Jump to content

Why are there only German Imports?


Cichlabxr

Recommended Posts

Obviously we have the ultimates, that is wild caught fish. Second to that in some peoples opinions are German Imports

It just got me to thinking, dangerous I know. Why do all the cichlids imported, well to me at least, seem to come from Germany? Do they have the market cornered?

I know it's a fairly expensive and difficult task to do, complying with all the rules and regulations. Is it just simply most cost effective from there or are there other factors as well. Seems weird, again my own opinion that AQIS allow Marine fish from Tanzania but not cichlids.

Now back to these German imports. Is it purely the quality of the fish and that a lot of them are F1s.

This is asked for my own general knowledge, simply that, so no discussion on individual importers please.

Look forward to your opinions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Firstly, in Australia we can only import from a limited number of countries.

Germany have the worlds largest suppliers of cichlids, and the quality is good, the range is extensive.

We can import from US but there doesn't seem to be very large suppliers, I can't comment on qualtiy.

We can import from some asian countries but again no large specialist cichlid suppliers and quality is highly questionable. We tend to use asia for tropicals, discus, hybrid peococks etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Obviously we have the ultimates, that is wild caught fish. Second to that in some peoples opinions are German Imports

i think you'll find pond raised to be of higher order than german bred..

there was a great video doing the rounds a while back talking to a breeder in africa regarding the quality of pond raised cichlids.

they commented that they're often referred to as F0 due to the fact they're taken from the lake and the only the best are put into large ponds where they breed to produce 'pond raised' fish for sale to the public..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

to add to the discussion, this is a complete list of countries that you can export fish to australia. taken from http://www.aqis.gov.au/icon32/asp/ex_casecontent.asp?intNodeId=8872757&intCommodityId=6114&Types=none&WhichQuery=Go+to+full+text&intSearch=1&LogSessionID=0

Belgium

China

Federated States of Micronesia

Fiji

French Polynesia

Germany

Hong Kong

Indonesia

Kenya

Malaysia

New Caledonia

New Zealand

Philippines

Saudi Arabia

Senegal

Seychelles

Singapore

Solomon Islands

South Africa

Sri Lanka

Thailand

United States of America (USA)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most cichlids actually come from Asia only a small % is from W.C or German imports.

Germans are Usually better quality, from line and select breeding, where as other countries they may be hybrids or color fed to get the colours as alot seem to transform back to female colouring after awhile. Just my opinion...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well when I can afford it I know who I'll be seeing for my imported fish. :wink2: Might be quite awhile though. Quality has to be the name of the game so Germany it is. Especially when it comes to my beloved Peacocks see enough hybrids in the shops without risking buying them in from overseas.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

i know its an old post but over time ive looked at exporters in america and ud be lucky to find one that does ship to australia.the problem is the laws aquis put down are bullcraP im sorry but they are.i once acclimatised a red forest jewel to go in a mates dam it was in summer after acclimatising for over a few weeks i tried to put him in the dam he died within 5minutes i tried the same thing to add another one to a creek that ran through the property and it was a running creek within 5 min the second one died they were both 9cm male jewels.why the hell do they say these fish can live in our waterways when they simply cant.a koi a goldfish and a few others i understand but calvus wouldnt survive mbuna wouldnt survive in our rivers.it upsets me that we cant get new fresh blood into the hobby due to a few researching clowns so to speak.i have much more to say but id end up throwing the laptop through the window it really angers me. aquis s%&^& d$%^^$^

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The reason why they say no is because of what you have just admitted to doing. "Hobbiest" releasing these fish into waterways is the reason the fish have turned up in them. Native fish are much more important to this country then a few ornamental species. It is always going to be easier for the government to put a blanket ban across a certain species if it has any chance or surviving in any water in our country

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not only is it highly illegal it is grossly irresponsible to release ANY non native species into the eco system .

Take for example the cane toad , tilapia , carp, fox , rabbit , lantana, camel , feral pigs and dozens of other introduced pests

that once are introduced are almost impossible to eradicate .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well said josh, and cant believe you intangcity have a think what you r doing before releasing fish into the rivers. No wonder the list of illegal fish to import increases every year because we have people that do silly things like you. Dont destroy this fantastic hobby we all love

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i did it as an experiment it couldnt swim out of the dam nor could it escape the creek as we partitioned it off the creek is only 2ft wide right the way thrtough the property.it was never intended to leave the fish in the system once it died it was removed instantly and added to my mates compost heap

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have spoken personally to upper management in these office bodies.

You would be surprised that these people are quite reasonable,,,, as some species that's been here for a long time before they are leaving alone as the problem ones here they have had to research and blacklist,,,, they do have a good idea what's here and what's not,,,,, they look at all these forums and classifieds to.

There are so, so, so many species used as ornamental purposes, and for authorities to set up a research program on just one fish costs a crazy amount of money,, so they just don't have funds to research the lot and give the ok ones a pass.

It's far easier for them to allow a few of what's already in and abolish the rest.

If they research a fish, it's done extensively exploring all avenues and scenarios that we likely don't think of.

Compared to other countries the ornamental fish trade here serves no purpose really to Australian economy.

Overseas it's a thriving market and in some cases almost religious.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i did it as an experiment it couldnt swim out of the dam nor could it escape the creek as we partitioned it off the creek is only 2ft wide right the way thrtough the property.it was never intended to leave the fish in the system once it died it was removed instantly and added to my mates compost heap

i wouldnt expect a fish to die in a hurry when released in a water way, unless its from shock like coming from a warm 26 deg tank to a 10 deg river

Link to comment
Share on other sites

would be good to get more calvus in more mbuna in more hemichromis more of everything i think the importers need to think of something all we see is same old stuff

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also get a bit niggly about some of the fish we cant import, but what can you expect? I would love a licensing system, but it would be too hard and too expensive to police.

Work with what we have, keep them good and it shouldn't be so bad. very difficult for me to say that... I really want a Boulengerchromis microlepis pair, oh and a wild colony of every Geophagus species ever would be good too...

This looks promising though, IF this can work for everything, it could change the import laws; check it out...

http://theconversation.com/male-only-gene-trick-could-leave-invasive-fish-species-floundering-26370

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Take a deep breath and have a think about it. It's a federal law. You live in the cold climate part of the country.
It's the price we pay for not dealing with customs to drive 6 hours North.
Also, it's not just the fish that survive in a waterway. Introducing parasites and diseases that would wipe out our very delicate freshwater systems from unmonitored imports is a much more real possibility. One which, despite your experiment fish "dying", you could possibly have done.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One of the reasons nobody in the USA has bothered to apply for approval to ship to Australia is that our market is just too small.

I used to work in import/export in the USA.

I would process exports for a few customers simply because I wanted to help.

There was very minimal financial incentive to export when the local market is so huge.

You have to wade through bureaucracy to process export documentation, while locally you just take the box to the airport.

They have a large network of importers, especially from the Americas.

International Fisheries is a HUGE operation with huge warehouses full of holding tanks, owned by Adolf Swartz a legend.

A lot of fish are named after him.

One of the reasons Germany has more suppliers (to Australia), of wild caught African fish is airline connections.

They are smaller operations and can be bothered to wade through the documentation required.

Plus they have the supply of Czech breeders, who are well organised/networked from Soviet days.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...