Seasonal Availability

[Jan Cavalieri]

Should I assume that fish have seasonal availability like plants or produce? I say that because I want to restock 2 tanks (one was one where the high PH killed half the fish - the other is one where a number of the fish have passed on due to age, bladder organ issues or fights (what is "slightly aggressive" is relative to other fish in the tank) I have all my giant Gourami's and three of their offspring in my new 50 gallon acrylic tank. There is also what I call a "tiger gouarmi" but most websites name them as "yellow" or "orange" Gourami when this is actually up there at the top in beautiful gourami. The ultra peaceful gourami are in a different tank eeven if they are large because they never attack other fish.

What I'm looking for can't be found any where I've looked - they used to be in abundant supply last fall and winter.

1. Gold Dojos the "weather fish" and master snail eater. The coolest most under-rated fish there is
2. Chocolate Dwarf Gourami for company with my dear little one that survived and we call "Mr Coffee" and comes to his name
3. Flame Dwarf Gourmi
4. Neon Dwarf Gourmi
5. Rose Dwarf Gourmi
6. Glo-fish (abundant supply at most online stores but the don't have any of the other fish so why bother when I can get them locally, although our stores rarely have all the colors like the do online

Shipping at most online stores means starving them for 2-3 days so there is no feces in the water, large double bags packed in a Styrofoam cooler with either a heat pack or cold pack and they are air-shipped overnight so it usually costs between $45 and $65 - now if you spend $200 on the fish themselves (and I don't need that many) than you'll get free shipping but you have to reallze to have access to more exotic stock than your local stores you're going to pay for it. So once when I purchased a $130 fish along with a few other expensive fish I did manage to get free shipping - he's still around and getting slowly bigger.

So again - do you ever shop online or even at the really big local fish stores and find that certain times of the year all the cool fish that you want are out of stock? When is the best time of year to go fish shopping>

 

[KevinZ]

Its really depend on the store
Most reputable shop will breed fish themself so you can ask them when will it be restocked.
Unlike some store that have to wait "farmer" To restock.
Atleast thats how my Local Pet store & Reputable shop work. Idk with other
I live in Indonesia, Kepulauan Riau

 

[Jan Cavalieri]

I suspect living in Indonesia has some advantages, I'm here in Kansas - the middle of the United States. There are probably a few stores that breed their fish but the vast majority purchase their fish from large scale breeders or for the more exotic fish they purchase fr

 

[Jan Cavalieri]

You know I think what I really am asking is if there are certain times of the year where fish naturally breed.

 

[KevinZ]

You know I think what I really am asking is if there are certain times of the year where fish naturally breed.

Owh my bad. I dont really know about this
Sorry cant really help about this

 

[dmpfishlover]

I would imagine that would depend on where the LFS is getting their fish from.... Are they getting fish from tank raised sources or wild caught sources?... and this will likely also be dependent upon the species as well. Some species are more likely to be purchased by fish stores from large fish farms where the fish have been tank raised, while other species might not be readily available from tank raised sources, and might be more likely to be purchased from companies that obtain their fish from "wild caught" sources. You can always ask your lFS where they get their fish from and if some fish are more readily available at certain times of the year. I believe this will vary greatly from one fish store to another, and also be dependent on where the fish store is located. So, in short, I don't think there is one answer to this question, that would be true for all fish stores.