All Aquarium and Pet Supplies

[Blybo]

Heinz has sold the store and is retiring :cry: . I was in there on Sunday and he has already started to break down some tanks.

Just when I am getting back into aquariums and recently found this site and the glorious apistos...

Don't know when the change over is

[parkap]

Where's this store located?

[Blybo]

The store is in Mulgrave Melbourne. Heinz has had this store for about 40 years! I read else where on here that it was the first aquarium shop in Melbourne. He was a great source of knowledge and founded the Victorian cichlid club. Hopefully the new owner will be just as knowledgeable or keep him on 1-2 days a week.

[BillyBlanks22]

Who is the new owner?

I doubt he will have the knowledge and contacts that Heinz did so maybe no more rare and exotic apistos?

Maybe i will open a small store specialising in rare fish in particular Apistogramma. But would there be a market to sustain such a store in Austraila? Say i had 8-10 Apistogramma species at any one time.

[Nathan]

Apistogramma are becoming more and more popular in Austrlia, I think in the next 6-12 months these fish will be on a much higher demand and you should perhaps look into a business sometime in 2007.

But in the meantime if you are really keen on this business you should start doing your homework, eg location, where youl buy your appistos from etc.

HTH

[parkap]

If you're thinking of specialising in apisto's, although I'm not sure if there'd be enough demand to sustain a shop like that, you could only seriously contemplate importing yourself. The wholsalers in Australia just don't have the range or diverse genetic base to be able to provide the kind of quality and range you'd want.

B&C and SLS in Sydney are a couple of good apisto examples, in regard to providing good quiality imported specimens but the main revenue, as with most LFS's is more likely from the high turn over common fish species. The B&C owner is very very passionate about apisto's, but I doubt you'd make a living off them.

If you were looking to set up a home based operation for some extra cash, then breeding / importing apisto's, I think could be a definite little money earner, particularly with the increasing popularity of them. But as has been mentioned above, it's your market research that will decide the viability of any serious operation you're thinking of.

p.

[AdamR]

I support that idea Parkap. I don't know if you could run a shop only with exotics unless it was a backyard venture (nothin wrong with this idea). There are people in Sydney who special in African cichlids and the majority of the time it works great for them. I know they have had times where they spent lots of money on importing for someone to change their minds.

Up to you. I'm glad the little fellas are catching on. Now all we need is people to start looking at the beautiful West Africans. So many absolutely gorgeous underrated fish, with longer lifespans and tougher charactor.

Adam

[kevkoi]

Well, N.nudiceps are in, Pelvicachromis signatus are in, Pelvicachromis taeniatus variants are in...... N.transvestitus are in.... WHAT MORE DO U WANT? :lol:

P.taeniatus "Dehane" are coming in with the apistogramma. So are a whole bunch of african killies

[Robdog]

I agree. I've seen the nuddi's and signatus and they are fantastic looking dwarves.
If they didn't require a mortgage I would have got some. Not complaining as I'm aware that these are pretty rare in Oz. And someone's picked some up because there is only one Nudi left