[Killietalk] Where Ken should go

[Chris <cgraseck at optonline_net>]

Ken,

It seems that many of your rants include some sort of griping about not
being able to get the fish you want.  This sounds laughable, as all of
the killie people I know, have no room for any more killies, and can't
give the ones that they have away.  Sure there are a few species which
are difficult for even the most experienced breeders.  You are not going
to get these, for what should be obvious reasons.  If a species is
really difficult the few people who have them want to, a.) keep enough
to keep their breeding program going, and b.) give a few to trusted
experienced breeders incase their own program fails.  It is not all that
uncommon for experienced breeders to strike-out with a difficult
species, and giving such fish to someone new, regardless of their claims
of previous experience, would be foolish.

Now, provided that your ranting is not the result of being told that so
and so won't give you any Rivulus species Mahdia or Simpsonichthys
carlettoi there are numerous places to acquire killifish in abundance.
First of all are you a member of the AKA?  Our BNL is chock full of
offers for fish and eggs from species that run the range of difficulty
level and rarity.  Even if you are not a member the fish and egg listing
is available on our website at
http://aka.org/modules/tinycontent0/index.php?id=12.  Our website also
has a classifieds area at
http://aka.org/modules/tinycontent0/index.php?id=12. We also
occasionally have new and rare listings.  Brian Perkins has done a great
job of making truly new and rare fish available to anyone who wants
them. 

Second, have you joined your local AKA affiliate club?  Club auctions
provide access to and incredible variety of fish, not to mention the
other benefits of getting to know the best breeders in your area.  Fish
are also typically dirt cheap at club auctions.  I've seen rare and
beautiful fish go for less than $5.00.  This is simply because we all
have too many killies and can't take on any more. 

Third, The national convention is coming up.  I've only been to one, but
came home with more fish than I knew what to do with.

Fourth, there are several AKA members with websites that advertise
available fish.  Some of these are http://www.inkmkr.com/Fish/,
http://www.rehobothaquatics.com/index2.html, http://shene.killi.net/,
http://www.garysfishroom.us/index.htm,
http://my.execpc.com/~smstacey/fishlist.html, 

Fifth,  There is always AquaBid where the rarest of the rare can be
purchased (sometimes for an outrageous sum, but they can be purchased).

As I said before there are some fish that you are just not going to be
able to get but there are good reasons for this.  When you become
established as known and trusted breeder of difficult fish people will
ask you to take a pair of their most difficult incase they strike-out,
but that rank has to be earned.  It takes time, skill, and political
savvy to do this so if new, rare, and difficult is what you want start
working on what is available and build a reputation as something other
that an antagonist.

Cheers,
Chris
 

Christopher Graseck
Rye, NY
http://killifish.homestead.com/index.html

"Let us learn to dream, then perhaps we shall find the truth. But let us
beware of publishing our dreams before they have been put to the proof
of the waking understanding. -August Kekule- 





-----Original Message-----
From: killietalk-bounces+cgraseck=optonline_net at aka.org
[mailto:killietalk-bounces+cgraseck=optonline_net at aka.org] On Behalf Of
Ken Combs
Sent: Monday, May 02, 2005 12:00 AM
To: killietalk at aka_org
Subject: [Killietalk] Species maintenance?

For the convenience of those who wish to always delete my post, figure
I'd just string all my together:

Reef Fanatics vs Killienutz, ya know some of you folks just don't get
it!

I was into reefs back in the early 80's before the "blow-up", before the
influx of testosterone laden angry teens...Back then it was a mix of
older Salt water pioneer types and folks like myself in their mid 20's
who "graduated" from clownfish or cichlids...By the 90's the reef scene
matured and the gadgetry got slicker. The chatter on the boards got
heated, and you could tell: also younger...But still, the reef hobby was
blowing up! Sure the "neat reef stuff" is a "draw", but the sheer
activity and the dynamics of community was a draw also...people like
interfacing with people as well as their fish...

Look, it's not a stretch to speculate the reef area is not only younger
than the killie area, but growing faster. The ole adage "killies aren't
for everyone" to me is a cop out. While the two areas differ in gadget
content, the fish themselves are both "feature rich", and thus make for
a logical evolutionary entry point for those leaving the "pretty lil
fish neon tetra" stage. Sure, killies are kind of a "gentleman's" fish
with some academic attributes, so some demographic homogeny is to be
expected. 
But as I troll back a few topics these last 2 weeks, I see many "take it
or leave it" post and likewise too many "it's a two way street" post
which to me point to you ole farts are modifying and enforcing the
environment to suit yourselves (or alternatively are resistant to
change)...

Don't matter to me if you dislike me, dislike my long post or hate the
truth being force fed? Thing is I'm a hobby saboteur, I figure so long
as I post the truth along with reasonable solution, I figure it will be
discarded. 

And BTW, sure I'm struggling a lil with my fish, but I'm 44 yrs old with
38 of those keeping fish fanatically, so don't tell me to just worry
about my fish, perhaps some of yuz could expand your concerns along with
me...

Ken 







To join the AKA see http://www.aka.org/pages/join.html
Archives are at http://fins.actwin.com/killietalk/


To join the AKA see http://www.aka.org/pages/join.html
Archives are at http://fins.actwin.com/killietalk/