I guess fancy fish is the theme of the week. I some angelfish that are fancier than my normal mix, some bushynose that are a lot fancier than normal browns and albinos, and flowerhorns with a fancy name and lineage.
Not a terrible sales week, especially for summertime. Import shipments include Colombia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Bangkok, plus I got a couple deliveries from some specialty Florida breeders.
Yssichromis piceatus are in stock for the first time ever. I was a Victorian cichlid geek long before this job so this has always been one of my dream fish. Yssichromis are a genus of (originally) open water zooplankton feeders, somewhat like Tanganyikan Cyprichromis. Most of the open water fish were eaten nearly to extinction when Nile perch were introduced to the lake but some species were able to adapt to different niches in the lake like rocky habitats, or schooling with cyprinids. Yssichromis piceatus are either extinct or critically endangered in the wild, and I'm only able to offer them for sale because they've been kept alive by groups like CARES and AZA. Several years back they ended up at the University of Florida Tropical Aquaculture Lab and from there were spread out to Florida fish farmers. Their place in the hobby seems relatively secure now, and even if they're never re-introduced to the lake the the fact that they exist is testament to the work of many dedicated breeders over many decades. Nobody wants to pronounce Yssichromis so maybe sell them as 'Hap' piceatus. I'm seeing 'pitch black hap' as a common name but there's a lot of Vics with a black breeding dress.
Done geeking out on that fish and I'll move on to fish that your customers may want. I got in decent numbers of some fancy bushynose this week. The best value ones are the longfin lemondrops. Keep in mind lemondrop is not the same as the lemon blue eyes. These are not yellow fish, they have yellow(ish) spots. They're a good value because they're not much more than the standard longfin busynose and they're twice the size. The lemondrop yellow(ish) spots is just an added bonus.
I have more variety in import fancy goldfish than I've seen in months. Celestial-eye goldfish are in stock for the first time in ages. They look pretty good but they have some conformation issues. Bodies are a little longer than I'd like, but they don't have humpy backs. Eyes are not exactly pointing straight up but that's probably better for the fish. They're at least 2", a bit bigger than I expected. These came in Monday and seem pretty stable. I feel pretty good about sending them out next week.
Want a Fly River turtle? This is a like a freshwater sea turtle. Unlike anything else in the entire world. Fully aquatic so they even work in a fish only store as long as you have a huge tank. How do you get one? Bid early and often in the first ever USARK-FL online auction. There's also a Galapagos tortoise, other rare turtles, a black dragon water monitor, ball python morphs if you prefer snakes that don't move, and lots more. One of the biggest issues for USARK-FL is fighting a white list for our state. This will impact fish just as much as herps, so here's a great way for you to contribute and also get some cool animals. You can find all of the details on their social media sites here and here and you can register here for the auctions coming up tomorrow.
Please give a call if you have any questions.
Thanks,
Joe Hiduke Sales Manager Nautilus
Yssichromis piceatus
Longfin Lemondrop Bushynose
Celestial Eye Goldfish
Fly River Turtle! Available in the USARK-FL online fundraising auction this weekend. Gohere to register.
Tetras and Relatives
Wild Colombian red phantom tetras are very nice. They came in big and already have good color. They'll just get better as they get more acclimated. Bleeding hearts are pretty good size. Gold tetras look good. Might have a few small ruby tetras left. Red hooks are very nice, small but with pretty clean fins and showing lots of red.
Florida-bred Colombian tetras got a fair bit bigger this week. They're not super colorful yet but they are nice size and they'll get brighter after a few days here. Orange von rios are still fantastic, big and super colorful. Longfin blushers, longfin serpaes, gold pristellas, and penguin tetras all look good too.
Black phantoms are still the nicest far-east farm tetra. They're big and have great color. Found a few more albino Congo tetras. Green fire tetras are back in stock. A few other imports that look good include glass bloodfins, ember tetras, and rummynose tetras.
Red Phantoms
Red Hook
Colombian Tetras
Longfin Blushers
Gold Pristellas
Bloodfins
Green Fire Tetras
Barbs, Danios & Relatives
Black ruby barbs are once again among the nicest fish here. I know it looks the same but I'm sending a different pic every week of a different batch of fish. They're consistently big and bright now. Rosy barbs got a fair bit bigger and brighter this week. Some other Florida fish that look good include rainbow dace (not Florida but domestic), medium and large tiger barbs, giant danios, gold zebra danios, and longfin gold zebras. Skip the red glass barbs, the size and quality is terrible right now.
Import green tiger barbs are in again. Size is OK and the color is nice. Albino tiger barbs got a little bigger, they're a bit bigger than the greens. Checkerboard barbs aren't showing much color yet. Still have limited numbers of great size emerald dwarf rasboras. Gold white clouds are small but nice, with bright red tails.
Black Ruby Barbs
Rosy Barbs
Longfin Gold Zebra Danios
Green Tiger Barbs
Albino Tiger Barbs
Gold White Clouds
Livebearers
Sword selection is about the same, but check back on Monday. Green swords are still the biggest and nicest. Domestic and and a pretty good male/female ratio. Pineapple swords are good size and bright but very female heavy. Same with the neon swords.
Bumblebee platies are in stock again. Always one of the prettiest and most popular of the platies. Blue mickey mouse, candy cane mickies, and neon coral highfin platies are very nice too.
A few guppies that look good include platinums, pink tux, blue lyretails, lemons, and tricolor dumbos.
Got some wild Florida sailfin mollies. The Singapore greens are kinda similar but a fired up wild sailfin has way brighter color than any farm-raised green or silver sailfin. They get a ton of blue in the fins and yellow in the chest when they're happy and courting or sparring. Keep in mind these are wild collected, and in the wild the sex ratio is about 1 male to a group of 8-12 females, so that's about what you should expect to receive. The good news is the females are huge and mostly pregnant, so very good value.
Neon Swordtails
Bumblebee Platies
Candy Cane Mickey Mouse Platies
Pink Tux Guppies
Wild Florida Sailfin Mollies
New World Cichlids
In many ways the opposite of the Yssichromis I started with, I have new red warrior flowerhorns. I find flowerhorn names to be as dumb as ball python or coral frag names, but here we are. This is a kampfa cross, I think with a Florida fish. So not a pure kampfa but still one that gets lots and lots a red and a big stupid hump (I hate the humps on fronstosas too, I'm not just biased against humps on hybrid fish). In spite of dumb names and conformation that I don't like, I do like selling these fish. They get big and are super personable. Crazy amount of color on them. And they're incredibly hardy. Tankmates can be tricky, but they're so interactive that they do well as a pet fish in tank by themselves. They get along (sort of) at this size, but as adults they're a lot more challenging to mix with other fish.
I have some new red-spot turquoise severums. This is a great looking fish when it gets big. These are not big. If you look close at the pic you can already see some blue in the face. When these get a little bigger they'll have plenty of blue plus lots of red spots. If you want color now I got in more red-spot gold severums. Not juiced, these are Florida bred and have great natural color. I have a few small gold severums too that aren't as nice but are a lot cheaper than the red-spots.
Got a new batch of Honduran red-points. These are either a pretty locale specific convict or a closely related species that looks like a pretty convict. They are way brighter than any convict in the trade, with a crazy blue flush over the whole body and lots of red in the fins. Right now they're about half grown and showing nice color, but they'll get way brighter as they grow.
A few other Florida cichlids that look good include regular and medium balzanis, medium heckeli, 3" chocolate cichlids, and 3" red devils.
Got a few new pearlscale angels this week. I have a medium gold pearlscale, plus regular sized smokey and silver pearlscales. Florida bred and very solid. If you want something fancier I have Florida bred Bulgarian green sealpoints back in stock.
Still getting medium German blue rams, and these are well worth the higher price. The regular size is very nice too, but the mediums are considerably bigger right now. Black rams are nice size and pretty dark. Gold rams are a little small but look good, and I have import electric blues and balloon rams. Import Bolivian rams are great size with very nice color.
Longfin oscars came in from Indo this week. No color (they're all common oscars) but the fins are noticeably long fins. Fins are a little ratty on the ones with the longest fins. Still have chili oscars that came in last week, lemon oscars, and plenty of albinos, reds and red tigers.
Red Warrior Flowerhorn
Older sibling
Parents
Red-Spot Turquoise Severum
Red-Spot Gold Severums
EB Carpintis
Honduran Red Point
3" Red Devil
Gold Pearlscales
Smokey Pearlscales
Bulgarian Green Sealpoint
Longfin Oscars
Assorted Singapore Discus
Old World Cichlids
Got a new batch of ruby green haps this week. Like the piceatus, this is a Victorian fish. And like nearly all Vics, they're precocious breeders so the dominant males are in full color at about 2", and the females will be holding even smaller than that. For other Vics, I still have jet black medium black velvets, nice zebra obliques, Uganda fire haps, and albino kyoga flamebacks.
Got in some new OB fuelleborni in a couple sizes this week. The regular size is nice and the mediums are even nicer. They look like they have an overbite as they graze nearly parallel to their substrate, scraping algae in a slightly different way than most mbunas. Albino zebras, auratus, red zebras, Likoma elongatus, and limited numbers of avanti yellowtail zebras look good too.
I have a new Florida bred 'blueberry peacock' on the list, although that's probably not the right name. There's a mix of blue and red OB types, so I guess some blueberry and some strawberry types. Plus there's some non-OBs in the mix that aren't juiced so they're not real bright, but they are already getting some color. Nice way to get a good mix of colors at a good price if you're a little patient with them.
Apparently my red-stratus aren't a great summertime fish as they're still here. Your gain, they're on special this week and you can get an awesome fish at a better price. This is a rostratus cross with the crazy blue/green face, dark fins, and lots of blue/green and red on the body. Unlike anything else out there.
Still have some amazing OB red empress, some medium male red empress (probably not pure but they have nice color), albino sunshine peacocks, and a nice medium mix male peacock.
Ruby Green Vics
Fuelleborni
OB Fuelleborni Md
Albino Zebras
Mixed berry peacocks. Blueberry, strawberry, and some that aren't OBs (yet?).
Redstratus Hybrid Hap
Red Empress(ish)
Medium Mixed Male Florida-Bred Peacocks
Catfish and Loaches
Threadfin farlowella are in from Colombia. Really neat loricarid with crazy long fin extensions. Usually pretty solid once they acclimate, but be careful with their tankmates as their fin streamers will be irresistible to any fish with nippy tendencies. Still have some bigger royal farlowellas, and standard farlowellas that came in huge.
Colombian snowballs came in a fair bit bigger this week. Colombian zebras may be a little smaller. Still have lots of green phantoms. Blue panaques get a little bluer every week. You can already some color on their fin edges. Lots of new nice size wild bushynose too.
Julii are the wild cories most likely to get filled this week. I'm carrying over lots from last week and they're doing well. Arcuatus skunk cories came in a little small, but they look good, they may be OK to go. Metae and gold/green are very limited. Got lots of pygmaeus, ask your rep how they're doing Monday.
A few other import catfish that look good include Colombian sharks, banjo cats that range from decent size to huge, bumblebee cats (also very mixy in size), four-line pims, yellow-striped woodcats, foxface cats, and pictus cats. Restocked on some bigger domestic bushynose. In addition to the lemondrops, I also have some good sized calicos, and some standard brown bushynose at around 2.5-3". Even the normal longfins are acceptable size this week (although the shortfin browns and albinos are very small).
While my wild cories are hit or miss on fill rate, I do have more than a few tank-raised cories. I'm back in stock with albino paleatus. These are nice and cheap and typically hold up great. Numbers are limited but I should have plenty for early in the week. Lots of sterbai cories in stock. A little pricer than the wild cories, but not nearly as much as it used to be.
Borneo suckers are back in stock this week. They're not real big, but always popular. Still have some redtail botias and quite a few Chinese robusta botias.
Threadfin Farlowella
Colombian Snowball Pleco
Blue Panaque
Arcuatus Skunk Cory
Bumble Bee Cat
Banjo cats are a little mixey in size.
Calico Bushynose
Albino Paleatus
Borneo Sucker
Other Fish & Stuff
Got a couple Florida-collected killifish available in limited numbers. Gulf killis are kind of ugly but good size and interesting. Basically a subspecies of the Mummichug found up north, males have a nice speckled pattern and get blueish fins when they settle in. They're also known as being a virtually indestructable fish, living through virtually any conditions so would be a perfect candidate to sell to aid in cycling of new tanks. They've even been sent into space (The First Fish in Orbit - Scientific American Blog Network). Striped killis are a lot prettier and super active. Both species get up to 6 or 7 inches fully grown, and were collected in very slightly brackish marsh water but have been fully acclimated to pure freshwater for over a week by the time you get them.
Pearlscale goldfish are in stock for the first time in ages. They're less round and less pearly than I'd like, but if these are the only pearls I can get I'll take it. They are good size and a pretty good mix of color. Panda telescopes are very nice. They have great fins, good color, and pretty good conformation, although the telescopeness of their eyes varies a bit.
Gardneri killifish are back in stock from Indo. Small already showing color, these are nice now and stunning when they grow up. Tank-raised fish that live in hard water and eat flake food. They don't require anything special.
Opaline gouramis are the best Florida gourami. Pearls look pretty good too. Back in stock with albino paradise and they're pretty nice. Still have import red paradise that are spectacular. I have some import red honey gouramis. They came in real small but have some color already.
Medium yellow rainbows are back in stock. They're a bit bigger and a lot brighter than the regular size. Kamakas and medium Goyder River have good color too. The boesmanis are a little small but have nice color.
Dragonfish are in again from Colombia. They're small but should acclimate well at this size. In spite of their big mouths, these are not predators. They use their mouths like shovels, and sift inverts out of a mouthful of mud. They're not going to sift gravel well in your tanks, but they usually take to brine shrimp or bloodworms.
Some other odds and ends that look good include platinum rice fish, transparent knives brown ghost knives, clown knives, one schoutedeni puffer, peacock gudgeon gobies, orange gobies, and zig zag eels.
New Indo shipment means new shrimp. I have nice blue diamonds, red rilis, black rilis (that are more blue than black), black coco, bloody mary, and hinomaru shrimp. I also have new cherry shrimp and orange shrimp but they don't have great color.
Striped Killi
Gulf Killi
Tidewater Mojarra. Sort of like a native Flagtail Prochilodus without the colorful tail.
Pearlscale Goldfish
Opaline Gourami
Panda Telescope
Medium Yellow Rainbow
Kamaka Rainbows
Dragonfish
Inland Silverside. Very limited. Schooling native fish.
Bloody Mary Shrimp
Blue Diamond Shrimp
SALTWATER/CORALS
The Saltwater stock-list gets sent out on MONDAY afternoon.
In saltwater, we offer tons of top-of-the-line corals. If you need really nice frags to sell for $10-15, we've got you covered. If you want a $400 show piece unique Australian brain corals, we've got that too. Tons of the coral frags are aquacultured in-house and are named lineage pieces of various SPS and LPS. Import frags that are MADE in-house are also available, and are great options to get slightly bigger pieces that customers want like torches, hammers, blastos, acans, zoas, etc.
Effective February 1, 2019 Pictures for freshwater DOA claims are REQUIRED. DOA credits will no longer be approved if there are not accompanying pictures. This is to see the bag sizes, water quality at arrival, if heat/ice packs are present, etc.
Just snap a picture of the bag with your cell phone as you're putting the bags in the tank to float and that will work and should only take literally 10 seconds per bag that contains losses. These will help us to figure out why they arrived DOA and how to prevent it in the future. It is preferred that you email the pictures to your rep, but you can also text them into your rep as well. Thank you for your understanding and assistance.
SALTWATER DOA POLICY: All Saltwater DOA need a clear picture of the fish out of the bag on a cooler lid from your shipment and emailed to your sales rep the day or day after your shipment arrives. Any fish lost in shipment will be credited if you follow that easy instruction. Fish that die overnight are not creditable unless they arrive in very rough condition (basically dead) and you notify us of the condition with a clear picture of the issue the day it arrives.
