Newsletter 08-04-23

Back in stock with some Florida marigold wag swords and velvet swords. These are a little bigger and brighter and male-er than any of the imports. Import neons are still nice size and bright but female heavy.

Restocked on import vampire swords and firecracker swords this week. The vampires are big, the firecrackers are even bigger, and the color is good on both.

Some platies that look good include bumblebees, blue mickeys, candy cane mickeys, sunset mickeys, blacks, and huge assorted XL platies.

Guppy selection is surprisingly good for this late in the week. The white dumbos and red tux are both exceptional. Red dragon dumbos, Moscow blues, and ocean blues (small tail) are nice too.

I also got in a couple varieties of Florida-bred guppy pairs. I have a few half-black redtails, and a decent number of bicolor galaxy guppies. Both of these look fantastic, and are a good choice for your customers that don't want all males or assorted.

I have a couple new wild cichlids this week. Festivums are in from Colombia. They're small and brown, but they've always been popular when they're available. The look like and act like a cross between a severum and an angelfish. Relatively laid back, not real big, and personable. Best brown fish you can get.

Wild 'Geo' daemon are in stock again and they're mostly the right fish. Should be listed as a medium, which is a bit of a stretch, but they should be priced accordingly. They're a bit undersized for medium or oversized for regulars. This is a gorgeous fish when it's full grown. This group is already showing some of the pearly spots, and the biggest fish are starting to grow their long fin extensions. Very laid back for a cichlid, they're similar to a jurapari in temperament (and I may have jurapari contaminants in the tank).

Wild Atabapo red pikes are also in stock. I have two or three pieces. They're a lot smaller than the last large red pikes I had but they are showing a bit of color. If you're patient with them they'll end up being one the brightest fish in the hobby.

Got in a mess of new rare Centrals this week. None of them are big and consequently they're not showing a lot of color yet, but every type I brought in will get colorful when they grow up.

Red tiger motaguense are probably the brightest variety when they're full grown, and they're always in demand. Yellowjacket friedrichstahli are very bright too. These are pointy predatory types.

I have some argentea and zonata as well, which are high-bodied types. The argentea are silver as adults but this makes them sound crappier than they are. It's silver but with pinkish/purplish/greenish hues to the sheen. Zonata show lots of blue and pink as adults. I also have macracanthus black-throat cichlids in stock for the first time. The nicest thing I can say about this fish is that it's super rare and if you're like me you'll order it because you've never seen it before. They do have a really nice breeding dress like a Herichthys, mostly black and white with striking black lips.

True F1 citrinellus midas are in stock this week. They look pretty much like red devils, but maybe a little more splotchy. They're not much more expensive and very pretty.

Red hump steindachneri eartheaters are in stock at a a fantastic size. Some of the biggest ones I've seen come through here. The biggest males have fantastic color. This is a great choice for any of your customers interested in breeding fish as they're like mouthbrooding convicts. One of the easiest fish to breed in a tank. I'm male heavy but whatever females are in the tank will probably be holding a mouthful of eggs by Monday morning.

I also got in some big brasiliensis pearly eartheaters. These are list 4" and probably over list size. This is one the more aggressive species, treat them more like a Central American.

Medium German blue rams got even bigger this week, super impressive. The regular size are nice too. Black rams are also very nice.

Various other Florida farm fish that look good include the kampfa cross red warrior flowerhorns, 2" Cuban cichlids, 3" chocolate cichlids, convicts and pink convicts, Honduran red points, and managuense jaguar cichlids.

I'm back in stock with import electric blue jacks and electric blue acaras. Both of them are small but they both have good color. Still have plenty of import assorted and straight color oscars, longfin oscars, balloon rams, and a decent variety of well established discus.

Restocked on some more wild cories this week, and last week's cories are a lot more stable now. Julii are still probably the best looking ones. It's rare that I have julii here for more than a week, especially when they're this big and nice. Loxozonus cories are tiny. Alternate description; they're adorable baby loxozonus. Arcuatus are small but a lot bigger than loxozonus. Rabuati are pretty good size.

Pleco selection is much like last week, but cheaper. I've got very nice Colombian zebras and Colombian snowballs and they're both on special this week. I also have plenty of green phantoms with great color. Wild bushynose are good size and solid. Still have a few blue panaques left, and three or four beacon plecos.

Giant otos are back in stock but they are super limited. Much like a regular oto but a lot bigger. Hence the name.

Some other import catfish that look good include royal farlowellas, chameleon whiptails, spotted shovelnose, yellow-striped woodcats (featured in the new Amazonas magazine), zamora cats, pictus cats, and Colombian sharks. The large Burmese sun cats that came in a few weeks back are very nice, great size and showing some color. Also got in some good size farm-raised redtail cats.

For tank-raised fish, the longfin lemondrops are the best looking pleco, great size and a good value. Still have a few pure Florida- bred Syno multipunctatus. They're small but very nice. Syno decorus, eupterus, and the angelicus crosses are all big, every one is over list size. Plenty of upside down cats too which I haven't been able to say for a while.

Got a new batch of highfin banded loaches. This a great looking fish for a cold-water tank when they're juveniles. The ridiculously outsized dorsal fin really stands out in a tank. But let your customers know that this fish gets huge and is going to outgrow most tanks. Fortunately they are cold hardy and do well as a pond fish throughout most of the country. This means they can probably live in your local waterways so here's a reminder for you to remind your customers to never release non-native species. If your customers can't house these fish when they outgrow their tank than be ready to take them back. If you want the right to keep selling these kind of fish than be responsible and allow them to be returned, or facilitate finding them a home. You can also apply this to redtail cats and the like. They may not live out the winter in your local waters, but that's a crappy way for the fish die.

Kuhli loaches are in stock again. These are the original black and orange kuhlis, not the black kuhlis. Sewellia loaches came in great size with very strong patterns, very nice. Still have some small Borneo sucker hillstream loaches. Redtail botias look great and they're on special again.