"Classic" Cichlids?
- Thread starter deeboi
- Start date
I have noticed this also,i hardly see Jags around here anymore,i havent seen Blackbelts in a real long time and every once in awhile you will see some Red Devils.My local LFS owner told me that Salt Water fish keeping is getting very popular now and alot of people are ordering on-line,but still doesnt make sense to me why not stock these fish,i would rather buy from the lfs than pay for shipping.
they are still around, but in less places.
in my contry people either stuck with small fish or went into SW.
Very few people have oddballs and cichlids .
in my contry people either stuck with small fish or went into SW.
Very few people have oddballs and cichlids .
i think it has more to do with the commercial lfs not wanted to deal with them. i know i get my best odd ball or future monsters from mom and pop store which there are very left compared to 5 years ago.
this is what i'm talking about seeing these less more now. i want to get some of the pre hybrid type cichlids at a store rather than order online. some of my favorite fish of the past are texas/red terror/blackbelts that i don't see these days. i did find a place online tho, has anyone had success with getting them like this?
deeboi;4688299; said:
I think youll find that about 50-75% of people on here order their fish from online vendors...possibly more. Where I live, there are no longer non-corporate fish stores, and even the lfs's in other larger cities are closing.
Petsmart, Petco, Petsupermarket are popping up all over and dominating the hobby (as far as supplies go, not fish) and the LFSs cant buy in the bulk and get the prices that chains do...and they usually have plecos, oscars, gt's, pacus, tetras, barbs, small african selection and several other various non cichlid fish, thats it.
Order online if you have no LFS. The selection and quality is WAY better than anything youll find at the chain stores and worth the extra cost of shipping (to me anyways).
Heres all the vendors that are online here on MFK:
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=36
Out of these three cichlids, Red Devils are the only ones that I have ever seen in the Petcos and Petsmarts near me. All of my less common fish either come from a local breeder/supplier or shipped to me from fellow members. There are a few small private LFS here but they tend to stick with things that will most likely go quickly like Plecos, Tetras, Barbs, and juvenile African Cichlids. Of course they always have Convicts, Oscars, and Angels too. From talking to them, they explained to me that they just can't afford to lose money on the less-common cichlids that many of us on MFK keep. Unless there is a great demand for these fish, the small LFS will lose money buying and keeping fish that once they grow too large most people won't buy them any way. This is just the case in my area. There are just not a lot of people in the CA/SA cichlid hobby here that would justify the small LFS to get in some of the popular cichlids that we look for. But every now and then, I run into a some nice surprises during my LFS visits. It's funny when I expect to see the usual tank of goldfish stocked with Festae and P. Bass. More and more On-line live stock shopping is the way to go.deeboi;4688163;4688163 said:
yeah it sucks but pretty much nowadays, if your not lucky enough to have an awesome lfs that has good selection and can order stuff for you then your pretty much stuck ordering from online vendors, there are some great vendors on here though and you should definitely be able to find what you want, to cut down on shipping costs it helps to find somebody else in your area that like cichlids as much as you do and go in on an order together so you can split the shipping