why are apistos seemingly so hard to find?

[the-chad]

i live in sault ste marie ontario Canada. population 75,000. we have 2 LFS here and they both tell me they have never carried apistogrammas and cannot even special order them!

are these fish really that rare? i recently set up a 35gallon tank and was really hoping to add come cockatoos or something similar.

i mean its not like im living at the north pole.... why cant my lfs get them??

 

[wethumbs]

They are not rare, just not popular enough for LFS to stock them. Afterall, they dont want to keep the fish for months at the store hoping for someone to buy them.

 

[YoungClayB]

I don't understand it either. Apistos are great fish. They have so much personality and instinctual behavior. With their small size, I don't understand why they aren't more popular.

 

[aquaticclarity]

Apistos are also not readily commercially spawned. Many if not most of the fish you are offered in the average store are breed and raised in a fish farm setting. Apistos do not lend themselves to quick spawns on demand in large volume not to mentuion the labor involved. They are not a cost effective fish for a farm to raise. And then teh extra care needed to keep them healthy and looking good is more then most stores can provide. You are much better off looking to your fellow hobbiests to get Apistos then a retail brick and mortar store.

 

[Apistomaster]

They are not rare, just not popular enough for LFS to stock them. Afterall, they dont want to keep the fish for months at the store hoping for someone to buy them.

Not only these points but many shops lack the expertise to keep Apistogramma spp alive long enough to sell.
You might ask your favorite shop if they can check with http://www.belowwater.com/.
They also used to sell retail and ship to your door.
With the exceptions of ramirezi and "Kribensis", the majority of Dwarf Cichlids have always been something of a "specialty fish" much as Killifishes are. It is often most fruitful to investigate on-line hobbyists breeders/sellers and tropical fish associations where you find others who share your interests.

 

[leafish]

I only have one store in my area that carries them. That store also doesn't have the healthiest selection so when I bought them, they just died. Buy from apistodave, he lists them on aquabid or you can probably just message him through here. I'm incredibly happy with the fish that he sent me.