[Fishman]

How big and what do you look for, for the eggs? I pulled the fish 4 days ago and still no fry, not sure if I even have eggs. The adults were over a plastic mesh to let eggs fall through and not get eaten.

[Fishman]

Often times the folks on Aquabid are shipping USPS Express for the next day guarantee. This option cost quite a bit more. For priority shippers the rates on Aquabid tend to be $9-15 dollars. This is because some shippers buy their shipping materials (styro, heat packs, etc.) and include those costs in their shipping, pluss maybe some time and effort involved with the shipping. I have never had any loss of fish using priority, if shipping dates are carefully chosen with weather taken into account. I have shipped and recieved fish sent Priority over 2000 miles across the country with no issues. I do understand that some people have encountered shipping problems though so take mine experiance as only one of many.

I used to work for an aquaculture facility in California and we once did an experiment to determine the length of time fish (fathead minnows in this case) can stay healthy in shipping containers. If properly packed and preped for shipping fish can survive for much longer than Priority should take. Before anyone jumps on me for cruelty to fish, we returned to minnows back to the culture containers after 7 days in the shipping container with no significant losses of fish life.

As far as how long it takes for across the country it would depend on the zip code you are shipping from and to, with proximity to shipping hubs being the determining factor. I would say two-three days is probably the norm for the continental USA.

[Fishman]

No CPD’s yet, I went to my aquarium club meeting last night (New Hampshire Aquarium Society) and one of the old timers there has some that he has been un-successful breeding because of the municipal water he is using. He said he would pass them off to me after the Turkey Day holiday so that I could spawn them for him. I will then get to keep the breeders as well as half of the fry for a while to build up a population. So after a little time I will have to start a new thread or PM you to see about trading some bloodlines.

Shipping fish is very very easy. I usually use US Postal Service Priority mail because of the cost of Express or other carriers (FedEx, UPS). This time of year in these northern latitudes tends to require a heat pack. The heat packs can be purchased for just a couple of dollars from online sources (check Dr. Foster & Smith, etc. or Google fish heat packs and you should come up with some). For a foam box to ship in you can often scrounge them up for little or no money from your LFS (Local Fish Store). If you are only sending a few small fish then ask them for the foam boxes they get their frozen foods sent to them in, these boxes are much smaller than the large bulk boxes they get their fish in. If they don’t have any ask them to set some aside the next time they get them in. LFS’s tend to treat their regular customers very well. I have also used the flat Styrofoam sheets to line a shipping box but that would be better in the summer or of the fish are not going too far. I tend to use the Priority “Flat Rate” boxes since weight does not change the price. It costs around $9 to ship flat rate with delivery confirmation (good if you are selling to online auction winners). The USPS requires you to drop the box off at the counter when it contains liquids. The only want to know that the box will not leak (double bag, and line the box with a trash bag to be sure), and that it does not contain hazardous materials. Sometimes you will get counter help that does not know about sending fish through the mail, the current postal codes that will tell them it IS ok to mail fish are;

Cold animal shipping 609.3.3
Liquids shipping 602.3
And
Packaging 609.3.10

These change regularly but are current as of three weeks ago. This turned into a long post but I hope it is helpful.

[Fishman]

L777,

No specific experience other than tracking generations in my own breeding room to try and fix or improve traits (mostly angel fish). Since I have started keeping killis, there is a lot of tracking of location names but no specific registration for out-breeding.

I get the impresion from your last post that I live in the UK, “There are a number of you there in the UK,” but I actualy am in New Hampshire in the USA. Just wanted to clear that up.

I have a lot of experiance shipping fish. If well packed and properly sent even shipping from “island” to “island” inside the USA is not much of a problem. I think shipping to the UK can pose problems with their customes regulations, but I have not tried it personaly.

[Fishman]

Thanks for the welcome L777!

I will keep you posted with any and all CPD news. I have not purchased any as of yet. I have located one source (LFS) that has them and will special order more if I want additional, as well as a discount off of the $7.50 ea price tag for quantity purchases of more than 5 fish (I’m thinking 10 to get started. I will also be attending my local aquarium club meeting tomorrow night, so I will be checking there for club members who might be breeding them first.

Does any one on this forum ever exchange fish to keep bloodlines strong? Long term line breeding in a species population this small could cause problems. I don’t mean to hijack my own thread but this seems like it could be some thing others have already started working on.

[Fishman]

Any thoughts on any or all of the questions would be great! I am a brand new keeper of the CPD, and your help would be apreciated.

[Author]

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