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FAQs about the Business of Freshwater Fish and
Invertebrate Livestock
Related Articles: Business Livestocking, Stocking
a Business, Open Letter to the Trade re
Quarantining Livestock, Growing
Reef Corals For Profit, Pond Service
Business, Don't Sell
Non-Aquatic Plants!, Live Plants &
Macro-Algae (IZOO 98 Report), Marine
Macro-Algae, Ornamental
Marine Algae/How to Raise & Market It,
Compatible
Marine Species, Marine
Fishes, Selection, Display in the Industry, Damsels,
Clownfishes, Hawkfishes,
Related FAQs: Livestock Business 1,
Livestock Business 2, Livestock
Business 3, Marine Wholesale,
& FAQs on: Wholesalers,
Transshippers,
Jobbers, & Sources For: FW Plants,
Pondfishes/Comets, Marine Algae,
SW Invertebrates,
SW Fishes, &
From/By Source Countries, & Facilities:
Collecting Stations, Holding Systems,
Breeding/Aquaculture, &
Research,
Tradeshows, Crooked Dealings,
CITES, Tariffs, Permits, Other Confiscatory
Conventions, Moving Livestock,
Growing
Reef Corals,
Tridacnid
Clam Biz,
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Some Dealers/Organizations Mentioned:
OFI, http://www.ornamental-fish-int.org/
Dolphin International,
http://www.dolphin-int.com/
http://www.guphy.com
Piranti Aquatica, www.pirantiaquatica.com
.
Aquatic Indonesia,
aquatic@indo.net.id
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About gold fish and tropical fish,
China supplier to the trade -
3/21/08
Dear Sir/Madam,
We are a large-scale specialized company dealing with all kinds of
aquarium fish business in Shanghai, and we have our own breeding farm with an
area of 330,000 square meters which is the largest ornamental breeding base all
over China.
With the approval of China National Inspection and Guarantee Office, the
water quality of our farm is fine and pollution free, therefore, the aquarium
fish is extremely beautiful and lovely and has a good reputation from domestic
and international customers.
Please find here below link to our website, where you can find our company
profile:
www.aquariahome.cn
We will be re-contacting soon with some price offers.
Meantime, if you have any inquiries, please don't hesitate to contact us..
Kind regards,
Business Development Manager:Joanna Ouyang
Shanghai Aquaria Home Development Co., Ltd (China)
Shanghai Luminous Trading & Development Co., Ltd
Add: 2F, No.99 Huichuan Road, Modern Universe Business Plaza,
Shanghai, China, 200050
Tel:86-21-52732800 *1322
Mob:86-13761562070
Fax: 86-21-52732801
Email: joanna@aquariahome.cn
MSN:joanna-oyl@hotmail.com
Web: www.aquariahome.cn
<Mmm, we don't sell livestock, but will post your contact info. on
WetWebMedia.com for others use. Bob Fenner>
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A question for Mr. Fenner, FW
store... lvstk. sel., sys. 2/1/08
Hi Bob,
<Niki>
Hope this message finds you well. We are building our freshwater system and are
in the process of making 5 or 6 beautiful individual rows. Right now, however,
we only have one row up. The issue is that we have several different kinds of
fish that require different ph and I'm not sure where to put my chemistry to
best suit all of them.
<Mmm, from the list provided... there are some brackish water animals... the
mollies and dragon goby... that should be put in such... And some broadly more
soft, acidic and harder, more alkaline distinctions you could make... Though, if
there is insufficient desire/room to have more separated sumps to service them,
all others (than the brackish) listed here could be accommodated in near neutral
(7 ish pH) and moderately hard water... I would make a few comments... I'd drop
the Chinese Algae Eater (Gyrinocheilus)... both the natural and golden variety,
too much bad news with its aggressive nature... Am assuming you're aware of
differences in temperaments in some of these fishes, the large size of the
Pseudoplatystoma... I'd have larger tanks in the upper rows... and likely no
smaller than 15-20 gallons below...>
Once we have our separate rows up we can make individual systems, but in the
meantime would you take a look at my list of fish and make a recommendation? The
koi and goldfish are in another system, so they are not in the equation. Right
now the parameters are:
Temp-78.5
Ph-7.9
<Mmm, a bit high... I'd blend in some "cleaner" water here. Perhaps an R.O.
device above/near the sumps...>
Salinity-0
DO-101.2
<Dissolved oxygen? Is this a percent of saturation?>
NH4-<.25
<Should be 0.0>
NO2-0
NO3-25
<I'd keep this under 20 ppm maximum>
Thank you so very much for your consideration.
Warm Regards, Niki Englerth
<I am going to share your list, note with my friend and colleague Neale Monks
for his able input here as well. Cheers, Bob Fenner>
Re: FW Store lvstkg., Neale's input
2/3/08
Hello Niki, Bob,
I did look over the list of livestock. For the most part, I'd simply point
out that soft water fish tend to do better in moderately hard
water than hard water fish do in soft water. So given you're working
with a bunch of species, aim for a pH around 7.5 and a hardness in
"moderately hard" range around, say, 10-15 degrees dH. Stockists here in
the UK routinely hold Neons and other tetras at up to pH 8 in very hard
water (that's what we have in Southern England) but this *doesn't*
always work well with Apistogramma, wild-caught South
American Loricariids, etc. Rio Xingu stuff especially is sensitive, so
watch this with your L-number plecs.
You do have a couple of brackish fish on the list -- Sciades seemanni
("Arius jordani") and Gobioides broussonnetii. Both of these get
traded as freshwater fish I know, but their longevity under such
conditions cannot be guaranteed. In other words, they last a while,
and then get sick and die. If you get them out the door in 2-3 months,
fine, but otherwise they do need brackish water.
Also worth mentioning are the Colisa lalia; the Singaporean stock is of
abominable quality. According to one study by vets, 22% have a
viral infection that is contagious and seemingly 100% fatal. So do
source these carefully.
To be honest, the same thing is probably true about Microgeophagus
ramirezi. The quality of these is extremely poor, and because they
almost automatically get sick when kept too cold (anything less than
28C) and are super-sensitive to nitrate, the life expectancy of these
fish is only a few months by the time the aquarist gets them. There are
much better dwarf cichlids out there. Pelvicachromis species are
colourful, hardy, and easier to keep, and would be one place to start.
Everyone knows the common krib, but it has some nice relatives like
Pelvicachromis taeniatus and Pelvicachromis subocellatus worth sourcing.
I'm not a big fan of serpae tetras (Hyphessobrycon callistus). These are
fin-and-scale eating fish in the wild, and in aquaria attack
everything they're kept with. Total waste of time really, unless you're
going to tell every purchaser that they cannot mix them with
anything. Leporinus fasciatus is a potentially very nasty fish that
feeds on scales in the wild, so again, that's a fish for the specialist
in my opinion.
As Bob mentioned, Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum is a huge fish. Not
profitable for you, because the market for a 3' catfish is small and
it'll tie up a whole tank to itself. Shouldn't be in the trade really.
If you want a predatory catfish, then I'd be looking for something like
Chrysichthys ornatus. It gets to about 8-9", and while very
predatory (can eat things as big as juvenile blue gouramis) it is fine
with fish of its own size like Synodontis, bichirs, largish cichlids,
etc. Also happens to look really nice and is utterly indifferent to
water chemistry.
Scleropages jardini is one of the most aggressive fish in the trade.
Be careful what you keep with these fish, and don't expect groups to
coexist.
I am not convinced "Opaline gouramis" are Colisa lalia; last I checked
they were Trichogaster trichopterus.
Hope this is helpful.
Cheers, Neale
<Thank you so much Neale. BobF>> |
Goldfish, wholesale, from China... –
06/28/07
Dear Sirs or Madams,
<Howzit?>
We are a private-operated corporation long standing and high reputation, engaged
in the import and export of ornamental fish in China. We have a grow-out area of
5000m2, which holds 3000 tons of water. It is especially built to cater for our
clients from overseas current and future demands. We stock fishes, feed them
with good supply of nutrients and water to further improve their health and
colour. We have established a network of good farmers, who adopt good farming
management practices, providing quality fishes, advice and support. Meanwhile,
we are also equipped with 700 quarantine tanks and good packing facilities for
quality assurance.
<Nice>
We have obtained your company from the internet and understood that you are
Importers of ornamental fish. As this item falls within the scope of our
business activities, we are glad to send you this introductory letter to express
our desire to enter into business relationships with you.
To give a general idea of various kinds of ornamental fish we enclose our sample
list with prices on FOB Shanghai Airport basis for your kind reference.
We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Yours Sincerely,
Joanna
Assistant Trade Manager
Shanghai Luminous Trading & Development Co., Ltd
Tel: 86-21-52730072-202
Fax: 86-21-52732801
E-mail: Ksymm10@163.com
guangli_joanna1@yahoo.com
Ouyangling518@hotmail.com
Website: www.aquariahome.cn
<Thank you for writing. We don't deal in livestock, but will post your
message for others to find you. Cheers, Bob Fenner, WetWebMedia.com> FW Wholesale/import. Colombian species in season List 2/4/07
Dear Friends
Please look our web site www.stingrayaquarium.com
<http://www.stingrayaquarium.com>, there you will find commercial information
for 190 items
best regards
Yudy Alcantara
CI-STINGRAY AQUARIUM COLOMBIA LTDA
<Will post, share. Bob Fenner>
Offer of tropical fish Indonesia
Hi...
My name is Tita (Ms), I am marketing division of Aquatic Indonesia. on 2002 I
received your mail about tropical fishes.
are you still import live tropical fishes ? We have very large stock of
freshwater fish, marine fish, coral and aquatic plant.
And we have special offer price for some fishes. Please feel free to contact me
for further information, we are ready to send you our stock list available.
We are interest to make business with you and hope we have good relations
business in near future
Thanks and regards
TITA
Marketing division
CV. Aquatic Indonesia
aquatic@indo.net.id
phone: +62-251-360715 / mobile : +62-813-10-58-58-35
Fax : +62-251-333786
<Thank you for your note. We will place your information on our site,
www.WetWebMedia.com in the hopes others will contact you. Bob Fenner>
From Indo. to the U.S.... learning the freshwater livestock biz 30 Jun
2005
Hi Bob,
<Nicky>
I have got you mail at wetwebmedia.com, and I hope it is OK to email you for
questions since you are quite an expert in the fish industry. My name Nicky
Ferdyan. My parents own a freshwater fish farm back home in Indonesia (a
pretty big one).
<Ah, which part of Indonesia? On Java, about where?>
They have quite numbers of species including the rare ones.
So far their business is limited to supply only to local exporters. They
know what kind quality fish that the exporters want. Since I am in United
States, they have been urging me to learn how to sell our fish here. Now
since they are farmers they can really compete with the price. Do you have
any advise where I should start from?
<A Big question... I would start with talking with a friend of mine (who called
"out of the blue" last night), Steve Lundblad of Dolphin International, the
premier supplier of freshwater livestock in this part of the world. Their site,
contact info. here:
http://www.dolphin-int.com/>
I have no clue at all. I am thinking
of getting my import license, and import the fish my self but where do I
sell the fish?
<There is a huge number of issues to address here. I strongly encourage you NOT
to proceed until you've worked with some other businesses here in the States...
For one, there are some folks that don't pay their bills... For two, there are
numerous laws one must be aware of, documents to file, arrangements with
airlines, likely a holding facility (even if you're just transshipping) to build
out... I'd "get your feet wet" on other folks time for now>
This very risky. Anyway Thank You for reading this email,
and looking forward for the reply.
Nicky Ferdyan
<Do call Steve... ask his opinions on how to proceed, ask where you might work
for a few months. Bob Fenner>
Indian FW Livestock Breeder/Supplier 1/4/06
Dear Sir,
<Hi there>
We would like to introduce our self as a breeder or cultivator of different
kinds of fresh water fish, based in Kolkata (India). We have our breeding center
on various districts of West Bengal depending on climatic conditions for proper
breeding and high quality.
We would like to know your requirements so that we can send you our
detailed rates and broachers for export from India. Our port of loading is
Kolkata (CCU).
Thanking you and aiming our best services always with an anticipation of your
prompt reply.
Yours Sincerely,
Ayondeep Ganguly
<We don't sell livestock... or anything else for that matter. But will post your
company's offers, URL if you'd like to send this along. Cheers, Bob Fenner>
Fishes, FW, West African (Nigeria) 12/31/06
Dear Sir, I am Mr. Gilead Uzoma, Assistant Aquarium manager of (CYNDI
TROPICALS LIMITED). we are exporters of live tropical fishes from West Africa
(Nigeria). I got your e-mail address on the net and I'm sure you deal on
ornamental fishes fresh water fish precisely. So I'm writing you to introduce
our company to you to know if you will be interested to see our price list with
references both in USA and Europe to be sure we are in the business truly. So i
can forward you our price list. Thanks and hope to hear from you soon. for:
CYNDI TROPICALS LIMITED
Gilead Uzoma Asst. Aqua. Manager www.cynditropical.com
<We don't sell livestock, but will place your listing and email address on our
site for others use. Bob Fenner>
Breeding, supplying cichlids for profit
Hello,
For the past month or so I have been researching everything I can find on
breeding and importing Cichlids. That's when I came across your
website which is great, very informative. I want to start a business
supplying the local fish stores and general public with high quality Cichlids as
the selection around me is pretty pitiful.
<Where are you located?>
Eventually I may put up a website but I'm kind of far from an airport so I'm
guessing shipping would be difficult.
<Yes, possible trouble. How will you get your live product to your customers?
Have you looked into FedEx, UPS?>
This is my second attempt at breeding Cichlids for profit. The first
time I tried I did everything wrong and ended up getting out of it.
This time I want to start out right and I'm hoping you can help. In
your experience is it possible for me to make money supplying local fish stores?
<Has been done, yes>
I don't need to make a fortune (it would be nice though) I'm just looking to
bring home some extra cash. Also Could you supply me with maybe a punch list of
things to do to get started. Also maybe some tips on how to set-up my
tanks and centralized filter system to make it as maintenance free as possible
without costing me a fortune.
<These items are archived on the WWM site. Do read through the Business
Index/subweb>
I will continue to read the articles on your site as I'm sure most of the
information I'm looking for is in there. But I am eager to start and
was hoping you could direct me to the right articles or provide any help you
can. Thanks in advance for your help.
Thanks, Steve Bruni
<Do study and keep good notes for now... while drawing up plans, looking for
used gear (in good shape). Bob Fenner>
Website Link
Dear Mr. Bob Fenner & Mr. Jason C. ,
Let us introduce our company - PIRANTI AQUATICA - as Indonesian Exporter of
Ornamental Fish & Aquatic Plant. We are very interested to be listed in your
Link section, under Business - Live Stock Sources : Freshwater Fish section. For
your further consideration, please review our website : www.pirantiaquatica.com
.
Hope it can meet your requirement to be listed.
Thank you very much & Happy fish business !
Best regards,
Elan Patria
Piranti Aquatica
Jakarta - Indonesia
<Thank you for your note. Will post your link tomorrow. Bob Fenner>
Amazon tropical fish and stingrays from Venezuela
Dear Sirs.: We are a Venezuelan company established 10 years ago dedicated
to the exportation of Amazon Tropical fishes and fresh water stingrays. In the
past years our markets
involved Germany, Japan and some cities of North-East of the United States of
America, with an excellent record.
Now, we are in disposition to present to your prestige company our great
selection of Amazon
fishes and our special stingrays of fresh water (wild caught).
We are delivering in our commitment in sending the best quality, healthiest and
beautiful fishes in
the market and a constant wide range of species.
We are dedicated to offer our customers an excellent service and prompt replies.
After all, this
is a long-term business relationship we are trying to make.
Please, send us an e-mail and we will talk how we can do business together.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely yours,
Rafael E. Cárdenas
<We aren't directly involved in the trade (that is commercially), but
can/will post your message, URL (if you have a website), or e-address on
WetWebMedia.com's aquatics business subweb if you'd like. Please send along the
information you want posted. Bob Fenner>
Nigerian fish source
To All -
I was visited by Alfred Olorunlona recently, a Nigerian who brought be a fish price list and is trying to develop a fish exporting station business in Nigeria. He is seeking American markets for large quantities. You may wish to contact him directly to discuss how he works these deals and whether he can get additional species. I would greatly appreciate any feedback from people, perhaps by copying me on your email exchanges. This looks like a nice opportunity to bring in new stocks. Note that imports are notoriously off the mark on species identifications, so what are listed here might in part be previously unknown species. I think this is worth pursuing, and would like to know how you fare.
Please pass this on to other aquarium groups. - Bob Goldstein
<Robert, does Mr. Olaniran have an email address or URL or even physical address he wants to send along for our posting or referral? Bob Fenner, WetWebMedia>
Thank you!!
East ornamental fish (commercial freshwater producer/supplier)
Dear Sir/Madam,
Sorry to interrupt you. I'm Jason Gao from Star-Trend & Guphy Fish
Farm, Shanghai. We get your information from internet. We are a very nice
supplier of goldfish, Koi and tropical fish in Shanghai, China. We will try our
utmost to build a very nice cooperation with you.
Our farm was established as a Nishikigoi nursery in 1992. We have more than 50
storing ponds in the land of 130,000©O. We are one of the largest fish farm in
Shanghai, specialize in breeding freshwater fish such as Nishikigoi, goldfish,
tropical fish etc. A large number of fish breeds are re-selected by us and these
in inferior are abandoned. We have a great confidence in quality by paying a
special attention to the health condition of our fish. We made a large delivery
world-wide and domestic market under the perfect condition, live fish delivering
system constructed by our experience in the past several years, so we have
successfully offered the very reasonable price.
We know clearly longtime cooperation must be based on sincerity, frankness and
seriousness, and the most important is high quality fish, excellent service and
suitable price. These just our best advantages. Maybe you have already had some
suppliers in other countries and cities, we still wish you could have a try from
us.
It is our great pleasure to be of any help for the customers to get freshwater
fish directly from China. We sincerely recommend you to have a try from us. We
are sure you will be fully satisfied with them.
We will be very appreciated if you could send us a response after you receive it
and give us your advice.
Yours sincerely,
Jason Gao
Shanghai Star-Trend & Guphy Fish Farm
Tel: +86-21-65872583
Fax: +86-21-65872583
Address: Room 2009 No.1 Alley 100,E.Ti Yuhui Rd., Shanghai P.C. 200081
E-mair:jason@guphy.com
http://www.guphy.com
<Thank you for your message. Though we aren't in the livestock (or drygoods)
business ourselves, I will place your notice on our website
(www.WetWebMedia.com) and send it around to friends/associates within the trade
to help generate interest for you. Bob Fenner>
Fish stores
Hello I was reading your vast array of information, on fish to business
ideas. Well I have a couple questions, first how do I contact a whole saler
from Brazil?
<Mmm, research (on the Net likely, or the OFI perhaps... their link on WWM)
to find such a firm/possibility (or maybe write the Brazilian
government/business and ask for their help in identifying contacts>
I want to get some stingrays and piranhas. Second where or if it's
even possible to own a freshwater bull shark.
<Mmm, have never seen this done successfully... like their family members,
hard to keep>
Do you think if I sell fish from
my garage, I will make a good amount of money?
<Not easy to do... takes a while to get known well enough... how would you
advertise, make yourself, your livestock known to perspective customers? How
would you ship, do commerce with them? I suggest working at either an e-tailers
and/or retail fish store for a few months to gain insights...>
So I can open up a store mind
that I am only 21yrs.old thanks a lot for your time.
<Does not matter how old you are... Only what you are able, willing to try to
do. Bob Fenner>
Sean Santyos
Malawi Cichlid Exporters
Hi
I'm a Danish breeder of cichlids from Lake Malawi and I'm looking for addresses from exporters in Malawi. At the moment I only have the
address to Mr. Stuart M.
Grant, but I know that there are others. I've heard of a company called Malawi
Aquatics Ltd and they should be located in Chipoka, but I can't find any info
about them. Can You please help me with addresses?|
<My best help is to refer you to a friend, associate in the trade, Mr. Pablo
Tepoot of New Life Enterprises. In Florida his business numbers: 305-245-1906,
fax 305-248-7450. I will cc him on the Net, but he has told me he rarely checks
same... no doubt from his many business commitments: Raising African Cichlids on
their two farms, make fish foods, writing/publishing/distributing books
(including two on Cichlids). Be chatting, Bob Fenner>
Best Regards
Carsten K. Larsen
www.malawicarsten.dk
Fish Wholesalers
Hello,
I am a new (7 months) pet store owner and was wondering if you would
recommend any fish wholesalers for the following:
Freshwater Fish - I currently order from local suppliers (oversea imports)
who generally supply decent stock but have limited selection. I tried
Ekkwill several times but always suffered very high losses due to apparent
bacterial infections that did not respond to any treatment, so I am a bit
gun shy of Florida farm fish as others in the trade have told me they have
had similar experiences. I am looking primarily for community and south
American cichlids/catfish as I am very happy with our African cichlid
suppliers (Old World and Exotic Tropicals (local)).
<Am surprised at your experiences with Ekkwill... we should talk over your
acclimation procedures. Have you read those posted on WWM? Here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/acclimat.htm>
Saltwater Fish - I currently order exclusively from Quality Marine and have
been extremely happy with the quality of their stock but was wondering if
their are other suppliers you would recommend.
<Sea Dwelling Creatures is a nice alternative to QM: salesmanager@seadwelling.com,
Maybe All Seas if you know what to pick/choose from them.>
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Richard
<Need to know a bit more about you, your business. Where are you located?
What size (volume, turn) is your store? Do you have a specialty, like live
plants, reef... that you do or would like to emphasize. Please do read through
the Business Index of WetWebMedia.com for others input that is archived. Bob
Fenner>
Introduction (Freshwater, Marine Livestock from Brazil)
Date: Mon, 1 Jul 2002 18:52:58 -0300
<Thanks for this. Will post on our sites for your exposure. Bob Fenner,
WetWebMedia.com>
DISCUS AMAZONAS RIVER- PIRANHAS
SPECIAL PRICE, DIRECT FROM RIVER TO YOU
UNBELIEVABLE PRICE BRAZILIAN FISHES
MARINE ATLANTIC
FRESH WATER AMAZON RIVER DISCUS GREEN - FOUR COLORS
RED-Piranhas
SPOT BLUE ETC
IGUABA OCEAN
RUA SÃO PEDRO 4O
, IGUABA -RIO DE JANEIRO
BRASIL
FAX-55 21 22648222
EMAIL: iguabaocean@yahoo.com.br
iguabaoc@vento.com.br , BRASIL MARINE FISH-promocion
salminus maxillosus
SEAHORSES YELLOW; BLACK, RED
PROMOCION
-POMACANTHUS PARU French angel LARGE -30CM ETC
dear sirs we are a company established in Rio de Janeiro (BRASIL )
since1993,
we are specialized in
marine and freshwater fishes > can dispatch to around the world with
good
freight rate and good connections
to make shipment arrival on able time
fresh water : Potamotrygon leopoldi, potamotrygon motoro, arapaima
gigas,
salminus maxillosus, wild discus( Amazon region), plecosL-46 + L-25+
L14+L-15 +L17
saltwater fishes : queen angel ( show size around 30cm), French angel show
Cuban hog , gray angel, red sea horse, yellow sea horse, flame back angel
,(better price from brazil), royal Gramma (better price from brazil),
Spanish hog, golden ell
and much more we are waiting for your
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