I was referred to this thread and would like to take a moment to post.
As a well established vendor on this site, my post will remain neutral.
I've been in first hand communication with S. Am. exporters since the late 80's. I've seen more fish come and go than most of the readers here will have the opportunity to view in a lifetime. I state this simply because many folks who are relatively new to the hobby get ahead of themselves and tend to forget that experience and accountability go a long way.
That said, here is what I can offer in terms of the ferns.
Wild stock is indeed very touchy. I'd always said that if/when F1 fish were available, they would be an entirely different animal. Approximately 1 1/2 years ago, that notion became a reality. It was no surprise that these tank raised ferns behaved just like their commonly tank bred cousins, U. amphiacanthoides.
In years past, I'd tried my skills AND patience with wild collected individuals. Long term success was not good. The fish rarely settled in well to aquarium conditions and rarely thrived-even in the hands of many very experienced cichlid keepers.
Short term captivity of wild collected ferns was still not even close to being considered successful. In spite of creating countless vats of RO water, these fish tended to go the way of the wild Orinoco altum.
That, in my experience, is another cichlid species that is best observed in their native waters only.
If, someday, captive bred Orinoco altum become available, I bet they will be as hardy as these juvenile ferns are now.
Marketing of these and other 'rare' American cichlids is something I've been intimately involved with for well over 20 years.
Wild collected individuals imported for the first time by aforementioned source may very well cost much less to buy than a tank bred individual. I choose to recognize this as an opportunity for explanation.
If I had no prior experience with importing or keeping this species, I could conceivably market the fish similarly.
As I mentioned earlier, that was neither a feasible nor successful endeavor for me and other experienced cichlid keepers. This same experience has occurred over and over in the facilities of Colombian fish exporters as well - with ferns and with altums. I've been asked by more than one exporter if I can offer any information that may enable them to keep these wild collected fish healthy for even a short time in order to provide an opportunity to sell stock before they 'melted'. I have no words of wisdom to share in regards to that dilemma. I hope things have changed for the sake of the fish, and that they are really doing better now. It's a shame to know that such a stately and noble-looking species as the wild U. fernandezyepezi suffered such grim prospects of thriving in our aquariums.
If one were to 'google' this species with 'for sale' denotation, you could learn that the current market price of F1 fish is exactly in line with that which other importers may charge. In fact, there is another source currently offering a pre-purchase opportunity of this same fish for similar money. Here is a big difference though - pre-purchasing a fish that can be imported is not the same as purchasing a fish from an established tank being maintained here in the US already. I am currently doing daily maintenance on the fish and will continue to do so. It's not the same as transshipping a batch of fish that are not tanked and maintained in a facility for extended periods of time.
These fish are purchased in Euros and the freight paid to get them into the US is also paid in Euros.
As experience dictates, one must consider all these factors when calculating market prices of fish.
Lastly, here is a photo I took this morning of one of the tanks where I keep the F1 ferns. As you can see, they love their veggies (previously frozen peas in this case)! If you do want to keep this fish, don't even consider live plants in the tank. They are the epitome of an aquatic goat!
Below is a photo also taken today of a wild collected individual that is approximately 7-8" TL. I maintain a colony of them in one of my 'personal' tanks. As you can see, they are a bit rough - but what an incredibly cool looking fish!
As a well established vendor on this site, my post will remain neutral.
I've been in first hand communication with S. Am. exporters since the late 80's. I've seen more fish come and go than most of the readers here will have the opportunity to view in a lifetime. I state this simply because many folks who are relatively new to the hobby get ahead of themselves and tend to forget that experience and accountability go a long way.
That said, here is what I can offer in terms of the ferns.
Wild stock is indeed very touchy. I'd always said that if/when F1 fish were available, they would be an entirely different animal. Approximately 1 1/2 years ago, that notion became a reality. It was no surprise that these tank raised ferns behaved just like their commonly tank bred cousins, U. amphiacanthoides.
In years past, I'd tried my skills AND patience with wild collected individuals. Long term success was not good. The fish rarely settled in well to aquarium conditions and rarely thrived-even in the hands of many very experienced cichlid keepers.
Short term captivity of wild collected ferns was still not even close to being considered successful. In spite of creating countless vats of RO water, these fish tended to go the way of the wild Orinoco altum.
That, in my experience, is another cichlid species that is best observed in their native waters only.
If, someday, captive bred Orinoco altum become available, I bet they will be as hardy as these juvenile ferns are now.
Marketing of these and other 'rare' American cichlids is something I've been intimately involved with for well over 20 years.
Wild collected individuals imported for the first time by aforementioned source may very well cost much less to buy than a tank bred individual. I choose to recognize this as an opportunity for explanation.
If I had no prior experience with importing or keeping this species, I could conceivably market the fish similarly.
As I mentioned earlier, that was neither a feasible nor successful endeavor for me and other experienced cichlid keepers. This same experience has occurred over and over in the facilities of Colombian fish exporters as well - with ferns and with altums. I've been asked by more than one exporter if I can offer any information that may enable them to keep these wild collected fish healthy for even a short time in order to provide an opportunity to sell stock before they 'melted'. I have no words of wisdom to share in regards to that dilemma. I hope things have changed for the sake of the fish, and that they are really doing better now. It's a shame to know that such a stately and noble-looking species as the wild U. fernandezyepezi suffered such grim prospects of thriving in our aquariums.
If one were to 'google' this species with 'for sale' denotation, you could learn that the current market price of F1 fish is exactly in line with that which other importers may charge. In fact, there is another source currently offering a pre-purchase opportunity of this same fish for similar money. Here is a big difference though - pre-purchasing a fish that can be imported is not the same as purchasing a fish from an established tank being maintained here in the US already. I am currently doing daily maintenance on the fish and will continue to do so. It's not the same as transshipping a batch of fish that are not tanked and maintained in a facility for extended periods of time.
These fish are purchased in Euros and the freight paid to get them into the US is also paid in Euros.
As experience dictates, one must consider all these factors when calculating market prices of fish.
Lastly, here is a photo I took this morning of one of the tanks where I keep the F1 ferns. As you can see, they love their veggies (previously frozen peas in this case)! If you do want to keep this fish, don't even consider live plants in the tank. They are the epitome of an aquatic goat!
Below is a photo also taken today of a wild collected individual that is approximately 7-8" TL. I maintain a colony of them in one of my 'personal' tanks. As you can see, they are a bit rough - but what an incredibly cool looking fish!
