Importing Fish

@Henk Hugo, I have a 60000 liter swimming pool, think that will be big enough?

 

As you know Prof I am making my re-entry into keeping fish after a couple of years of the scene, and my complete NEW entry in dwarf cichlids. My knowledge up till now was limited to literature. The aggressive behaviour (to the extremities you discuss) of some of these species I did not take into consideration, and will in the future.

I also suffer a serious condition: "over-eager-bever-sindrome", my friends and wife just shake their heads at me because I always go overboard with everything I do......

If a person were to go on holiday to a country such as colombia or brazil, purchase fish there, how would bringing that fish into SA differ from a commercial type import? I know there is people who take there pets overseas for a long holiday or when they immigrate, would bringing one box of fish be treated different in such a case?

 

LOL - imagine the customs official's face when you tell him, "No, we've just been on holiday and I took my pets for a swim in the sea. They just looooove Brazil . Don't you fishy-wishy? "

 

Take it from a regular importer of marine fish (weekly) and tropicals (1 to 2 x per month)
1. we deal with the supplier at least once a month and still we get problems regarding claims - Luckily my staff are real experts in what they do and limit it as much as possible.

2. Prof. Dirk is correct - the worst losses I made were a shipment from Nigeria - NOT A REGULAR SUPPLIER
3. Take all the time, costs & most importantly STRESS into account and ask yourself is it worth it
4. Freight for only a few boxes is EXPENSIVE

On the plus - buying with a Pet Shop like us:

1. we have dealt with the supplier and they do put in lots & lots of extra effort in now, compared with their initial shipments
2. We take the rest of the bags (between 4 and 8 bags per box depending on supplier) in the box, so you only need the aquariums (more than one or 1 LARGE) to receive 1 bag.
3. We combine our box(s) with lots of others to get the weight over 500kg (30+ boxes) or even better over 1000kg (60+ boxes) to get cheaper airfreight and lower fixed costs
4. You still get no DOA guarantee but our average is less than 5% GROSS losses, so the law of averages is on your side.
5. You only order and receive - all in-between is the Pet Shops problem
6. My price might be the same or even cheaper if you add all your costs.

Now the problem is getting the Pet Shop to order for you!?!

Well my experience is that hobbyists talk a lot but do not act.
1. So we @ Pet Stop have a strict policy of getting a deposit up front the moment I get confirmation of availability, before I place the order.
2. Another is a hobbyist constantly enquire different species PLUS availability (leading to correspondence with multiple suppliers) and then next time move on to another enquiry without ordering anything, wasting valuable time and alienating my relationship with my suppliers with the barrage of special enquiries and no orders (you must remember that special species is special for a reason :wondering

So walk into the Pet Shop knowing what you want and be prepared to pay your deposit, if you only enquire all the time and do not order, you are not taken seriously next time when you actually want the fish.

 

true i would rather leave the importing to people already doing it unless you very rich.moolis i dont remember seeing mention of a deposit on your thread "new,rare or most wanted thread" which is only right it would be unfair on you to order and then thats the last you hear from the customer.if you when you do doing your purchasing can get a price and say to the members the fish you want are available and this is going to be your price and such and such a deposit is required and whatever waiting period both parties can have a little peace of mind.

 

@Moolis,

I understand where you are coming from because Juan says the same thing about hobbyists wanting everything and not being prepared to pay the prices.

Would it not be to your benefit to get lists of fish stock available and posting it on line for some of us to look at so that we can then make choices and decisions based on that? I know that there are several people that are looking for Apistos, but we have no idea of what you can actually get hold of hence the many questions regarding types...

Please give us a list of the Apistos that you can get hold of as well as the approximate price that we would be paying per fish/pair and we can then discuss amongst ourselves what to order. It might even reach a situation that we would be able to order the minimum quantity if we can agree on what to order as a group.

Does this make sense to you?

I'm only making a suggestion, not looking for an argument....

 

Very good reply @Moolis

My problem is that even if you were to join hands with hobbyists in an order, I am still in the cape and you up there.....

 

It is impossible for Moolis to give you a list of what is available over a longer period because exporters don't have the same species of fish in stock all the time. This changes strongly over the season and the Amazon is a massive place so some fish catcher comes down some major river and catches one group of fishes which he can supply and two weeks later the next fisherman comes down a different river with another group of completely different species. Prices also vary hugely according to demand.

So, no, this does not make sense and is not going to work.

Johannesburg to Cape Town transport in comparison to getting a shipment in from overseas is really not a problem. You are looking at about R150 per box excluding road transport to the airport. Bottom line is that eager beaver's must combine in getting fishes sent to them.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Dirk is right. For 2 reasons:
1. I get a list the morning and order withinhours from that list and still end up receiving only 75% of my order AT BEST.Posting it on the forum PLUS wait for questions, answering it, waiting fordeposits etc. then order = no stock left!!!
2. I work thru 3 importing and 3 local freshwaterspecies lists each week. Posting them would be totally impractical. (I am lyinga bit - some weeks I just don’t have the time to do it at all – takes 5 to 8hours out of my week)


Another option you might ask is give me the whole list. This cannot workever!!! As some of those species was available only once and never again, butstill exist on the list. So chances of getting it again are extremely slim.
Then angry hobbyists and that I do not like.

With really difficult species - What I do is ask you tell me what you want andI give you a rough estimate. Then as I work thru the lists I look for thewanted species and email the guys that are interested. If they do an EFT I addto the order and hope we are on time

With other species where a bag of say 200 or even 1200 must be taken I estimatethe possible demand (reason for the rare & most wanted post) and order accordingly.

 

Shipping??

That is no problem if you can get to the airport :bigsmile:

 

okie dokie but now there's 11 pages and lots more different types of fish on that thread,are you saying its highly unlikely due to the varied and random demand that we'l ever see some of these species?

 

@Moolis, if I want to get something specific from Pet Stop, how should I go about it? Obviously it will start of with an enquiry.
The item that I am looking for should be available from most reputable suppliers, and I will make sure that it is not on the BL.
You guys will have to determine availability from your preferred suppliers and price.
For most of us price would be the deciding factor, or would determine the quantity that we will order. I think it is fare to pay a deposit when the order is placed with you and the full cost once the shipment has been confirmed. The DOA would be my risk.
How do we get around the minimum quantities that most of the suppliers will pack? Will your preferred suppliers pack single bagged fish in a box, or stick to the normal 10 or 20 per bag.
If we have 4 or 5 people interested in the same item that should not be a problem, depending on what we have decided on. It might even justify two or three bags of fish.
We will have to collect the bags from you, and take the risk of all the fish dying in our tanks in a couple of days.
I think most of the species that we are looking for are actually run of the mill in Europe and America; they are just not being imported to South Africa.

 

That long list was to show members of the forum that the possibility’sare infinite. YOU just need to know what you want and be willing to take theminimum volume if I do not want to keep it in my shop AND I need to know youare serious to get it them, IE I do not want to import something that no onewant, except 1 hobbyists and end up giving it away just to open aquariumspace.

 

I might be wrong, but I think what Kuhli loach ment is that these fish have to be imported to Europe and America, so why can't that suppliers supply SA as well..... didn't think he meant to import from Europe or America..... but maybe that is what he meant....

 

No problem either way lets see what is needed and where can we get them.

Guys rather send emails to moolis@petstopsa.co.za than PM's as emails are monitored by multiple persons and only by myself on the forum's

 

maar die Rand is nie lol thats why if we can get a price"ish" we can decide if its worth it but then as you say the timeline between you ordering and us deciding and then paying and you placing the order wil nie werk nie.are we stuck then?

 

Nope, you are right, that is what I meant.

@Moolis, I really don’t think there will be enough interest to take 200 plus fish. Will you be able to establish the minimum quantity of dwarf cichlids your preferred suppliers are willing to bag? Once we establish that, we can get serious about placing and order with you.
All other members that are interested in acquiring some dwarf cichlids, and most probably we are looking at apistos, please send me a pm. Just want to test the water to see who would want some.

 

why not open a new thread then we can all see something like "APISTO PRE ORDER DEPOSITS REQUIRED"

 

OK, thanks for confirming this Moolis.

So, Kuhli Loach, Pappabear, Oscarfreak and all you other eager beavers, what I can suggest that you can do is to put together a "wishlist" of species that you would like and dream about.... If you would send this list to Moolis for example, then he can perhaps use this when he has to decide on something that he sees on his lists. If all of you have asked for say, Apistigramma macmasteri, and he sees this on one of his lists, he would know that he could potentially sell you these fishes and therefore might order some. You also need to commit to this list though, and if and when these fishes arrive and Moolis phones you and tells you, "Ok I have the fishes here, the price is R200 per fish and you must take a minimum of 6 i.e. the price is R1200 and with transport to Cape Town is R1400", you must say thank you and ask when can you send them, and not say "Oh well, I saw them last year, and now I am keeping Malawis so I don't really want them any more and the price is actually also far too expensive".....

It is then that Moolis would say to himself, why the hell should I bother if this is the response, look at it from his perspective and you need to make a longterm commitment, not this eager beaver, now I see, now I want syndrome.

Kind regards,

Dirk