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How to import tropical fish into NZ?


philosophy king

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If it was easy (and cheap) a lot more of us would be doing it. You need a LOT of money and a quarantine facility to start.

You mean i need to have my own quarantine facility?

secondly is there a company which can provide this sort of service?

Lastly, do we have any Asian AROs or Asian ARO breeders in NZ at all?

:bow:

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As a fish keeper of strange desires and belonging to an exclusive club, we/I have tried for years to get someone (importer) to provide us with a facility to Q fish that we source from overseas.

A quote last year was $800 per tank.

It appeared obvious that he didn't want to help.

I'm told that there is in the pipeline, an importer that will, when the facility is up and running, will do just this for us, but once again $300 seems pretty high per tank.

I have now been in touch personally with a person who will help me out, (read me) to bring in killies , and I have several members that are interested in this venture.

I hope to meet up shortly to see the facilities and enter into more discussions about it.

At the moment there are two species going thru Q.

I cannot discuss more than I have here, but as you can see, it's not an easy task to find a friendly importer.

Years ago, when you could have a backyard shed for a Q station, we had a member of the club import for us, but alas, those days are long gone.

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Anyone can import fish if they either get the correct permits and organise a quarantine facility or find a quarantine facility with an owner who will to do it all for you. The $800 Alan is talking about is quite fair. Firstly, the permits to bring in the fish take some time to fill out and cost to have processed. Then the owner has to go to the airport to meet customs/MAF who clears the import. Then the MAF agent has to go to the quarantine facility and check the fish (at $100/hour). Then over the 6 weeks Q period, theres water changes and more MAF inspections. Finally there is the final MAF clearance for Q release. After all the fees, the Q facility owner would be hard pressed to see more than $300-400 for all the hard time spent collecting and looking after the fish and that not including overheads (power, phone, mortgage, tax etc etc...)

$300 is very cheap for a quarantine tank. At that price the tank is being offered as a service.

If you are considering importing and using a Q facility, you'll need to organise the shipment to arrive on the Q facility intake date. If not it will miss the 6 week cycle and may be rejected by the owner. To delay all their other tanks release date if your shipment is late will be very costly. Time is money!

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An exporter is unlikely to want to supply you with just the very best selection of fish when they aready have other customers, say in the States who are spending squillions and are looking for fancy stuff as well. The biggest importers in NZ would be total pretenders compared to some out there in countries with a far greater population. I understand the quarantine requirements have changed and you can have shipments with different release dates provided they are physically seperated. I was probably the last person to import goldfish and I had 7 inspections in 6 weeks. Have a go (if you are a masochist)

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I understand the quarantine requirements have changed and you can have shipments with different release dates

You can however again at $100/hr plus gst it is not cheap so having multiple release dates is not always good option to have MAF come out just to release a few tanks.

I think even though NZ does not bring in millions of fish and are on the smaller size we do get a very good selection and the only reason we do miss out on the more exotic fish sometimes is that we don’t ship weekly like all importers overseas as they don’t have quarantine.

Shipping ever week gives you a far better chance of getting the stock you want as it is more likely to be available before it goes.

There are a lots of computations and permutations when importing so it is not as easy as many think.

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Hi All;

Having read the prevoius posts, I've decided that I should add my two pennith worth as an importer of earlier days.

I had what was then, a recognised quarantine facility and imported a shipment every 2 months.

I imported both fish and plants, in fact most of the cryptocorynes that were available in the mid to late 70's were imported by me.

I was also the first, I believe to import what was the "Pelmatachromis thomasi" and today I cant get one :cry: unless I import them.

To digress a tad, for the information of those who think they know all, (but are only guessing) I will give validation to the incompetence of "ERMA" who now control MAF to oversee the importation of "TROPICAL FISH & PLANTS".

I hold an explosive license for "FIREWORK DISPLAYS", the grading is CATEGORY 1 EXPLOSIVES. Much higher than my or any firearms license.

ERMA set up the requisite regulations based on what the Australians use when setting off displays.

This "Australian STANDARD" is not used by Pyrotechnicians in NZ because it isn't safe; but the Head of ERMA, one Noel McCardle who publicly admitted he knew nothing about fireworks set up the relevent regulations, WITHOUT CONSULTATION with the industry.

Two people have been severely injured through that incompetence, but to save face they won't amend the regulations.

They are "NO DIFFERENT" when it comes to knowing anything about matters piscine and anybody that trust them doesnt do the hobby any good.

It is now just a money making venture/enterprise for the government, and all it does for the hobby is to increase prices whilst restricting the importation of fish and plants. :evil:

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can your fish shop not get them for you??

I did ask how to get Asian Aros in general, just a chat, i didnt ask them to get it for me in any serious way. that guy(who works there, not the boss)wasn't sure either nor asked me if i wanna order it from their shop. i thought its easier to consult with you guys first. :bounce:

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