Hello from Denmark
#1
Posted 25 August 2016 - 07:05 AM
While looking around on the internet for inspiration for a riverine setup, I stumbled upon videos and pics of North American native fish, and was really amazed by the number of species, and not least the look of them. I always knew the fish fauna of north America held more species and were more complex than Europe's, but I was stunned to see you have so many beautiful, and highly interesting groups of smaller fish, like Darters and small minnows, which cannot be found on my side of the pond. I must admit I've spent much time on the NANFA website and forum the last couple of weeks reading up on these fascinating fish! I'm very tempted to set up a north American native riffle tank, but suitable fish are very rare in trade here in Europe. Right now a couple of darters are available (Rainbow, E. caeruleum and Orangethroat, E. spectabile), as well as a few minnows (Notropis lutipinnis, N. chrosomus, Cyprinella lutrensis, Chrosomus erythrogaster), but all are quite expensive ranging between 17-28 $ a piece. A tank with 6 Orange Darters, 10 Yellowfin Shiners and 10 Southern Redbelly Dace would cost over 500 $ + at least 100 $ shipping! It would actually not cost much more to buy a return flight to the US for a snorkeling trip to see these species in their natural habitat (600-750 $).......oh well, I guess I'm dreaming now, but could be nice to do some day.
Cheers, Thomas
#4
Posted 25 August 2016 - 06:35 PM
Again, welcome aboard! Great to have you!
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."
#5
Posted 26 August 2016 - 08:21 AM
I have to say, that reading your post really reemphasized how fortunate we are to have these fish in our backyards, and very inexpensive to acquire (food and gas is all is costs most of us to take a trip collecting). I don't mean that in a snarky manner at all. I wish that they were more readily available to the rest of the world so enthusiasts like yourself didn't have to pay that much to enjoy them in your tanks. It would also help bring more attention to the species and habitats that are being lost if they were appreciated globally. I'm sure if Neon tetras take a big nose dive, they'll get a lot of attention and protection.
In the optimistic portion of my post, If you were to acquire any of those species available in Denmark you would be able to breed them under the right conditions. So maybe an initial investment of $100 might get you a big return---or at least enlarge your collection. Might be worth it. Let us know if you ever want to try that. There are a lot of great aquarists on here who have done a lot of breeding.
Good luck.
#7
Posted 26 August 2016 - 08:40 AM
#8
Posted 27 August 2016 - 08:26 AM
Thank you, Olaf. St. Louis would be pretty easy from here, so that's perfect. The idea of coming over for the convention is really tempting!
#9
Posted 27 August 2016 - 12:06 PM
Coolwater fishes (other than goldfish) will always be a specialty niche market in the aquarium hobby. There are some very colorful species, but many of them take special effort to show their colors in captivity (live foods, temp & photoperiod control, etc). They're just not like bright colored platies, guppies, Malawi cichlids, barbs, gouramis, and other mainstream tropical community fish that keep their bright colors all the time, and are easy to mass-produce on farms. The cost of heating a tank is a "drop in the bucket" compared to heating the house that the tank is in. I doubt whether heating cost is really a significant consideration.
Gerald Pottern
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Hangin' on the Neuse
"Taxonomy is the diaper used to organize the mess of evolution into discrete packages" - M.Sandel
#11
Posted 28 August 2016 - 08:31 AM
Welcome Anderson! Yeah, Missouri has great snorkeling opportunities in many crystal clear streams. Great species diversity as well. There is always a crew of very experienced snorkeling enthusiasts at every convention. I imagine they would be thrilled to have you go out with them. I believe they do a great deal of pre-convention research to locate prime waters in the vicinity. Many of this group are also awesome underwater photographers. You would have a great time.
The member formerly known as Skipjack
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