Also remember that sometimes this is a seasonal problem. clown loaches are
small in January, but they get bigger through the Spring as they grow up in
the wild. I've seen some GORGEOUS mollies lately, and oddball Corys are
sometimes easy to find in early Spring also.
----- Original Message -----
From: <Moontanman_at_aol.com>
To: <Aquatic-Plants-Owner_at_actwin.com>; <eclecticfish at yahoogroups.com>;
<Mudpuppies_at_yahoogroups.com>; <nanfa at aquaria.net>;
<Nativefishconservancy_at_yahoogroups.com>; <Live-Foods at actwin.com>;
<smallcatfishgroup_at_yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, January 05, 2002 1:28 PM
Subject: NANFA-- fish quality
> I have noticed something disturbing in the past several years about
> freshwater fish in pet shops and I thought I'd see if it is just a local
> phenomenon or if it applies every where. What I have noticed is that fish
> quality and selection has dropped off to the point that the freshwater
> hobbyist has little or no choice in the fish they keep. This decline seems
to
> be connected with chain store petshops crowding out Mom and Pop type
shops.
> Available fish varieties are at an all time low, even fish that were once
> considered main stays of the trade are difficult to find. On top of that
> problem is the over all poor quality of the fish available. Poor health
and
> very poor specimen quality is the norm. Some fish are so far from the
color
> and vigor of past fish it is sometimes difficult to be sure of the species
> without a very close look. While I do keep numerous North American native
> fish I also enjoy tropicals but the choices offered by petshops I have
looked
> through keep me from buying many tropicals. I can remember dozens of
> different species of live bearers with wonderful color and vigor. Now you
are
> lucky to see two or three species and they are so inbreed and colorless
it's
> difficult to use them for anything but live food. Matter of fact I used to
> see fish for sale as live food that far surpassed what is now being sold
as
> top quality fish. Egg layers are in no better shape, wild caught often
look
> reasonably good but the selection is very poor. Captive breed egg layers
are
> in no better shape than live bearers. The only exception is specialty fish
> like angels, discus, and a few other large fish. In my town I haven't seen
> Cardinal tetra's in at least three years I have seen them in bigger cities
> with Mom and pop type stores. But local chain stores say they are too hard
to
> keep even though at one time petshops in my area were filled with
Cardinals.
> Of course chain stores seldom reach the proficiency of a private petshop
in
> caring for their fish so maybe the problem is connected with the loss of
> experience that comes when chain stores drive out shops with owners that
> actually know how to take care of fish. I have heard that much of the
problem
> has to do with breeders and wholesalers who don't care about the quality
of
> the fish they sell or produce. I know that when I was (a little ;-)
younger I
> worked in a pet shop for several years and the owner would have refused to
do
> business with anyone who would have sent him fish like the ones being
offered
> for sale now. What I do think is that we as paying customers have the
right
> to expect quality fish and should be observant enough and vocal enough to
> express this to your local pet shop. Maybe then we can go back to cherry
> barbs that actually look like cherry barbs, platys that don't look like
culls
> from a breeders pond, and mollies that have that robust glow of health
that
> wild mollies have in spades. It's really sad and we as customers are at
least
> partially to blame for buying substandard fish but fish shops are to blame
as
> well. If you run a chain store you should at least know what ideal
specimens
> look like and demand your fish at least resemble them. If it's because
chain
> stores simply buy with nothing but price in mind then they need to have
the
> error of there ways communicated to them by us the customers and by the
> owners/operators of these stores. If something doesn't change then the
> freshwater hobby is in deep trouble and sick, deformed, and disposable
fish
> will become the standard and the hobby will die.
>
> Moontanman
>
>
/---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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/----------------------------------------------------------------------------- /"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this list do not necessarily / reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes / Association" / This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes Association / nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word / subscribe, unsubscribe, or help in the body (not subject) of an email to / nanfa-request_at_aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to / nanfa-digest-request_at_aquaria.net instead. / For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org