JK Posted April 10, 2008 Report Share Posted April 10, 2008 Might sound like a pretty straight forward question but where do you like to buy your tropical fish from? Do you have a favourite LFS? Or any that you highly recommend or even try to stay away from? Or do you prefer to buy off local breeders? Do you do this through trademe or are there other sources? I've bought from a few of my LFS' and sometimes I have doubted the quality based on the number of dead fish in tanks and sometimes random unexplained losses. Been thinking that maybe local breeders are a better way to go. Cheers JK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitzy Posted April 10, 2008 Report Share Posted April 10, 2008 I think buying from breeders is better but in saying that i do buy from petshop, I do not buy if there is dead fish in tank or fish look sick or have signs of anything. If all fish look healthy then why not. You have your pros and cons when buying from either a breeder or petshop. eg. Buying from breeders is sometimes cheaper, healther fish, you get to see there setup up if local. Buy from petshop you dont have to wait lol , you dont have the worry with shipping etc and so on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wok Posted April 10, 2008 Report Share Posted April 10, 2008 Since you are living in Glenfield, I can recommend 3 good stores in your area. Pupuke Aquarium, Northcote/ Birkenhead Hollywood Fish Farm, Rosedale and Origin Auatics, Browns Bay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JK Posted April 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2008 Thanks Wok I been going to Pupuke Aqaurium for about 25years now so am always pretty comfortable buying fish from them in terms of quality. Haven't been to Origin before but on the to do list! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keri Anne Posted April 11, 2008 Report Share Posted April 11, 2008 Hollywoods is always a required stop for me when in Auckland. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barrie Posted April 11, 2008 Report Share Posted April 11, 2008 Only problem with Hollywoods is that they wont stock Killis and seem to have little knowledge of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 11, 2008 Report Share Posted April 11, 2008 I like Hutt Pets because they are cheap but sometimes they have lot of sick tanks. Animalz always have good qaulity healthy fish. But my favourite Fish shop is Wonderworld Aquarium and pet centre in Rotorua as it has the largest amount of fish I've ever seen and the tsanks are all healthy and well setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naz_Nomad Posted April 11, 2008 Report Share Posted April 11, 2008 Personally, I recommend Pupuke. Hollywoods is ok if Pupuke doesn't have what you're looking for or if you want marine stuff which Pupuke doesn't have. The Browns Bay shop would be third choice. (Origin?) However the place to avoid is Animates in Wairau Park, closely followed by Animates Albany. Never buy anything alive from there, the rest of the stuff is a price thing I guess. My opinions. Others experiences may vary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted April 11, 2008 Report Share Posted April 11, 2008 Only problem with Hollywoods is that they wont stock Killis and seem to have little knowledge of them Probably because there's no money in them, and thats what they're there to do. I've heard of people distributing new/rare killi's they've bred to other killi keepers for free. How is a business that needs to make a profit supposed to compete with that, and more to the point why should they bother to try? Both HFF's get a big thumbs up from me, been shopping there for years (in fact I got my first goldfish from there about 21 years ago!). Origin have good prices, and the goldfish pagoda in pakuranga often have a good selection of large cichlids and other oddballs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barrie Posted April 11, 2008 Report Share Posted April 11, 2008 David Yes, that happens to members but with only say 40 or 50 members throughout NZ and then only if they want those types of Killis, I would think that not too much business is lost. A few months ago, I offered to GIVE them Killis to try to stimulate interest (6 types) but the female I spoke to said they dont sell well and that Albany had them. I asked what type and she answered.... Killifish, She didnt realise that there were 1000s of different types. We sold them the next phone call we made (to another shop) and they had gone in under 2 weeks and they want more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted April 11, 2008 Report Share Posted April 11, 2008 I've seen the odd killifish in tanks at the pet shops but they have always been in with guppies and have never been labelled. They have been females as well - never seen a live male yet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DantezGirl Posted April 11, 2008 Report Share Posted April 11, 2008 i brought my two axies from trademe some guppys from lfs and some from jr on here and my jap newts from trademe and chinese newts from becks on here i would rather buy from here if there shipping as there's more variety than MY lfs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snookie Posted April 11, 2008 Report Share Posted April 11, 2008 i have seen killies at lfs , Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted April 11, 2008 Report Share Posted April 11, 2008 So they stock some killis and stimulate interest, and the new enthusiastic killi keepers eventually find their way onto the net and into the killiklub (or whatever its called) where they are in contact with other members who will give away [or sell cheaper] fish. Its still a fairly niche market, and there are probably more profitable things for them to stock their tanks with. I still think HFF are probably the best LFS in Auckland (certainly on this side of the bridge). I hadn't had any contact with Dave [the owner] for years and he still recognised me despite me being 5 years older and not having shoulder-length hair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snookie Posted April 11, 2008 Report Share Posted April 11, 2008 hff is a great shop ,when im down in aucks that is the place i go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barrie Posted April 11, 2008 Report Share Posted April 11, 2008 Good on you David Im pleased no one sells guppys or Discus privately :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JK Posted April 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2008 Hey Rummery where are you living now mate? South of the bridge I'm guessing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim r Posted April 11, 2008 Report Share Posted April 11, 2008 The best shop I have found between Wellington and Whangarei is Wonderworld in Rotorua. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted April 11, 2008 Report Share Posted April 11, 2008 Good on you David Im pleased no one sells guppys or Discus privately :roll: I guess I haven't found the NZ Guppy Keepers Association yet, where do I sign up? :roll: I don't care that HFF doesn't stock killi's, and I guess the majority of their customers don't either otherwise they would probably stock them. LFS's can't keep every species of fish in stock, its just not profitable, as you said youself there are only 40-50 people in the NZKA so they obviously have more of a cult-following than mainstream appeal. My point with the killi's is not so much that they get sold privately, its that the 40-50 people who have a real interest in them are a fairly close-nit bunch who regularly trade fish with no desire to make a profit out of it. There's no way a business can compete with that. Yes plenty of other fish are sold on trademe and by other means, but they are usually far more mainstream things than killifish so the shops can still make money selling them to their customers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barrie Posted April 12, 2008 Report Share Posted April 12, 2008 your still missing the point The Killi club is possibly the largest fish club The fish that I gave to a shop had all gone in less than 2 weeks They normally have no problem selling them for $20 to $30 a pair There is a demand out there but if shops dont stock them, it leaves us no choice than to sell them privately and there fore take business away from the lfs I do however concede that fish are often sold to shops that are too young and there fore not showing them selves as well as they could but they still sell In the last 12 months (well since June) I have spent over $8000 at shops on gear and foods. Almost all was spent at a shop that does stock Killis but in the end, when I asked this guy to get some filters for me, he never phoned back so now days I buy at shops that stock Killis when they can but I just dont have the same loyalty. HWFF has knowledge and a good range of things but when it comes to the interest I have, they dont have that knowledge and seem just not interested so how do they know what Im after. My last on this subject Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doch Posted April 12, 2008 Report Share Posted April 12, 2008 what part of auckland are you in david goldfish pagoda was just around the corner from where i worked when i was up there i used it all the time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted April 12, 2008 Report Share Posted April 12, 2008 Mt Wellington, so (on a good day!) we're only about 15 minutes from goldfish pagoda, hff mt roskill and jansens botenay, who still seem to have some interesting fish, unlike most of the other animates. I'd probably use pupuke and/or origin more often if they weren't so far away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doch Posted April 12, 2008 Report Share Posted April 12, 2008 ok dave i used to live in huntington park right behind jansens in botany Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-town... Posted April 12, 2008 Report Share Posted April 12, 2008 i rang up hollywood fish farm one day asking for furcatus rainbows and the lady said no they only have boesmani rainbows and salmon reds I said no dwarf furcatus she then replied again no sorry.this was ok as they had not been on the list for about 3-4weeks. the following day i decided to go look at fish shops to find hff had a tank full of the furcatus rainbows I was after but i guess you cant expect them to know everything huh :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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