How do I get them?

[Jeffery Doty]

Hello everyone,

As I sit here looking through my books on dwarfs and apistos, I wonder how a person gets some of these locally unavailable fish?

I see A. Elizabethae, A. Mendezi, T. Candidi, etc., that I have never seen before in person, and I wonder how do I find out if they are even in the USA? Or, who has them?

What do you all do when you come accross a fish you would love to have?

Thanks.

Jeff
Oregon

 

[farm41]

You could ask on the apisto list.

 

[Z Man]

The Elizabethae are around and available by some mail order supply places at about $45 a pair. The other 2 you mention usually have to come from a breeder. I have had all 3 at one time or another but only the Candidi bred for me. They were an awful lot of work for the small group they produce. Fun but a lot of work. The new ones you see advertized on sites are all in the $45 to $50 a pair range and you really need more than a pair. I will attest to that. Loose one and you are finished and the supplier doesn't have them any more. Once you get them to breed for you, everyone else has figured it out too and then the price drops drasticly. The Apistogramma Study Group is a good place to start your search.

 

[Randall]

Rare Apistogramma Species

Dear Jeffery,

The website to the Apistogramma Study Group (ASG), an organization well worth joining, is as follows:

Apisto.com

Good luck!

Randall Kohn

 

[Scooter]

Hey Jeff. Many of the fish your read about are out there and available but it often takes a little work to find them. As Z Man mentioned, many breeders exist but they often don't sell to the public. I utilize many resources to find dwarfs that I'm interested in. Z Man's help has been invaluable to me and I often pick his brain. Through his help, I've gotten in touch with many dwarf breeders and sellers around the country when looking for hard to find fish. As has already been mentioned, joining the ASG would be beneficial. I would also add that joining the ACA will be very useful as well. If you're not shy and you're able, go to the annual ACA convention. There are many dwarf keepers/breeders/sellers that attend who can point you toward specific fish. Get to know people and don't be afraid to ask questions. I'm not shy and I've found that doing a little research, a little digging, and a little networking has been more than worth the effort. By and large, dwarf cichlid folks are easy to talk to and quite responsive to queries. Good luck!

 

[Xanathos]

Like scooter said, having a good network of fellow aquarist is a good way to get rare/hard to find species, like those candidi... If u have any aquarist club or gathering nearby, it is always a good idea to go there and talk with people...

I myself found taniecara candidi but they were quite expansive ( like 35$ each... )

Sorry for my poor english, I hope I dont make too many mistakes

Phil

 

[Z Man]

I haven't been on for a few days because I have been in Cleveland for the OCA Extravaganza and there were few of us Apisto people there. JerryB, MsCichlid, Don Kinyon, Al Yunker, Eric Bodrock and of course myself but there are a lot of people interested who like most hobbyists, don't know where the pick them up. I did see A.sp. Jurua there and they sold for about 6 @ $30 in the auction. I saw most of the older and more common one's but there is always someone who has the "newest" Apisto. YOU HAVE TO GO TO THESE PLACES TO JUST GET CONTACTS! Sorry for shouting but that's the truth. You will learn more talking to someone than you can ever learn from a book! BTW, what a great time!

 

[apistodave]

http://www.apistogrammaidiots.com/ you could try here too specially as its only over the hill from you>

 

[Neil]

Xanathos,

WELCOME TO THE FORUM

Phil,
Your english is very good!

I myself found taniecara candidi but they were quite expansive ( like 35$ each... )

That is quite a bit for candidi. They usually are not cheap, but not that much

Jeff & Everyone,
Although candidi is around more than the others, it is usually much more affordable than the other 2, which can be as much as $100/pr. So just finding them is only half the problem. You also have to bite your lip and open up the purse-strings.
Neil