Where do you find these fish????

[andypython]

I have kept and bred common kribs for a few years now and I am looking at expanding to some of the more interetsing and less common specis. But I am having a real hard time finding anything other then kribs in any local stores or even on their wholesalers lists.

I live in canada and that fact seems to preclude ordering fish form any of the web sites I have found which offer nanochromis transvestitus, parilus or any of the more interesting pelvicachromis sp.

If any one has had any experience aquiring these fish from north of the border I would greatly appreciate their advice.

Thank you all by the way for providing an excellent resource for those of us just beginning to expand our fish keeping horizons!

Andy

 

[dhm325]

I have not ordered from them since I live in the US, but you should try belowwater.com. They work out of Montreal. I think there is another importer located in Montreal also, but I don't remember their name. I think that Below Water has local dstributors, if you don't want to pay for door to door shipping, then maybe Below Water will tell you the names of some of the lfs in your area that they deal with.

 

[andypython]

thanks for the tip.

I checked out their website, but them will only sell wholesale in canada, I have emailed them about local distributors.

thanks again

 

[tjudy]

I would contact BelowWater directly. They may sell to you if there is not a retailer near you that they sell too. Often, importers will state the 'wholesale only' in order to stop an onslaught of small orders. If you are looking for West Africans, and are willing to wait until it is convenient for them to get to your order, they will probably sell to you.

Another option is to go to your LFS with BelowWater's list and say 'I want to order, care to tag on?' When I ran small stores I would almost always do this, since I could try out a new distributer while not having to order a large order. If the customer initiating the order wanted me to handle the whole transaction, I would charge 25% markup for the trouble. If the customer handled it, I would let them use my tax ID and store name, but not charge them any extra (their money up front.. I paid the customer when I got the fish).

 

[andypython]

thats a great idea, Ill see if any of the stores around here are interested.

thanks,

Andy

 

[Neil]

andypython,

WELCOME TO THE FORUM

Oliver Lucanus at Below Water has a great selection of many tough-to-find wild Dwarf Cichlids. That is where I would direct my attention too. You will need to make a fairly substantial order($300 I think), but he will sell to hobbyists.
Neil

 

[fisheads]

Hello Andypython,
I am in the Tronto area and I am willing to ship to B.C. if you are interested. I am only a hobbist but I have available right now Pel. tean. Kienke F1 pairs and Pel.pulcher fry from 3 different variants. I will have available for around the end of August to the beginning of Sept. Pel. Tean. Lobe F1, Pel. Tean. Moliwe F1, Benitochromis linkei "Ehom?"F1, Maybe Benitochromis nigrodorsalis (finleyi Moliwe), Apistogramma vejieta, Nannachromis parilus, and 4 different variants of Pel. pulcher. I also have lots of killifish available and other odd ball fish. Just drop me an e mail and I can let you know what else I have. I also know a couple of other hobbists that I can contact in the area that are working with Benitochromis guentheri guentheri, Lateracara Purple Gold, German Blue and Gold Rams, Apisto borelli and a couple of other dwarfs.

 

[andypython]

wow,
thank you very much for the offer. I have a few leads right now but I will keep you in mind if I havent had any luck!
thanks again

 

[Fogelhund]

fisheads - you have PM. I'd like to come and see what fish you've got, and set up a tank once I've settled in my new house for some Westies.

 

[coenga]

and 4 different variants of Pel. pulcher.

Hi,

that is very interesting IMO.

Are these pulcher coming from wild caught stocks ?
Do you have pics of these fish ?

Just because Pv pulcher is usually from long time bred lineage and that the description of Pv pulcher complex and strains stays shadowy in my mind. We do not have usually the fishing location of wild caught pulcher as we have (in so numerous forms) for Pv taeniatus.

best regards.

 

[Fogelhund]

Haydan..you still around??

 

[fisheads]

Sorry Guys, I am still around but Hal (My Computer) had a melt down. Just got it back last night from my friend I going to be busy all week end answering E-mail. Anyone I owe an E-mail to be patience I will get it to you this week end.
In answer to the questions about the Pel. pulcher types that I have 3 are different wild collected locations, one is an albino form from europe with lots of gold, and the last type that I have is a cross between 2 of the wild types. I am going to try and get some pictures posted this week now that I have Hal operational again. The first wild collection that I have is now on it's fourth generation and I recieved it from an import out Germany about 4 years ago. It does not have an exact collection location but the source that I received it from is impeccable so I am sure that it is a wild collection. I call the Cherry Reds or German Reds. The whole belly on the male/female is a bright cherry red from the dark black latteral line stripe on down especially when spawning. Doth the male and female have dorsal and tail spoting that is extremely variable from one or two spots the as many as 13 dorsal spots that I counted on one female. The F3 generation has also shown a small number of sports that show a bright gold colour in the fins and the back. I hope to develope this as a fixed colour variant in the near future. This fish rivals Pel. sacrimentis in colour but does not grow nearly as big.
The second wild type I received about 3 years ago from the same german source mixed in with Pel. Teaniatus but they were actually Pel. Affins suboccelatus from the Etiop river system ( unfortunatly I was never able to breed the affins suboccelatus) I was able to bred the Pel. pulcher though with much difficulty. The are a classic type Form B Pulcher with the dark lateral line, spotting only in the females fins, green face colour and the male with the red belly when spawning.The females breeding colour is very interesting in that she gets a small amout of red in the belly with a bright silver patch above it similar to Pel. taeniatus. The interesting thing about this fish that has made me keep it is that is the hardest pulcher type that I have had to spawn. The females are ultra aggressive often killing males out right when introduced into the same tank. If you do mange to get a pair to except each other they often eat eggs or their fry for no apperant reason. I have one pair right now that tolerates each other in a 65 gallon tank and some fry on the way up.
The third wild type I am still growing up as they are wild fish. They were collected south of Lagos Nigeria and had Pel. Taeniatus mixed in (Looks like Nigerian Green) they came in as Yellow kribensis. So I don't have much info on this fish as of yet.
The cross that I have comes from a friend that recieved some of the Pel. german reds and the Pel.p etiop river from me. he lost the Pel. p. etiop river male ( no suprise ) and his Pel. p German red female. I recieved them back from him with about 7 fry in the bag.I split the pair up and grew the fry up out of curiosity and was amazed by the colour. It is a fish with a bright red belly, red fins and a lime green back. I don't usually keep crosses but this would make an excellent pet store fish.

 

[Fogelhund]

Bump, still awaiting Private Message response.