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Ninja Wood Cat
aka Mosaic Cat |
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Hey Folks,
Another challenging week this week getting orders out. On the bright side, we got all the orders out. Unfortunately we got a lot of orders out with less fish in them than I'd like. Without getting in to too much detail, we're still having labor challenges, and we've had a pretty big increase in orders getting packed. I think our overall fill rate ran about 80%, which is not acceptable to me, and I know it was a lot worse on some of your orders. I do apologize. Believe me, it's out of your sales reps' hands. Made some changes this week that weren't enough, we're making more changes and bumping up inventory levels even more for next week. Hopefully our pretty stellar fill rate for the last six months has given us a little benefit of the doubt going forward. We'll get things fixed.
Ninja wood cats are in stock this week. This is one of the nicest sets I've seen in here. They're all decent size (although they'll get bigger). They have a decent amount of white on their sides. And their body condition is pretty good. They often come in skinny; this batch isn't exactly fat but with good enough weight that they'll fatten up in a hurry. These are woodcats so they're not exactly outgoing but they are a lot less shy than the smaller Centromochlus honeycomb cat types. They'll even get bold enough to come out and feed during the day after a while. They've been tank-bred, and make a fun project for any of you catfish nerds. You'll probably find pics of these online with lots of white on their sides. Those are Tatia orca, a related and very similar species from Brazil. The pic up top is very representative of what's in stock now.
Redhead Tapajos eartheaters are in stock in larger sizes. I have some 3" and some 4", both a little oversized. One of the prettier species as well as a smaller species so they color up a lot smaller. They're also one of the least picky Geos regarding water parameters, and will show great color and breed even in hard water with high pH.
Instead of another new fish I'm going to feature a long term resident fish. I have a ton of zamora cats that have been here for about six months. Like the mosaic ninja cats, this is a woodcat (Auchenipteridae), but these guys actually move. And not just because they're incredibly well established. They don't hide all the time, and in fact they don't even sit on the bottom all the time. They're also called midnight cats, as they have tiny white spots on a an almost black body. These are full grown and won't get much bigger. They will eat small tetras or similar fish, but they're perfectly safe with anything that doesn't fit in their mouth.
The Project Piaba folks have another trip coming up. This is a great organization, promoting the sustainable collection of ornamental fish in the Rio Negro. People I know that have made this trip in the past have had a fantastic time and learned a lot. You haven't seen any Piaba fish on my list for a while because there are problems shipping out of there now, but part of the reason for these trips is to try and help facilitate that. That's more the folks that administer Project Piaba, you won't be lobbying, just seeing a ton of cool fish. Here's a few links to their information about the trip: facebook; instagram; youtube. And of course there's lots of information on their website.
I wish I could have skipped a legal update for two weeks in a row but nope. Enjoy your life dealing with non-native live species, our legal challenges won't ever go away. This week's asinine issue is a proposal to list Banggai cardinals on the US Endangered Species Act as endangered. If you're in the saltwater business you're probably already aware of this, but Banggai cardinals don't come from Banggai Island, they come from aquaculture facilities, and to a lesser extent they come from introduced populations outside their native range. The proposed ESA listing would prohibit import and export of this species, regardless of source. CITES already reviewed this species in recent years and found current protection was adequate, and it's in better shape today than when the CITES review took place. Art Parola has a very nice summary of the situation here on the NAIA website (this is an organization that you should follow and support), as well as a write up from Quality Marine here on the Amazonas site. Please make sure you submit your comment to the National Marine Fisheries Services.
Thanks,
Joe Hiduke
Sales Manager
Nautilus |
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| 4" Redhead Tapajos |
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Zamora Cat
aka Midnight Cat
Love this description from Planet Catfish which should be one your go-to websites:
"When undisturbed they sport a beautiful inky bluish black colour that, in combination with many pin-prick white spots, do give the impression of a clear tropical sky at midnight hence the common name." |
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Banggai Cardinal
An easy to tank-raise mouthbrooder, this is the ideal starter marine fish breeder project for anybody that's raised freshwater fish. |
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Lots of my Florida tetras are getting bigger, which is a little surprising since the numbers going out are increasing. Lemon tetras are still coming in huge and super impressive. New silvertips are a little bigger and brighter. Serpaes are pretty good size. Longfin blushers, head & tail lights, glowlights, bloodfins, penguins, Colombians, and gold pristellas are all pretty good size too.
Got a new batch of pacus that you really shouldn't buy but you probably will. Please let your customers know how big these get and commit to taking them back when they outgrow your customer's tanks. Restocked on red hooks this week and they look good, nice size. Fresh imports so the fins are a little rough but otherwise nice. Still have a ton of South American gar, they're on sale again this week. Red phantoms, rainbow tetras, and bleeding hearts look good too.
I have some new import black phantom tetras and they got a lot smaller this week. New cardinals look good. Still have a few of the huge glass bloodfins from last week, as well as blue kerris, small green fires, and balloon red-eyes. |
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| Lemon Tetras |
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| Silvertips |
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| Penguin Tetras |
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| Pacus |
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| Red Hook |
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Glass Bloodfins
Nicest ones I've seen here. |
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| All-Male Congo Tetras |
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| Blind Cave Tetras |
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Florida-bred all-male rosy barbs are in stock this week. Not the brightest strain I've seen, but they are all males and they have pretty good color. Veiltail cherry barbs are awesome. Big, with great fins, and plenty of males. The albino veils are almost as nice. Pearl danios are exceptional. They got a lot bigger and brighter this week. Brilliant rasboras, giant danios, gold zebras, longfin zebras, medium and large tiger barbs, and albino tiger barbs all look good too.
Rainbow dace got real silver this week. I guess it's that time of year. They'll color up again, possibly in your tanks if you leave the lights on long enough that they think it's summertime.
Some nice far-east farm fish in stock include red panda barbs, very nice gold neon rosy barbs, and gold tinfoil barbs. Ran through a ton of the nano fish this week but I still have quite a few erythromicron emerald dwarf rasboras. Also have plenty of snakeskin barbs and redline rasboras. |
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| All-Male Rosy Barbs |
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| Veil-Tail Cherry Barbs |
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| Gold Zebra Danio |
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| Brilliant Rasbora |
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| Pearl Danio |
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Rainbow Dace
I've never seen them fade this quick, but I'm guessing if you keep them in a tank with long days they'll think it's summer and color up again. |
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Pretty sure every swordtail I have on the farm is an import except for the assorted XL swords. I still have some assorted and they are by far the best livebearer here. If you need straight colors, the import neons are pretty good size and not 100% female. Painteds and calico Sanke are nice too.
I got a new calico sunset platy last week that looks great. Pretty good size, good color, and a nice pattern. Some other platies that stand out include new gold twin-bars, nice size red twin-bars, sunset mickeys, big red tux, and a beautiful highfin black variatus with a bright green sheen.
Ran through lots and lots of guppies this week but I'll be restocking over the weekend. A few types that are still here and look good include gold/red tux, blue cobras, firetails, green dragon dumbos, and laserbeams.
Gold sailfin mollies are still coming in big with fantastic color. Silver and black sailfins are in stock too. |
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| Painted Swords |
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| Red Lyretail Sword |
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| Calico Sunset Platy |
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Highfin Sunset Variatus
You can't see the high fins here but in the tank it's obvious. |
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| Laserbeam Guppy Male |
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Chocolate cichlids are back in stock at a 3" size, and they're a bit oversized. Obviously this is a very brown fish, but they're like a rainbow of all the shades of brown. When they're all grown up they have almost purplish brown and greenish brown shades. They do change color a lot. I guess more accurate to say they change from brown to different brown. Pretty aggressive with each other, and they can hold their own with other mean cichlids.
Sold out of the bigger red-spot turquoise severums, but the regular size is about as big as what I usually call a select. Red-spot gold severums are still very nice. Jack Dempseys are still coming in a little oversized, and already showing color. A few other farm-fish that stand out include select size green terrors with nice color, oversized medium salvinis, 3" heckeli, red midas, trimacs, small Petenia snook cichlids, and yellowjacket friedrichstahli. On my less common species, still have Neetroplus, black umbees, blue umbees, krausi, and well started zonatus.
My wild Atabapo red pikes are very mixy. I have a couple big fish that are getting a lot of red. And I have four smaller ones, about half the size of the colored fish, that only have a bit of red. Trying to sort out landed prices from a month ago. I think they're priced for the fish with color, so I may have a price drop on smaller fish next week.
I also have have a couple of gigantic wild true parrots, big diadem acaras, and huge F0 tank-raised Geos from my rep Brody's flooded fish room. As a bonus they're on the list this week with prices.
Sri Lanka blue diamond discus and assorted discus are a good value. The conformation looks poor in the pic but I think that's due to size. These are the smallest (and cheapest) discus that I get so they look a little less round at 4cm. |
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| Chocolate Cichlids |
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| Red-Spot Turquoise Severum |
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| Select Green Terrors |
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| Yellowjacket Friedrichstahli |
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| Jack Dempsey |
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| Large Atabapo Red Pike |
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| Not as Large Atabapo Red Pike |
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| Diadem Acara |
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| Diamond/Powder Blue Discus (Sri Lanka) |
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| EB Jacks |
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I have some of the biggest Maswa duboisi I've seen here. This locale has a blue face and a light yellow light bar. They look great, and they're also one of the less aggressive Tropheus. You don't have to have 20+ fish in a tank. I also have lots of Karambe moori at a very steep discount on sale this week.
Yellow Labs are also on sale. These are Florida grown out in our ponds but originally tiny imports. I mention that because the color is bright, and they're good size, but they look a bit off. See my pic below. Almost none of your customers will care, they're big and bright.
Redhead macs are back in stock this week. Probably my biggest 'regular' size mbuna, the males are showing great color already. A few other mbunas that look good include auratus, acei, cobalt zebras, albino zebras, socos, and snow white socos. Got more of the fancy mix this week, including some regular size that are a very good value.
Big fuscos are still one of the best looking fish here and I can't believe they're still here. Got a few OB red empress left too. For smaller fish, I restocked on a redfin borleyi with nice orange fins and a bunch of ventustus.
Still have a few Vics in stock too. The ruby greens are pretty good size and the bigger males in the tank look great. The crimson tides are small, with the bigger males just starting to show color. And the piceatus are grey with darker grey highlights. They are stupid rare and super cool and might be my favorite fish on the farm, but they need a tank with some furniture to show their best color. |
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| Tropheus duboisi Maswa |
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| Yellow Labs |
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| Redhead Mac |
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| Socos |
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| Snow White Socos |
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| Fancy Mix Mbuna Reg |
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| Redfin Borleyi |
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I have some new tiger shovelnose in from Colombia. They're very mixed in size, but none of them are small. These fish are going to get huge and they're going to eat everything. Same as the pacus, tell your customers how big they get, and commit to taking them back.
Pygmaeus cory cats are finally stable and ready to out. They're small even for pygmaeus, but it doesn't matter, they'll sell out this week. Got in a mess of new cories this week but they're fresh so it's impossible to say what's going to be shippable next week. The agassizii (which are always sodalis) are probably the best looking and most likely to get filled. They are pretty good size with a nice green sheen. Julii (trilineata) are good size too and always popular. Rabauti are nice as well. Punctatus don't have tails. Metae are very unlikely to go out next week.
New bushynose plecos came in pretty big. The males do have bristles already. They all look solid and should be good to go on Monday. I also have limited numbers of new Colombian snowballs. Small and medium royals are both in stock; get the mediums, they are way, way bigger. I might have a few XL green phantoms left over, and I have plenty of smoky peckoltia plecos.
Restocked on some Colombian staples. I have small banjo cats and smaller bumblebee cats back in stock. Also back in stock with both spotted and striped raphaels. They're not tiny, just not way oversized like they sometimes are.
Some other import catfish that look good include big jelly cats, two lingering granulosus cats, four-line pims, giant Otos, farlowellas, royal farlowellas, and Burmese sun cats.
Pretty good variety of tank-raised catfish too. I found the longfin green cories that came in last week. They're small but they have nice fins, and they'll have even better fins as they grow up. Still have gorgeous Venezuela black cories too. Import albino paleatus look great, and the albino hoplo cats are even nicer. Longfin lemondrop bushynose are the best value this week. The large albinos bushynose are expensive but super impressive. Import Syno petricola are tiny but always in demand. Local multis are much bigger and they're not any more expensive (also not all multis, it's a mix of pure multis and crosses). The angelicus/eupterus Synos are gorgeous and on sale cheap this week. They're oversized and will probably sell better if you call them labyrinth Synos or something like that. Black and gold dragon panda lemon Syno. Stick a fruit and a charismatic megafauna mammal in the name.
I still have a few dozen highfin banded loaches. They're going to outgrow your customers tanks, but they look great at this size in tanks, and they're perfect pond fish when they outgrow tanks. Your other loach options are striped loaches and small yo-yo loaches. |
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| Tiger Shovelnose |
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| Agassizii (sodalis) Cory |
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| Wild Bushynose |
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Colombian Snowball
They look great but may be limited this week. |
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| Small Royal Pleco |
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| Spotted Raphael |
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| Banjo cats got a lot smaller this week. |
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| Giant Oto |
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| Longfin Green Cory Cats |
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Albino Paleatus
The sheen isn't a reflection from a wet fish, they are actually splotched with pearly white on a pink background. |
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Banana Zebra Syno Cat
(angelicus/eupterus cross) |
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Transparent or glass knives are back in stock. These are social knife fish and one of the few species that does well in groups. Fishbase gives a max size of 17", but that's got to be the Shaquille O'Neal of glass knife fish. I'm not sure I've seen one over a foot long. They take to frozen bloodworms right away and aren't too difficult to get on to prepared foods.
Red and white lionheads came in this week. They are very nice red and white, not so sure about the lionhead part. They're not big but I think they should have some head growth by this size. Regardless, they're pretty and they're in stock. Black ranchus are in stock too and look good. Big orandas are super impressive. And my domestic oversized 4" fantails and way oversized 4" shubunkins both look fantastic.
Import gold honey gouramis are very pretty. This is one of the best choices for smaller tanks, as they stay a lot smaller than dwarf gouramis. They're also a lot less aggressive, and do well with small tetras, rasboras, or similar species.
Lavender gouramis actually look good this week, mostly because they don't look much like lavender gouramis. They have a lot more gold in the fins than normal and a gold cast to the body. Pearl gouramis are in stock but very small. Blues and opalines are decent size. Medium pink kissers are well worth the higher price compared to the regular size, especially since it's on a few cents.
I'm back in stock with medium yellow rainbows and they're the best looking rainbow here. Reds and millenniums both look good too, although the females are ugly. Multiquamata are still big and impressive. Parkinsoni look pretty good. Boesmani have no color, skip them this week unless I have new ones by Monday.
Some other odds and ends that look good include brown ghost knives, clown knives, huge royal clown knives, schoutedeni Congo puffers (on sale), silver arowanas in a couple sizes, zig-zag eels, gold killis, baby panda garras, and true giant gouramis (wild-type and black-eyed golds).
Horned nerites are available this week. They're small but a lot hornier than usual. Fruit snails are still in stock, and I probably should call them knobby nerites or something like that for them to sell. My shrimp selection is terrible today, but the deluxe mix does have great color. I still have the Borneo panther crabs and I can't figure out why. |
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| Transparent Knife |
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| Gold Honey Gouramis |
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| Lavender Gourami |
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| Pearl Gouramis |
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| Medium Yellow Rainbows |
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| Millennium Rainbows |
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| Red & White Lionheads |
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| Horned Nerites |
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| Borneo panther crabs are the coolest thing I've gotten here that didn't sell out in a week. They seem to be really hardy, not sure I've seen a dead one yet. |
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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. |
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