Mail Order Algae Eaters

To: Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
Subject: Mail Order Algae Eaters
From: George Booth <booth at hpmtlgb1_lvld.hp.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Oct 1995 15:07:04 -0600
Cc: Doug Valverde <75051.160 at compuserve_com>
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Fri, 20 Oct 1995 15:39:01 EDT." <199510201939.PAA27977 at looney_actwin.com>

From: Doug Valverde <75051.160 at compuserve_com>
Date: 20 Oct 95 10:22:24 EDT

> Does anyone have a mail order source for any of the better algae
> eaters, SAE's or whatever?  Where I live there is not a good fish
> store until I get to Minn/St.Paul and that is a two hour drive.

From an Old Post:

I finally found a U.S. source for the true Siamese Algae Eaters,
Crossocheilus siamensis.  These are definitely the "good kind" as
pictured in "The Optimum Aquarium".  They are known to eat red brush
algae as well as almost all other kinds.  An excellent fish for plant
tanks.

The Albany Aquarium in Albany, CA, regularly carries them.  They get
them direct from the exporter in Indonesia.  Since they are currently
"out of stock" due to yours truly, you might wait a couple of weeks
before hassling them.

They claim to specialize in hard-to-find freshwater fish AND plants,
so it might be worth a call to see what else they have.  Perhaps
someone local to the area could pay a visit and do a review for the
net.

They were willing to ship Overnight Federal Express.  They charged me
5 for $15.95 (I got 10 altogether), plus $2.63 CA tax plus $20 to ship
with "next day" delivery.  If you get some, you might want to pay
extra for a styrofoam shipping box - they didn't pack mine very well
and the water temp was 60F when they arrived at 2:20 pm (of course,
we're having a temporary Winter here in CO right now).  One was DOA
but the rest seem perky and active.  Hope they weren't adversly
affected.

If you only want one or two, I'm not sure what they would charge for
shipping, if they would even bother for a small order.  Maybe groups
or clubs could band together on a larger shipment and amortize the
shipping cost.

Contact:

  Glenn Zappulla
  Albany Aquarium
  818 San Pablo Ave.
  Albany, CA  94706
  (510) 525-1166

-----------
George Booth