sexing: 'confirmed male' or 'confirmed female' means that the fish was vented and the vent looks clear, and also that the venting was corroborated by something else - for example, a confirmed male would have attempted to pair with a nearby female, or a female may have been seen to have dropped her egg tube. This sexing is the most sure short of 'proven' or 'laid eggs'.
Laid eggs (female only): 'female laid eggs' is a female who has been seen laying eggs. In some cases, if she did this in the shipping tank, we may even be able to provide a picture. Because our fish are grown out in large containers with opaque sides, a female who is not listed as having laid eggs may have already laid eggs in the growout, and just wasn't seen doing so. A female listed as having laid eggs means that she has laid eggs in front of us, and that we saw her doing it.
Proven: a 'proven male' is a male that we have seen successfully fertilizing eggs that have hatched. This may have been for us as a breeder, or we may have seen him raise fry in a growout. A 'proven female' is a female who has laid eggs that have hatched successfully, and has defended the young. We don't artificially rear fry, so we don't typically have trouble with females eating the wigglers. There is always a story to the 'proven' label, so feel free to inquire about any fish with this label for more information on their personal history.

If there is anything else you are wondering about our fish, how to order, or anything else we can do, please don't hesitate to ask at info@okccichlids.com We are also available through our social media pages.
Instagram.com/OKCCICHLIDS
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