I'm thinking rasboras and tetras, possibly some corydoras, but I'm not looking for big fish right now and I don't think I'll get them again. Rasbora borapatensis became available 3 or 4 months ago, however I didn't go for them and wouldn't without a big enough tank. Not South American fish like apistogrammas or cardinal tetras, angelfishes and even less discusfish, and although I don't like conventional fish unfortunately you need a stroke of luck to get something interesting, which usually arrives by mistake at the distributors. My family and I are fine, thank you, I live in the north of the state of Veracruz, fortunately Hurricane Beryl diverted its path, unfortunately Texas paid the price, however I cannot say the same with what happened 3 years ago with the Hurricane Grace, it was disastrous and I hope something similar doesn't happen again, that was a horror movie.
Lalo's new freshwater project
- Thread starter Lalo J.
- Start date
Sorry for the bad Mexico geography & my memory but glad Beryl didn't affect you. Our big pre-wedding trip was through both Veracruz & Tampico almost 50 years ago.
I kept rasbora borapetensis & liked them a lot. I kept them with espei rasboras & small loaches (striata & sidthimunki). 1 of my favorite tanks ever!
I kept rasbora borapetensis & liked them a lot. I kept them with espei rasboras & small loaches (striata & sidthimunki). 1 of my favorite tanks ever!
I really like Rasbora spei, the ones I have are already of considerable size, I'm planning to put at least 7-9 more individuals, currently I only have 7.
You are very right about the "fish desert", I also experience it with saltwater fish, because beyond the fact that most of what you can get are conventional fish, their quality is very bad, in the long run fish get sick and die without the correct treatment and sometimes with the right treatment, unfortunately I have thought a lot about this during the last few months and at times I have thought about not continuing with anything, and enjoying time with my daughter when work takes me away. All my aquariums are stopped, and running on autopilot, in my saltwater aquariums I'm only replenishing the water by evaporation, I'm going to start with fresh water again, but I'm going to move forward slowly.
On a separate note, a week ago I ordered some more spei rasboras to add to the rasboras I already have, I did it with a lfs that I have had for a year maybe buying various things. So I talked to the owner, (supposedly we are friends or maybe I thought so), to pick up the fish a few days later because I'm quite busy with work and other things, he agreed so today when I talked to him to pick up the rasboras he told me that they were already sold out, he sold the fish I ordered because "several days have passed", that was his explanation, so I pretended to apologize and we stopped talking via whatsapp messages. Immediately I started to think that some sellers I just don't understand what they are trying to do, this guy has sent me sick fish, and different fish than the ones he posts when he puts fish at a discounted price because according to him "you can't choose the fish at a discount" and he just sends the first fish he catches with the net; this guy is supposed to be a lot less experience and years in the hobby than I'm, and sorry to put it like that but he sought my help late last year in setting up a saltwater system in his store, I helped him as much as I could, explained a lot of things to him, talked to him about QT tanks, efficient filtration systems, recommended fish for beginners, etc, I saved him a lot of headaches, and was even willing to help him set up the tank right in the store, but besides not requiring my help, the guy ended up doing whatever he wanted and putting subpar equipment in his tank, to be honest I don’t know what he wanted to do, he sold me a couple of fish at a discount for my help, that ended up dying at qt because they came in sick, and the worst part of the story is that when he brought saltwater fish for sale, he sold them almost immediately, maybe took 10 days to sell everything; and i'm not sure if i mentioned it here, but i was trying to sell both freshwater and saltwater fish with a pre-treatment, quarantined and dewormed, completely healthy and adapted fish, i haven't given up but during that process i have had losses, and i haven't sold many fish because people don't want to pay a premium for a well adapted and healthy fish, they probably prefer to buy it cheaper even with the risk of disease and that the fish will never eat, this is talking about saltwater fish, so I had fish in my qt tanks for a long time and they couldn't be sold even at 50%, i leave it to you how I could feel when this guy sold everything in less than 10 days, and he also sold to some people who rejected my "high prices", being that those people didn't pay a big difference but whatever, it seems that i'm left with one less option in freshwater fish, i've passed several to this guy and i think it was the last one, however it's sad what is happening with the hobby here in my area, aquarists are not interested in quality, they are not interested in a 100% conditioned fish, they are interested in buying cheap and "seeing what happens", it's unfortunate and now that work leaves me very few hours to enjoy the hobby, this type of actions make me definitely reconsider.
I'm sorry Lalo. There are different ways of looking at ours as a hobby or as a business. There is some overlap between them but not so much when it comes to selling for a profit to live by vs a little spending money. I've been guilty of buying cheap fish, quarantining & hoping for the best. It doesn't always work well. I've also paid more for quality fish from a trusted source or for rare fish. I have more options than you do.
I almost never sell my fish, plants or equipment anymore. Sometimes I trade them to hobbyists or shops for other fish, food or equipment. These days I find I like to just give them away to people who will appreciate them without thoughts of anything in return. That gives me joy in a very small way...& is so much less bother. It's all on my terms too! I guess maybe that's part of being old in age & in "tank years"...& not caring or needing a return on my fish investments these days.
I know it's different in your area but it helps to just let all those bad feelings go. Don't help if it's more than fun at your convenience or you expect anything else. Live & learn from this experience. People have shown you what you can expect from them, believe them from now into the future. These guys don't seem like your "friends" to me, more like business acquaintances at best. Treat them that way & you won't be disappointed, they have a different agenda.
You know I wish you well my friend.
I almost never sell my fish, plants or equipment anymore. Sometimes I trade them to hobbyists or shops for other fish, food or equipment. These days I find I like to just give them away to people who will appreciate them without thoughts of anything in return. That gives me joy in a very small way...& is so much less bother. It's all on my terms too! I guess maybe that's part of being old in age & in "tank years"...& not caring or needing a return on my fish investments these days.
I know it's different in your area but it helps to just let all those bad feelings go. Don't help if it's more than fun at your convenience or you expect anything else. Live & learn from this experience. People have shown you what you can expect from them, believe them from now into the future. These guys don't seem like your "friends" to me, more like business acquaintances at best. Treat them that way & you won't be disappointed, they have a different agenda.
You know I wish you well my friend.
People have definitely shown me what one can expect from them, it's still unfortunate and I feel upset in some ways, thank you for your kind words they are always quite positive. On the other hand I have put the tank back in place and it is just as exciting as the first time
.
