I wish this thread would have been posted a year ago. I cleaned out my freezer, I think last summer. I would have just gave them to you xl aros,that jumped out of my tank's and etc.
If you don't mind me asking. How could someone have destroyed your collection by cleaning?
Good luck on your findings...
It must have been a treasure trove! I can't think about it-- I bet it was great!! Next time you need to clean out some fish or anything else dead, let me know! I would definitely compensate you for xl aros~ [also your sig is so me, haha

] Thanks so much for the good luck!
And I didn't want to get too wordy in my original post, but I lost my entire collection by storing it in a collapsed outside room attached to my house in Tampa. My father had let the ceiling fall in and the walls turn to mush; basically you couldn't get in there very well. Left for years, I decided it was a perfect spot for a 4 year old smelly-ish collection of finished and unfinished work. I had hundreds of specimens all stored in one flat, big rubbermaid with pine shavings in it for cushioning and the bugs that sometimes occupied it.
So after I moved to ATL [very unfortunate I didn't have space for the collection when I moved, but I thought it would be safe since the room is never touched], my dad shows up and gets rid of things here and there, I guess to really give the whole house a serious look-over. He went into the collapsed room, saw many boxes he thought were junk, and there my collection went, so simply.
I try not to think about 4 years of unique, [my] giant fish, blood, sweat&tears tossed 'cause I cried quite a bit rofl.
So I'm trying to rebuild slowly, and I'll be cleaning up my smaller stuff this week for everyone who doesn't believe me ;P
Literally, one small clown loach and an eel and 2 giant flower shrimp and a baby angel are all I have left at the moment. In Tampa I may still have 2 mummified forearm-sized plecos.
Someone so super awesome sent me their big vamp tetras and a rhomb yesterday that are already prepared. It takes a while for the preservation processes to complete, but I can't wait to see the results.
I make my living being a model/artist, so this month is so booked with fashion and runway shows and photoshoots and studios-- it might take me a bit to get some random shots, but I work as much as I can on my art when I get home; cutting up my art in a spotlight in the backyard at 4am-- I'll have to come back to MFK and prove I make fish art ;P