Getting new species

[timebomb]

Hi, folks,

I noticed many of you asked Au to reserve some of his Notho eggersi (Blue) eggs for you. Nothing wrong with that as, judging from the picture, the fish is very beautiful. But what I'm concerned about is that there are too few of us here who are taking the intiative to bring in eggs from breeders living in other countries. If we keep getting eggs from local breeders like Au and Sia Meng, we will all end up with the same few species. That would be boring.

I would encourage everyone here to contact breeders living in other countries and buy or trade killifiish eggs with them. Bring in new species so that the killifish scene here will become more colourful. KC was concerned that by bringing in eggs, we may be breaking some rules. If you check the AVA's official website, they have a rule about bringing in chicken eggs (60 at the most) but nothing is mentioned about killifish eggs. Since no mention is made, no rule will be broken.

Over the past year or so, I must have received something like 100 envelopes of eggs. Although I did not succeed in hatching most of them, every bag of eggs that was sent to me from a breeder living elsewhere eventually reached me. The customs here are not strict about "what comes in" as our economy is not dependent on agricultural products. If they are serious about the ecology, the government would have done something about those idiots releasing their LuoHans into our local streams and ponds.

Anyway, it is not difficult to source for commercial breeders. There are many of them living all over the world, nearest of which must be Richard Baumann of Taiwan. Some breeders who live in the US of A have Paypal accounts and if you have one too, it would be easy to remit payment through Paypal. Breeders who live in countries like Taiwan, South Africa and South America are unlikely to have Paypal accounts so the only way to remit payment is to send them cash. I usually put the money between the pages of a greeting card and send it by registered post. Take note that it's not illegal to send cash through the post. A bit risky perhaps but not illegal.

The AKA's official website has a "Online Fish and Egg Listing". You don't have to be a AKA member to buy eggs from the breeders there. Many breeders who live in Canada advertise their fish and eggs on the AKA's website. You can trust them. They will not cheat your money because if they do, you can always make a complaint to the AKA. The Aphyosemion australes that I have (all 3 strains of Gold, Orange and Chocolate) came from a breeder living in Canada. Despite the great distance, the eggs hatched in good numbers.

Bring in new species of eggs, hatch them and chances are very good you can recover the cost easily or even make a profit by selling the fish or eggs to the other forum users here.

We need more of you to try.

Loh K L

[richy]

Kwek Leong, I agreed with you that more hobbyists should bring in new Killie species to spread the hobby and arouse the interests of the local. I have once got some eggs from someone from South Africa, free. I only paid for the postage. However, due to the lack of experience (even now still!), the eggs did not manage to hatch. But it shows that a lot of killies keepers out there are keen to share and have fellow hobbyists as 'backups'.

However, in order for us not to request for species that are already available here, some form of database information must be set up so the we would not end up ordering duplicate species. Can we start one soon?

[CM Media]

Bring in new species of eggs, hatch them and chances are very good you can recover the cost easily or even make a profit by selling the fish or eggs to the other forum users here.

Loh K L

I agree to Kwek Leong's statement. I've being financing my hobby through selling excess eggs at Aquabid. So you can see how well the eggs can fatch in the states. But when I sell to fellow forum users here at a nominal price. I hope that this will not devalue the fish here. That's why I prefer to get my eggs sold at Aquabid for real profit. Attached is one of my sale for your reference. .

I hope that this will encourage more people to bring in more species and breed them, spread them around here and make a decent profit for your time and effort invested.

http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/aucti...ishe1060144913

[Debbbear]

Way to go Au sl!!! ,I was watching that auction with interest ! I have sent money in the mail and so far it has worked. If I can be of any help to anyone over here in the USA,just let me know!! Deb

[timebomb]

I'm kind of surprised by the high price, Au. But it's good to know there are people willing to pay good prices for killifish eggs. If eggs are too cheap, breeders would lose interest in collecting them.

As Au has shown, you can make a decent profit if you succeed in breeding some of the more exotic species. There are something like 700 species of killies. So go for it, guys.

Richard, your suggestion is a good one but I don't know how we can build a database of species in this forum. In any case, any database we build will only be useful if the members upgrade it constantly. I suspect it may not work very well. At the present moment, I know there are only a few of us who are actively sourcing for eggs from other countries. Besides Au and Sia Meng, Darren Lum has also brought in a few species. But the number of species we have here now is rather limited. We need you all to go and look for more exotic species like the Diapterons, Rivulus, Procatopus etc. Don't play safe by buying the same kind of eggs all the time. Look for something new and buy the eggs even if you don't know what the fish look like. You can be pleasantly surprised sometimes.

Deb, who lives in the US of A has just offered her help. Over where she lives, there are many killifish clubs. Maybe you all can ask Deb to help us find some exciting species. By the way, welcome to the forum, Deb. I'm glad you finally made it :wink:

Loh K L