Thank you

If it's about fish in general, or it's a little bit random, then this is the place to post it.
Post Reply
dave
Obsessed!!
Posts: 328
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2005 6:58 pm
Location: liverpool

Thank you

Post by dave »

Hi all

I would just like to post a big Thank You to Ritelaugh off this site, who has just loaned me two adult Zebras.

Take care

Dave
User avatar
kingfisher
Site Admin
Posts: 173
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 9:41 pm
Location: Knapper, Norway
Contact:

Post by kingfisher »

That was very generous indeed :)
[url=http://www.alpakka.org][i]Alpacas FTW![/i][/url]
dave
Obsessed!!
Posts: 328
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2005 6:58 pm
Location: liverpool

Hi

Post by dave »

I agree, very generous indeed.

But here is a suggestion, and it is realistic in the UK it's relatively small in size, rather than just have a sales and wants category, how about an exchange category, no worries about cash, 1 Zebra is worth 1 Zebra.

Take care

Dave
User avatar
kingfisher
Site Admin
Posts: 173
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 9:41 pm
Location: Knapper, Norway
Contact:

Re: Hi

Post by kingfisher »

dave wrote:But here is a suggestion, and it is realistic in the UK it's relatively small in size, rather than just have a sales and wants category, how about an exchange category, no worries about cash, 1 Zebra is worth 1 Zebra.
"Sales and wants" works fine in this aspect, but I can change the description of the forum to include exchanging and loans.

Exchanging fish, especially fry perhaps, would be beneficial for the genetic diversity.

Thanks.
[url=http://www.alpakka.org][i]Alpacas FTW![/i][/url]
dave
Obsessed!!
Posts: 328
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2005 6:58 pm
Location: liverpool

Hi

Post by dave »

With all due respect, and I do appreciate as we all do the time and effort that you and McEve are putting in.

I cannot ever recall having seen the offer of an exchange in sales or wants.

In fact the number of sales that appear here is pretty low in number. And when money is involved as has been pointed out recently there is a lot of fuss.

IMO rightly so.

That aside exchanges are going on as are sales, which are bypassing the forum.

I suspect that all these improvements on the site are to increase the activity of current members, and to increase the membership as a whole.

And I may be wrong, and you probably have all the statistics, an increase in activity over the long term is unlikely unless there are definite benefits to the members.

Dave
User avatar
McEve
Hypan-guru!
Posts: 2871
Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2004 7:33 am
Location: Norway
Contact:

Post by McEve »

Here's one :) http://www.zebrapleco.com/forum/viewtop ... highlight=

Point taken though Dave, a few changes to the sales and wants section will be made, and will add a few things that we hope will be of benefit to the members.

Please, be patient with us and hopefully we get there ;)
dave
Obsessed!!
Posts: 328
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2005 6:58 pm
Location: liverpool

Hi again

Post by dave »

Hi McEve

I will be patient, and I am really trying to be positive.

Males for females point taken, but like for like a different matter.

All the best

Dave
User avatar
Rob
Hypan-guru!
Posts: 1568
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2004 11:50 am
Location: Southwest Scotland
Contact:

Post by Rob »

Hi dave

A good pont, and i understand where you are going with the like for like idea. We are looking at ways to make the Sales & Wants section a little less onnerous, and hopefully a little more productive. If we manage this correctly then the exchange aspect should also become part of this as there will be less politics and opinion involved in it.

The upgrades to the site and the plans to make the site a litte more user friendly will also help. As you can imagine we are a relatively "select audience". Whilst we have a huge number of members, the active community is relatively small. This is possibley due to reasons such as people joining to "get the recipe to make their fish breed", and being unsuccessful, or possibley just getting bored, or maybe even finding the forum a little intimidating at times. There are many changes planned for ZP that will make it a more controlled, enjoyale, informative and useful site, all of which will assist in increasing it's audience and hence the opporunities to exchange / sell fish.

Cheers

Rob
The perfect white lie..."Of course I didn't pay that much for the fish honey"
Mindy
Mentally Certified!
Posts: 446
Joined: Tue Sep 28, 2004 1:51 pm
Location: Bristol UK

Post by Mindy »

I was going to make this a separate post, but think it's SORT OF related to this one, so decided to add it on here. I hope you don't mind.

I've recently run into a situation where someone wants to buy one or some of my juveniles (not sure how many yet). I know that he wants to breed them.

I was questioned by someone about selling the fish one at a time as that would do nothing to keep them breeding. And that's a fair point. However, I don't like the idea of selling siblings to eventually start a breeding colony.

This made me wonder about a few things. Firstly, what is the general thought from you guys about selling siblings together when you know they are going to be established for breeding.

Secondly, if breeding siblings is a bad idea, then would it be possible or even feasible, to arrange a sort of exchange programme so that, say, if someone wanted a trio of fish, an exchange with other breeders could ensure that the trio sold are not related fish? I'm not really sure how one would keep track of all the fish... unless there were a few tanks on the go, one for your own stock, one for exchanged stock... or something like that. This is where I start getting confused. :?

If anyone has any thoughts on this matter, I would be very grateful for the input.
User avatar
McEve
Hypan-guru!
Posts: 2871
Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2004 7:33 am
Location: Norway
Contact:

Post by McEve »

In my opinion it's not a good idea to breed siblings. The effect of inbreeding on catfish is not, as far as I'm aware of, documented. They might handle it fine, or they might handle it poorly. It varies greatly in other fish how well they handle it, depending on a variety of factors.

As usual I'm on the caution side when an outcome is unknown, others might argue that we have to find out. personally I think the cost might be too high at present time to find out.

If a buyer is looking to establish a colony then I think it's a good idea to encourage the person to buy from different breeders. This is, of course, easier said than done as there is not an abundance of these fish available. It's still the way to go about it though, in my opinion.

Maybe we should do something on this site to make it easier for buyers to get an overview of who might have young fish available, make it possible to contact the breeder from a register or something along those lines? Kingfisher will know if this could be set up in a userfriendly and viable way.

Keeping track of the fish is a problem I can't immediately see how can be solved. Some fish have a distinct feature that makes them easily recognizable, but a fight can change the pattern of a fish. having a separate tank for every spawn isn't a realistic option for many, even though this might be the only way for a breeder to keep track of their fry. But then we have seen that the fry do best together with the group, so that solution pose a problem seen from what gives the best result in growth and healthy fish. (not saying that hand reared fish are unhealthy!)

I don't see an easy solution, just venting my thoughts on the subject really..

I have myself exchanged fry with other breeders, and I think it's a good way to go. We have to think about how and if an exchange program can work practically, if that is the way to go. I'm sure we'll come up with something if we have a brainstorming session on this subject :)

Was it an exchange program you had in mind dave?
Jo's Zebs
Moderator
Posts: 573
Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2006 7:12 pm
Location: Cheshire UK
Contact:

Post by Jo's Zebs »

Hi
I have a 5 year old alpha male wild caught has raised spawnigs of 15+ who is at the moment sat in a tank with 5 other near 2 year olds basically babysitting waiting to see if there is a chance of a new group in the future. I would be happy to loan him for a set time in exchange for a mature female to go i with an active breeding group. He is the alpha shown in my gallery
L number plecos and pleco products worldwide delivery www.rareaquatics.co.uk
Post Reply