Loaches Online Forum

If you're in Florida, it is well worth the visit. Last year there were over 1000 bags of fish -- we are aiming for 600 this year. There's also a dry goods auction. We've had people come from as far as Georgia and Kentucky.

Everyone is welcome -- members and non members. You may auction fish and/or buy fish. The club receives the first $ and 30%.

http://tbas1.com/TBASpages/TBAS_Annual_ ... _2011.html

That looks cool! I wish I could be there.

You should plan a visit down one year. Enjoy Florida's weather at its best, go to the auction and buy a few hundred fish, soak up some sun, . . .

This year I really had a great time at the auction.

I picked up a small, lovely L333 http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/sp ... es_id=1024

I also got an amazing whiptail, but I have no idea what it is. It has a high dornal and short nose like a royal farlowela and two black stripes over his back.

I also picked up 7 small Panda garras for $5. They are cute and I have them in my baby bristlenose nursery.

A friend gave me some extraordinary fish too. A breeding group including berried females of blue pearl shrimp. A large adult male blue eyed albino bristlenose, 2 albino fry BN, 2 large SAEs (the real ones) and 2 assassin snails, . . .

I also sold 15 Bristlenoses and a bag of shrimp.

PS We also had a local breeder (Patrick Daily of Amazon Exotics) donate two Zebra Plecos to us for auction. I can now say that I have personally touched a Sebra pleco and I have seen a few hundred. He also toured us around his fish house and showed us amazing fish like 4' arowana,
long fin full-grown Oscars, a full-grown Tiger Shovelnose catfish.

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/sp ... ies_id=168
TheZebras are banned from export, so they are hard to obtain.

That was super nice and generous for him to support us in such a manner. Whole sale he sells the fish $150 each. I think they sold at auction for $120 each.

We have wonderful local fish farmers who support our fish club. We collected 200 bags of donated fish from the local farmers. Very generous. The L333 and Panda garras were donations from local farmers.

Cool!!

It was. Plan for next year.

starsplitter7 wrote: I also picked up 7 small Panda garras for $5.

That was a steal !

I love those little cyprinids but I have only 2, I had 3 but one died last month.
I have never seen them around here so I have not had an opportunity to add to my colony

I agree. The pandas are tiny, less than an inch, but they grow fast. I looked for Andres Ryan's website, but I am not sure if it is live yet. He's the farmer most of the exotic fish come from including the Pandas. He is Canadian. When I find the website, I will post it, because I bet you could order the fish from him.

You should also plan a trip tp Florida next November.

starsplitter7 wrote:I agree. The pandas are tiny, less than an inch, but they grow fast. I looked for Andres Ryan's website, but I am not sure if it is live yet. He's the farmer most of the exotic fish come from including the Pandas. He is Canadian. When I find the website, I will post it, because I bet you could order the fish from him.

This one? http://www.bioaquatix.com/

Thank you. I couldn't for the life of me remember it. Andres Ryan has amazing fish. I highly recommend his fish. I have received some at auction and his Celestial Danios are birght and healthy, his Royal Farlowelas are amazing and I love his Panda Garras. I have had some now for 3 years I think. He also supports our club by giving amazing talks where he explains his breeding techniques.

He is responsible for makaing some of these fish available in the US. There may be other vendors, but I never found them. His fish are healthy, clean and well cared for. He is more of an advanced hobbiest than a farmer.