Wow - Bargains!

[LauraFrog]

Well I just spent most of the morning at the markets, and amongst the usual mix of incense, burgers, bad music and kids with dripping icecreams, I found a few really interesting things.

I'm hooked on livebearers - ran into a woman selling fish. Corydoras, bristlenose cats, platies, guppies, baby angels, and neons for very good prices compared to the LFS which has to import them. Stunning fish - I picked up a young male highfin platy for $2. So I stood around for half an hour yapping. She lives less than half an hour away from me. She's willing to trade strains and has the facilities to take some of my extra fry. (I have tuxedo, calico and dalmatian platy fry available... she has blue marble, red, orange, all with or without mickeymouse marking, and several strains of guppy including red cobra and yellow delta.) A very interesting person... maybe somebody like that is selling fish for ridiculously low prices near you.
There is no catch as far as I can see - the fish in question is swimming around in quarantine looking remarkably healthy.

At a seperate stall a couple were selling plants, some aquatic plants included. Potted pond plants were going for under 10 dollars, and aquarium plants were going for 3. I picked up a bunch of green cabomba (over 15 strands) for $3, and that amount of cabomba, that bushy, bright and healthy, must be worth at least $10.

So all in all, a trip to the markets instead of the LFS saved me $10 in aquarium gear, and it would have been even more if I had bought fish in bulk - 7 juvenile platies in a big coffee jar - $5. That's less than a dollar for a relatively uncommon strain. Impressive, IMO. I don't know if there are markets of this sort in the US/UK, but I thought I'd share the tip. I saved a fortune.

 

[fish-aholic]

Never heard of these so called markets. I did go to one frequently when I lived in Finland but all they sold was food and tourist junk. And congrats on the purchase.

 

[kribensis12]

We have a Farmer's Market, but never heard of these " Market's"

 

[cuticom]

There virtually the same as a farmers Markets, we used to go to them in America, down here though their just called Markets. Theres plenty of trash, people just clearing out there house etc but in between there are amazing bargains, then theres rides, produce, animals etc as well.

Wish we had fish breeders at our markets, we just have some old dude who sells all in one packs of gravel, tiny bowl, goldfish and generic flakes for $15 a pop.

 

[kribensis12]

Well, it only sell's fresh veggies, and plants, s i go there in the summer with my mom!

 

[cuticom]

Guess it depends, the ones we went to were called farmers markets but were exactly the same as our Markets....

 

[kribensis12]

GRRR, I want some good fishy deals!!!

 

[logansmommy41306]

In the US we have Flea Markets that sell all kinds of different things, just like the cuticom said.

 

[LauraFrog]

Ours is kinda like a regional thing - a different town hosts it each week. Some people do use it kinda like a garage sale, but there are lots of people selling fruit, veg, potted plants, chooks, ducks, pet birds, all that stuff. There are icecream stalls and burger stalls and hot dog stalls and a nice old German guy selling sausages. Lots of people sell clothes, ornaments, food, books, art and cheap jewellery. There isnt that much touristy junk. Most of the tourists to our region are Asian and they speak little or no english, so they prefer to stay with their tour groups. The guided tours stick with the places they have a business deal with.

Farmer's markets in Australia are a different thing altogether, the only thing that's there is fruit and veg, high-quality in huge amounts. I've been to one once, but I think I was nine at the time and I spent the whole time reading and eating apple after apple (there was a huge bin of them right behind me) so I didn't pay much notice. Dad was yapping on to another mango grower about lenticil spotting. I ignored them.

 

[Luketendo]

I went to one before but all I saw were perhaps a tank or two for sale.

 

[helterskelter]

Thats nice for you, but it's to cold in the UK to sell fish out door's.
And I'm sure the is a rule set bu the EU saying you cant sell livestock at a market or carboot sale with out a licence.

How ever their many fish auctions held all over the UK which is where i get my fish if i want anything.

 

[SJ2K]

Farmers markets and boot sales (UK equivalent to flea markets) are 2 very different things At our boot sales you do often get little bargains such as:

we just have some old dude who sells all in one packs of gravel, tiny bowl, goldfish and generic flakes for $15 a pop.

but as stated its far too cold to even conciderselling live tropical fish outdoors, let alone illegal

 

[jeej]

Hey Laura, where in QLD was this? I live in Brisbane.

 

[kribensis12]

We have flea market's, but i ahvent seen any around here, and we are a good sized city.

 

[LauraFrog]

FNQ. Nowhere near Brisbane, but I'm sure they'd have something similar?

We have a few irresponsible people like goldfish-in-tiny-bowl-seller as well, but I ignore them.
We aren't allowed to sell wildlife without licenses, but as far as I know, non-natives are allowed. If they aren't, nobody polices it and everybody buys them anyway. Sometimes people bring baskets of unwanted puppies and kittens. I think the local pound should put on a display - most of the animals that are given away at the markets are adopted. Most of the animals for sale are birds - budgies, cockatiels, conans and finches. There were also a lot of producing birds - hens, fancy chickens, pullets, chicks, ducklings, ducks, geese etc. You can get any age, breed and size of chook you want there for very good prices. (My friends and I prefer rehabilitating battery hens. It's horrible to see how disturbed they are, but we can usually pull them round.)

In the tropics we're lucky, we don't have to worry about it being too cold. My tank stays stable at 22 degrees without a heater.

The fish is definitely healthy, and a typical male. Get this:
He got slopped around on a long road trip to the markets, bumpy, windy highway. Sloshed into a jar, picked up, swirled around and poked by countless kids. Peered at long and hard by me trying to find a male of that particular strain. Thrown around in a net, chucked into yet another jar. Carried around the hot markets sloshing around in a little glass bottle, carted home, tipped into various containers while I tried to find a way to acclimate a fish in such a tiny amount of water, thrown into an unfamiliar tank with fish he'd never met before and that he didn't know the layout of. Probably very stressful for a fish.
By midafternoon he was displaying for my females and trying to mate with them.
Real stressed out, absolutely terrified.
Not.

Males.