New addition to the pup grow out.... Baby High Back Gold Asian Arowana

Thanks @pierreschoonraad

You are right..
It all started when the first rays were brought in for us, to the best of our knowledge they were the first brought into the Country
After this, some LFS's started bringing more in and we started regularly getting calls from people who we didnt even know asking for help as the majority of pups were being lost shortly after being sold
We went as far as handing out care sheets to WCB, one of the biggest importers so that they could hand these out but what was done with them we dont know

Somehow everyone was being given Cesar's number and the messages kept coming through asking for help and pictures of dead pups and this just broke our hearts
This is when I decided that I had to do whatever i could to help people keep these babies alive
Its when I decided to do the care sheets for TASA that are on the Oddball fish stickies and one of the LFS'S in Boksburg started working very closely with us in terms of how to care for them and teach new owners to do the same
The losses have decreased dramatically especially after we managed to convince them to bring in Prazipro in liquid form as well because we have the same problem with the rays as the discus where they are definitely coming in with parasites which although might be sort of dormant, they flare up with the stress of shipping and the number of hours these pups are in transit.
As time has gone by, the interest and love for these awesome creatures has spread everywhere even though we dont see it on the forum at this stage

The prices at which they are being sold is crazy... as I said, hybrids depending on what the mix is are coming in at around 5k, pure breds are coming in at 15k
I suppose the exchange rate and shipping as they have to be individually packed, doesnt help with pricing

Before we manged to get the Prazipro in, with the help of Paul Eshowe (one of maybe 2 fish vets in SA) we went on a thorough program of de-worming and treating for parasites every ray we have as well as all the fish we own to ensure there was no contamination
The pups are being born parasite free and still get done again before going to new homes

Although the love and enjoyment we get out of keeping them is the main thing, there being males and females, breeding will obviously occasionally take place and when it happens, we hope to make them available to the SA hobbyist at a fraction of the price together with the help and support they need at any time

I suppose in the long run its always nice to make a few rand towards your feeding bill but that's a bonus

All this being said... after all... spending 10k on two rays or 16k on a Dragon is a lot but you dont buy 10 or 11 of them..
But they are not the only fish that are insane priced....Lets take a tank with a school of 10 or 12 top quality imported discus at just under 2k each... and doesnt sound too bad individually maybe but after buying a school of them for your tank you have easy spent over 20k
Take your frontosas which are in the region of 1k each at the LFS at the moment and you supposed to keep in colonies and what does it add to to have a
tank of them?

 

@Hooks, you have to have someone there that you can trust but the certificate that comes with it also states who the breeder is.

We have made some friends in the last 3 or 4 years in the Arowana and Ray world so when you ready, send me a pm
You need to understand they will ask you for a deposit though

 

Wanted fish always comes at a price. I know cause I looked into getting some rainbows. Minimum order is 200 fish at R150 each. That's R30K and then the fish are paid. I only need 10. Lucky for you that you can get the fish individually shipped. You don't win, regarding shipping, but at least you don't need to sell 190 small silver fish that will only show their true colors after 4 years.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

 

Thanks for all the info you regularly post. As soon as my new tank is finish I'll be in contact.

 

You welcome anytime

I enjoy sharing and its nice when other member share too as it benefits us as hobbyists and the fish

 

Hahah @Whoknows ... what do you want to sign up for?

 

The price of Aros will always be high as we will prbably never see them being bred here.... you would need hundreds of thousands to set up a breeding facility in SA
The price of rays is becoming affordable and will continue to do so in the future as breeding locally takes place
We sold our pups at R2600.00
I saw a large red severum for sale last weekend for R1500.00
Geos at just under R1000.00 so the price we asked for the pups is very fair in my mind

 

If you do some good shopping around you can do it for less than half o that

 

Who is the best options to go with building a quality tank and reasonable price.

 

I will pm you the number of who built ours

 

Hahha yes... @top dog got lost at my place... we had to find him

 

Thanks so much

 

This is what happens

 

2.6x1x.7 meters