Fishkeeping - What did you buy at the fish show Tynk?

On Mar 5, 10:10Â*am, Tynk wrote:
On Mar 4, 12:37ï¿½pm, ExPat wrote:

Inquiring minds are wanting to know. ï¿½Any decent angel's? ï¿½Any
"exotics"?

On Mar 4, 12:37 pm, ExPat wrote:

Inquiring minds are wanting to know. Â*Any decent angel's? Â*Any
"exotics"?

Hi there.
Yes! And depends on what your definition of "exotic" is. = )

I bought 5 large angels.
One gold "female" (best guess) veil.
4 blacks. Gorgeous too.
I had one loss, which was 100% unnecessary.
It was a large female, with an obvious belly full of eggs too. She
jumped through an inch gap between the tank rim and a home made glass
top. She ended up on top of the glass, under the hood.
I got up at 7am and went right to their quarantine tank. I did a head
count and freaked.
I looked all over the counter, the floor, thought the worst of my
Rottie (sorry Rozey for thinking such things), and nothing.
Then it hits me...oh crap! I take the top off and there she was.
Laying there. She looked perfect, not dead.
Wet, bright bright red eyes,beautiful teal sheen, but not gasping.
I put her back in just in case she was on the brink (I've had that
happen with an angel and male betta before...ya think they're dead but
they're not). However, she was already gone.
It had to be minutes.
I was so heart broken.
I held her in my palm for a minute just looking at how very beautiful
she was.
I haven't seen such pretty blacks in many years. and to lose one by
"fishaside" not only makes me sad, but it's like getting kicked in
the butt too.
The blacks are a little beat up still (netting, shipping, netted,
bagged, netted again, then into quarantine).
However, 3 days later and they're looking so much better.
They still have missing scales that were knocked off, but they've lost
the excess slime coat from all the ruckus.
Only one of them is not eating still, but when it comes to angels,
even a week's hunger strike is pretty normal.
So no worries yet.
The show it's self...
I had hoped for more angel types, but I love black angels so was very
happy.
Both my kids went with me, and when we got there I pulled out my list.
They both laughed, and said together..."You have a list?" Â*lol
There were so many people there that you could hardly see the fish
each vendor had.
Mostly cichlid types though, and supplies.
Frozen foods for prices you wouldn't believe (this is how to buy food
if you have a lot of tanks or a breeding program).
One guy had really nice driftwood pieces, one vendor had clay caves,
cones, tubes, etc. for breeding.
My son took his lil sis around while I concentrated on finding any
angels on my list.
He found what he thought were small cichlids that were purple.
I just scanned the tables for angels, so I saw them, they didn't even
register in my head. = /
It was good to see him get so excited about a species. He has 2 tanks
running at his house, and is still learning.
His sis has a tank of her own as well. She has a trio of gups in her
3g Eclipse. She used to have a nice looking male Betta, but she's been
wanting gups for so long. I had an open 2g and asked her if she wanted
to make the change.
She jumped on it!
I think we'll all be going to the next show too.
I know my boy wants to find these little fish he saw but couldn't
remember the exact name.
I wonder if it was goby. How colorful do freshwater gobies get? Or
rather..any purple FW ones?
He kept trying to remember the name so he could go research it when he
got home.
I added that many juvenile fish have a different color than when
they're adults, so it might not be as easy as he thinks to find it
online.
I was going to take pictures, but being that there were SO MANY people
it wasn't possible.
At one point I, and a bunch of others trying to pass buy got stuck. We
were packed like sardines and you couldn't move in any direction. Darn
good thing I'm not claustrophobic. So no pics.
The angels I bought are larger than ones selling for $30.00 each or
more in shops around here.
I got each for $5.00.
Nice quality, meaty, good fins, good body shape, blacks for $5.00
each.
I want more now.
I asked the vendor for a best guess female gold, and I didn't notice
"her" dorsal fin has a slight curve int he wrong place.
I personally would have chosen a different one, but with all the
excitement of the entire thing, she was double bagged before I knew
it.
I gave her a good look, but because she was holding her fins close
together in the bag- Â*it went unseen until she was in quarantine.
If she's used for spawning (either one of the blacks or the gold
pearlscale male I already have) and throws birth defects, she'll then
become a pet only angel.
It's a very slight curve of the front of the dorsal fin. It's not like
it's bent down, or has twisted ventrals, or missing gill
covers. Â* ::shudders::
I would have bought more blacks if I had the room at home.
However, Â*the QT tank I had ready at home was going to be too small
for these as it was.
I had to get home and change out QT tanks while these guys were slowly
acclimating.
I did manage to grab one of the vendors card's, and I'm going to find
out the next show he'll be at.
Oh...exoctics.....I did see huge royal plecos, and other types that I
don't recognize.
The only disappoinment was one vendor had male bettas in a small vase
with a lily plant on top.

Glad to hear you had a good time and got suitable deals. I do not know
of any freshwater gobys that are colorfull or at least purple. Most
that I have ever run across are always drab as can be, espeically when
compared to SW gobies and most male FW fish. Its hard to believe osme
fish can jump through such small openings. I recently lost a rope fish
huge too (18" or better) that managed to get between tank top and
filter whichis barely big enough to put a persons pinky in there so
evidently it crawled out of that hole for some reason or other. The
top was fairly tight fitting plus it had egg crate on it to, and that
rope fish was in there for a long long time, as I bouyght it as a
juvie and it was barely 6" long then. It lived in rock caves with some
mBunas all this time and then decided to try being a air breathing
critter I guess as it sure was not hurting for decent water or space
or good foods.

I have a few commonb plecos as wella s some other higher end plecs
(gold nuggets and such) that I keep outside in the various assortment
of preforms. Everyting I have read states they die if water temps go
below 60 deg, yet two years in a row I have had ice on the preforms
for a few days and they are just fine. Even the common pleco's in my
mud ponds which are now hugh plecos have done just fine in water
colder than 60 deg. I have dojo's that have lived and continue to live
just fine in whisky barrels along with smaller plecos, and blue
Paradise fish for years now outside 365 of the year. Oh well it won;t
be too much longer now and I will be able to have my pond of tropicals
all year round.....as were having a pond built at the new place with
the sole intention of keeping tropicals outside all year round......as
they are certainly much easier to keep and less mess and dirt to
contend with than goldies and small koi in a smaller pond or water
feature ona patio etc..and they do so much better outside than they do
inside.