elephantnose3334
Fishaholic
I wanted to check because I like rainbowfish, especially ones that are endangered. So, where can you get them from Perth local fish stores?
Where can you get Lake Kutubu rainbowfish in Perth?
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Most shops in Perth can get them in from AI or Bay Fish. They both have them for sale currently. Melanotaenia lacustris (aka Lake Kutubu rainbow, Turquoise rainbow).
A word of caution, any rainbowfish bought in Australia could be carrying Fish Tuberculosis (TB), and there is no cure for it. Once it's in your tank, it's there until you disinfect everything. Fish from people who keep rainbows can also have Fish TB. It's a major issue in this country and around the world. If you can get wild caught fish or fish from people who have had theirs for years with no deaths, then you might be ok.
Check those fish lists on the links I posted in the other thread, or below.
Bay Fish
www.premierpet.com.au
-----------------
AI
www.aquariumindustries.com.au
A word of caution, any rainbowfish bought in Australia could be carrying Fish Tuberculosis (TB), and there is no cure for it. Once it's in your tank, it's there until you disinfect everything. Fish from people who keep rainbows can also have Fish TB. It's a major issue in this country and around the world. If you can get wild caught fish or fish from people who have had theirs for years with no deaths, then you might be ok.
Check those fish lists on the links I posted in the other thread, or below.
Bay Fish
AUST & NEW GUINEA RAINBOWS - Premier Pet Pty Ltd
Listing of AUST & NEW GUINEA RAINBOWS products
www.premierpet.com.au
-----------------
AI
Aquarium Industries - Current Stock
Each week, Aquarium Industries posts a list of the stock that we currently have available for order on our website as a downloadable excel file.
www.aquariumindustries.com.au
OP
OP
elephantnose3334
Fishaholic
These shops don't sell to the general public. Does Vebas and Aquotix sell them?Most shops in Perth can get them in from AI or Bay Fish. They both have them for sale currently. Melanotaenia lacustris (aka Lake Kutubu rainbow, Turquoise rainbow).
A word of caution, any rainbowfish bought in Australia could be carrying Fish Tuberculosis (TB), and there is no cure for it. Once it's in your tank, it's there until you disinfect everything. Fish from people who keep rainbows can also have Fish TB. It's a major issue in this country and around the world. If you can get wild caught fish or fish from people who have had theirs for years with no deaths, then you might be ok.
Check those fish lists on the links I posted in the other thread, or below.
Bay Fish
AUST & NEW GUINEA RAINBOWS - Premier Pet Pty Ltd
Listing of AUST & NEW GUINEA RAINBOWS products
-----------------
AI
Aquarium Industries - Current Stock
Each week, Aquarium Industries posts a list of the stock that we currently have available for order on our website as a downloadable excel file.
The links I posted above are for the two main wholesalers that sell to 99% of the pet shops in Australia (including Western Australia). So virtually any pet shop you go to in WA can order the fish from either of those wholesalers.
I posted those links so anyone in Australia can look at their current stock and then you go to your local pet shop and ask them to order those particular fish in for you.
Vebas and Aquatix both sell Melanotaenia lacustris when they get them in. I don't know if either shop has any currently but if you phone them they should be able to tell you. Alternatively if you have another pet shop nearby (even a chain store because they primarily deal with AI and Bay Fish), just ask them if they can get fish in from AI (Aquarium Industries) or Bay Fish. If they say yes, then ask them how much the Melanotaenia lacustris will cost you.
The wholesale stock lists in the links above do not have prices but the shops get the same list with prices. So the shops can tell you how much the fish will cost before you order them.
Another option is to see if ANGFA WA (Australia New Guinea Fishes Association) is still going. They were meeting every second month and the months between were Aquarium Society of WA meetings. A lot of members of ANGFA WA are also members of the Aquarium Society of WA too. And a lot of the ANGFA members keep rainbowfish and might be able to get you some eggs or young fish.
Again though, any rainbowfish sold in this country (from pet shops and even people in fish clubs) could be carrying Fish TB so if you do get rainbows, they might start dying 6-24 months after you get them. The only way to get fish that are free of TB is to get wild caught (and you catch them so they don't go into someone else's tanks first), or you get them from someone who knows about Fish TB and has clean stock.
I posted those links so anyone in Australia can look at their current stock and then you go to your local pet shop and ask them to order those particular fish in for you.
Vebas and Aquatix both sell Melanotaenia lacustris when they get them in. I don't know if either shop has any currently but if you phone them they should be able to tell you. Alternatively if you have another pet shop nearby (even a chain store because they primarily deal with AI and Bay Fish), just ask them if they can get fish in from AI (Aquarium Industries) or Bay Fish. If they say yes, then ask them how much the Melanotaenia lacustris will cost you.
The wholesale stock lists in the links above do not have prices but the shops get the same list with prices. So the shops can tell you how much the fish will cost before you order them.
Another option is to see if ANGFA WA (Australia New Guinea Fishes Association) is still going. They were meeting every second month and the months between were Aquarium Society of WA meetings. A lot of members of ANGFA WA are also members of the Aquarium Society of WA too. And a lot of the ANGFA members keep rainbowfish and might be able to get you some eggs or young fish.
Again though, any rainbowfish sold in this country (from pet shops and even people in fish clubs) could be carrying Fish TB so if you do get rainbows, they might start dying 6-24 months after you get them. The only way to get fish that are free of TB is to get wild caught (and you catch them so they don't go into someone else's tanks first), or you get them from someone who knows about Fish TB and has clean stock.
OP
OP
elephantnose3334
Fishaholic
Hmm, interesting to hear about fish TB. It can be fatal to some fish.
Fish TB (Mycobacteria species) is fatal to all fishes but Australian and New Guinea rainbowfish never evolved with the bacteria. So unlike fishes from Asia or Europe who have had millions of years to evolved with the Mycobacteria, the rainbows only just encountered Mycobacteria during the last 30 years. This means when rainbowfish get infected with Fish TB, they develop symptoms and die sooner than fishes that have evolved with the bacteria. Unfortunately there's no way of telling if fish have Mycobacteria until they show symptoms and then it's too late.
Rainbowfish from pet shops aren't the only fish that gets TB. Any fish (fresh, brackish or salt water) can have TB and it is becoming more common due to infected fishes coming out of Asian fish farms. It's basically luck of the draw, you might get fish that are free of the disease, or you might get fish infected with it. The bacteria grow slowly so fish can be infected for months or even years before they show symptoms. So even if you think you have disease free fish, they could develop symptoms 1-2 years later.
Wish id seen this thread an hour ago
Hi @Colin_T so even if you quantine Rainbowfish for a month or so and all seems fine, TB can still break out a year or 2 down the line?
Is this a world wide issue or is it more prone in Australia and New Guinea? If their breed in an other Country is it the same out come?
Hi @Colin_T so even if you quantine Rainbowfish for a month or so and all seems fine, TB can still break out a year or 2 down the line?
Is this a world wide issue or is it more prone in Australia and New Guinea? If their breed in an other Country is it the same out come?
Unlike most bacteria that grow and divide every few hours, Mycobacteria divide once or twice a day. If the weather is cool, they grow even slower. Big fish take longer before they show symptoms because the bacteria have to grow more before they show symptoms.Wish id seen this thread an hour ago
Hi @Colin_T so even if you quarantine Rainbowfish for a month or so and all seems fine, TB can still break out a year or 2 down the line?
Quarantining fish for a month will allow most diseases to appear but not necessarily Fish TB. Fish can literally carry this disease for months or even years before they succumb to it.
Fish Tuberculosis (TB) is a world wide problem and is frequently found in fishes coming out of fish farms in Tropical Asia, America, Germany, Australia and anywhere else they keep fish.
When I was researching it back around the start of this century, I contacted as many shops and importers/ wholesalers in Australia as I could. Most of them confirmed they had Fish TB in their tanks at one time or another. It's basically everywhere and in every pet shop around the world. If they have had fish from Asia, they probably have it in their tanks.
This doesn't mean all rainbowfish have TB, but if they came from a fish farm, especially one in Tropical Asia, there's a chance they will have it. Dwarf gouramis (Colisa lalius) is another fish that regularly carries it.
Such a shame because they are beautiful fish arent they. I had problems with the dwarf neons many years ago but thought i was just unlucky at the time.
Not had Rainbows since so i thought id try them again and just quarantine them for a longer period this time but after seening your posts im not sure the risk is worth it.
Might still have time to cancel my order
Thanks Colin
Set up a single species tank and just have the rainbows in it. Keep them isolated and quarantined for a year and see what happens. If they start bloating up and dying, then they probably have TB and you can scrap the tank and start again. But any fish can have TB, so even if you avoid rainbowfish, you can still get the bacteria in the tank.
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