Importing Fish

Just PM me if you are interested @oscar freak. The thread you mention will follow shortly.

 

No Kuhli Loach,

Don't bother to start such a thread, we have had many such threads under the sponsors forum and the thread gets long and longer and Moolis and others are not going to look at it when they order overseas, they don't have the time. Send that wishlist to Petstop and see what they can get you, but that sort of thread gets us nowhere.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

there is a wish list prof i think we just need to fine tune it a bit.moolis has explained where he's coming from and now i understand why i dont have my leaf fish(hint hint)and a lot of people dont have whatever it is they are wanting,we(i) didnt realise about the finer details.so hopefully now we can sort something out amongst the willing for whatever fish we looking for as the prof says.i dont know how the pricing works when importing but if moolis could give us prices on lets say e.g

if it was on the last list what we could have expected to pay then we'd know what we're in for and either cough up or...

 

OK Guys,

I have got a few of you so worried about my rantings and ravings that you may be worried what the poor old oom is on about.

Well I have gone to great expense in getting fishes into SA, and then when I offer them for sale at a cheaper price than I imported them for, then I get a look of "well you must be totally bedondered" which is why I have been reacting in the way I have. Just a few days ago there was this question on the forum by someone, I did not bother to open it, asking about where they could buy cheap tropical fishes in Hatfield. Well, if you want rare and special stuff you must be prepared to pay, "Jy moet uithaal en wys". In the old Transvaal there is a different saying.......

Now, I want all you Apisto freaks to drive home first, have supper with the wife/girlfriend, then say to her that she will not see you for two hours at least, then switch on the computer, open your browser and press:

http://www.apistoworldhk.com

BTW, make sure you have a strong eish in hand and are sitting or else you may not be able to take the shock. Click on the Apistogramma links and then you can see what is on offer. In 2009, I received some prices from them. At the moment, I could not find the link to their prices, maybe one must inquire. At any rate, Oscar freak, you asked about prices for A macmasteri, but in the prices that I had that was not listed, but Apistogramma cacutoides orange was at Hongkong Dollar 160 per pair (almost the same as rands). The most expensive fish on the list was Apistogramma diplotaenia, an extremely pretty but difficult fish to keep, at HK$ 980 per pair. I would expect A macmasteri would be about KH$ 500 per pair.

So let's do some calculations: R500 per pair landed here, is add 50% surcharge and then VAT, so basically 171% = R855

Then a conservative estimate would be R5000 transport for one box and about R500 clearance = R5500.

Let us say you bring in 20 pairs so R855 x 20 = R17100 + R5500 = R22600 = R1130 per pair.

Who is going to pay this sort of a price? Nobody! And you will have 20 pairs to sell at this price!

So can you see the problems that you would have as an individual wanting to import small amounts of fishes. If you do this sort of calculation for big discus, you will see that this is completely out of the question and you have to leave it to the professionals that bring in larger amounts of fishes/boxes and this brings down the transport cost and thereby the unit cost.

What a large wholesaler can also do is bring in some cheaper fishes with which to subsidise the other fishes in the shipment, such as cardinals and then they can potentially drop the price of the other fishes, but this is still expensive. If you then have losses on top of this, then you are in trouble in no time.

So, I would advise that you send a wishlist to Moolis and when he gets something nice, grab it and thank your lucky stars!

Happy fish hunting from your local lfs's, next time you will appreciate the price!

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Some of the fish are worth there price if say R860 a pair. The simple truth is that I can't afford that even if I really wanted.

If someone could give me guarantee that they will survive and give me offspring to sell I might have made the investment but that is just wishful thinking.

So I am just one of the guys that go and patrol the LFS's that I know occasionally get something special even if they don't know it.

 

Ja that is a bit much @Moolis you can scratch that 1 but at least now we know that particular fish is highly unlikely and improbable(unless you sell the kids to the wife during the divorce) but again @Moolis if u ever see anything from the lists we send u if u could please just let us know the prices it will make our lists much shorter

 

My whole point of starting this post was to try and expand the range and quality of certain fish available form the LFS. More so the availability of Apistogrammas and other dwarf cichlids that we hardly ever see. Those are the fish that I enjoy keeping.
I know that some of them are extremely expensive and won't thrive if the are not kept under the ideal conditions. The fact is they will die in a very short space of time if the conditions are not ideal.
The intentions is not to import a pair of fish that will end up costing R1200, and the turn my back on the LFS that was kind enough to help me.
I do drool over some of the fish that are available, the same way loads of us droll over shrimp, but the fact is that we won't be keeping them in our tanks for a long time to come.
The list of available species that come around every week or two, must be pretty standard most of the time, so that will give us a very good idea what is available for the preferred supplier/breeder and give us a good idea of the price. So a decision can be made on last weeks list. And when the same fish becomes available again in a weeks time, it won't be so difficult to decide if you want to buy some or not. These will obviously be tanks bred fish, as the wild caught ones are very seasonal.
If the LFS can establish the minimum quantity they are willing to ship, we know where we stand. The most economic way would be to piggy back on the LFS order. Not that I am expecting a free ride, just a way of reducing the total cost of landing the fish. That way we might just get something that you have been trying to lay you hands on for ages.
If you put your name on the list, you are committed to take what you have ordered. No turning back. So, I don't mind doing all the investigation, talking to the LFS, and letting you all know what is available. But in the end you must be prepared to settle you bill and take what you asked for. I am pretty sure it can be done, with some planning and commitment we might just get that something special we are all looking for.

 

Sooo......are the about a hunderd or so of you guys that might be interested in some Hypsophrys nicaraguensis?
Hehe...

 

Hi Guys,

I am very glad that we have now gone the full circle with this discussion so to speak.

If we are to get to a take home message from this discussion then I would say:

1. If you see some interesting fishes in the lfs, even if they are expensive, buy them and do not hesitate, most likely you won't see them again. Buy enough so that you can be sure to breed them.

2. If there are interesting fishes on offer on this forum from one of the sponsors or if someone says that they want to import something in their personal capacity, this is likely to be something you are unlikely to get elsewhere, so place your order asap, so that you can get something of interest.

3. Just remember when you next curse the fish wholesaler, that these are persons that are taking risks that are of the worst possible in any business. Fish importation is of the highest risk business possible as far as I am concerned and you need nerves of steal and if you do not have financial reserves to overcome sudden losses, you will be bankrupt very quickly.

Some food for thought?

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

@viskop, nice but the get much bigger that the fish I like to keep.

 

@Dirk Bellstedt, I have actually contacted one of the forum members, I am just waiting for a reply. :sad2: Done the same when @Dolphin was offering to get us some really nice fish. Can kick myself as I lost them during my move last year.

 

Thank you Prof. Dirk for putting it into perspective

we at least I have good news, due to our bulk buying power we do get a discount on all our suppliers list prices! Ending up able to normally sell the fish pre-order at the same price as advertised on their price lists. But still costing a packet.

regarding ".....Well I have gone to great expense in getting fishes into SA, and then when I offer them for sale at a cheaper price than I imported them for, then I get a look of "well you must be totally bedondered" which is why I have been reacting in the way I have....."
Well it look like every Tom, Dick & Harry can jurge you and think they know better. I had a customer telling me he could get the same product at half the price at another store? While I was the sole importer of the product and I was cutting my markup to the minimum.
It just go to show you uninformed customers could judge you without thinking twice. I at least take it this way "If he/she knew better/was better informed they would not react that way at all!" and then start educating them, but this is becoming more difficult with age as it feels like the same old BS all over again. Especially on a bad day.:noworry:

 

@Moolis, how often do Apistogrammas appear on the lists that you get from your suppliers. No point in trying to chase down something that you can't get.

 

Apisto's are regularly available BUT we need to take like 80 males and 80 females of a species!!! OR a mix OR OR but if I know there are dedicated buyers I WILL make a plan. Let Me know what species is top and what is bottom.

 

See guys,

And now we should agree on something that is not too expensive, not too difficult to keep and not already in the country. We have got enough A aggasizzi and A cacutoides, so we do not need them. Forget about Rams as they are too problematic if they come from the east. Then we can look at A borelli (very nice sky blue, not large, not aggressive, the "Opal" strain is very nice), or A trifasciata (of which there are different colours), or A hongsloi red (nice, but actually not a wild type but an inbred selection, so needs careful attention). A mamore and A mendezi are nice but need more space. A uaupesi and A iniridae are attractive to me, but not to many others, and need softer water conditions.

Let us see if we can narrow down the wishlist for Moolis and then he can see what can be done.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

@Moolis jou doring, thanks for your effort in advance. @Dirk Bellstedt, I would go for A borelli, you do get some stunning colors. The A hongsloi do not really appeal to me that much. A trifasciata are really nice fish. But let's wait and see if any of the other members come up with suggestions. I will do some reading on the other that you have mentioned.
And then there is Nannakara Anomala, I really like those, and they come from just up the road.

 

ja im going to have a look at that link of the prof's and will let you know.

 

im for the trifasciata too,and the borelli so if we making up numbers here count me in

 

We will have to manage this properly, the offer from Moolis stands and I do not want to stuff him around. All interested parties will have to agree on one type of apisto to start off with. I will make a plan to go and see Moolis, or contact him via e-mail to find out what is on the list. Then I can give you some feedback, hopefully on indicative prices as well. This is not going to be a rush job, so please be patient.
Any other ideas are welcome.

 

I'm really up for any of the other apisto's, but in order of preference: I'm with prof on the A. uaupesi, then A. cuacatoides (triple red). West african dwarfs like pelvicachromis taenatius will also be gladly accepted!! (by me and other people I know are looking), also Laetacara curviceps...... I know I'm mentioning a few now, but like I said at beginning, I'm easy, will go with the group if something pops up....