# shop-hopping trip



## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

I went fish-shop-hopping with some friends today (SnyperP drove if anyone knows him). I didn't have my camera, so I didn't get any photos of the shops, or the fish my friends bought but . . .

Also, please excuse the green dust on the glass in all the photos . . .

First shop was "All About Fish." This was an awesome store with lots of great little fish! I found the DREAM fish for my current scape.

Sparkling Gourami:










If anyone remembers the original concept illustration for my current lay out, it featured these guys! Like this:










Finally I got a small school in real life too!

Dicrossus (checkerboard cichlid):









I don't think anyone knows this, but I always envinsioned Naupaka Coast with Dicrossus. Like the sparkling gouramis, they share the nice blue-green-red color scheme that reminds me of the coloration of wrass/parrot fish in real hawaii reefs. They have a tropical feel IMO. These guys are so tiny though!! They don't even have the colors of the larger adults, so I hope they color up quickly.

BTW-- SnyperP took the plunge and bought a small $40 school of *galaxy rasboras* :hihi: Hope to get some photos of them in his tank in the future!

Bunch of other nice planted tank fish there too . . . apistos, boraras (multiple species), hummingbird tetras, pygmy cories, endlers, licorice gouramies . . . they had snowball shrimp too XD

Next Stop: Tom's Tropical Fish

This was a whole-in-the-wall fish store owned by an old Chinese man. The store was very asian is all I can say. XD

We stopped by mostly to get a flowerhorn for our friend John.

BUT while he was picking one, I spotted these guys:










at 3.99 each!?? No idea why or how. Botia sidthemunki (dwarf chain loach) are usually at least $8 or $9 bucks each! I've seen 'em sold for $15. Well, a steal for me anyway! I had to take out the pea puffers to put in my other fish so this is perfect for keeping my tank snail free! 

I also bought a nice set of dragon rocks! They weren't really big enough to make an iwagumi in my tank but since I wasn't planning to do one anyway maybe I'll find a use for 'em one day. I sure love hard-scape stockpiling . . .

We went to some other shops, but didn't buy anything.

One last shot of a dicrossus free in the tank:










Yes, that's HC in the background. >.< They're all so puny!! But I've dreamed of having this fish in Naupaka Coast so I'll just cross my fingers that he sizes up and colors up. Right now, the sidthimunki's are bigger! >.<


----------



## slickwillislim (Oct 11, 2005)

Sounds like fun. Can't wait to see a picture of that school of galaxy rasboras. 40 bucks so what did he get 6? 7? of them. When I went to all about fish they did look really cool. 

I like the checkerboard's. I am a fan of SA dwarf cichlids.

The sparkling gouramis look nice. I am not a fan of gouramis myself but those little guys look just like the picture you drew. Always nice to see something different than the traditional tetras. 

I like the loaches too. Those are my second favorite after striata.


----------



## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

actually . . . that was 4 rasboras . . . for more like, around $35 bucks but you know what I mean . . . lol

I still plan on a small school of real schooling fish like tetras or rasboras. Not sure what yet. Still, I'm very happy with the fish I found today!


----------



## slickwillislim (Oct 11, 2005)

Yeah I guess I suck at mental math. 4 x 8.99 pluss tax. Well I dont know what I was doing to come up with 6 maybe I thought it was 6.99. Who knows. 

Definetly some nice fish you got there.


----------



## Cassie (May 27, 2006)

they had pygmy cories??? What kind? were they actually Corydoras pygmaeus, or Corydoras hastatus, or Corydoras habrosus...? How much were they? perhaps I should make a trip out there! Did they have more of the sparkling gouramis? I got one from there and I absolutely love it! Their coloring is unmatchable, and they have a great personality to go with it!


----------



## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

Still gouramis left after I took 5. I believe the pygmies were pygmeas . . . I was really tempted by them, but now I'm kinda glad I refrained because having pygmies and sidthimunki's would be starting to look redundant. Well, my tank would just be chock full of hovering 1" long black+white bottom feeders.


----------



## Spidergrrrl (Oct 11, 2006)

Oooooh - now I'm all excited because I've been wanting to get dwarf cories for my 12 gallon tank. 

BTW - your fish all look great.


----------



## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Wow, that is the ideal shopping day for me.... 

Great photo journal of all of the stops and purchases. It makes me feel like I was there, so now I'm jealous.....

I didn't know that you knew SnyperP.... Isn't it great to go out for a day of fish shopping with a fish friend?


----------



## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

Thanks guys! Shopping for fish sure is fun!

Jan, I met Snyper through a local trade we did. He's a really great guy!


----------



## erijnal (Apr 5, 2006)

The cories are actually hastatus not pygmaeus


----------



## SnyperP (Dec 10, 2004)

Yea, i only got 4 (3 female + 1 male) I'll probably be looking to add a few more in the future. Kirt said he was expecting some more in a shipment later this week. 

I wasn't quite comfortable adding them to my tank yet since i'm still dialing in my co2. I setup a nano some established filter floss and moss for them for the time being. 

Picky little eaters they are though. They like suspended food. The only thing i could find small enough for them to eat locally was some Hikari Micro pellets, but once they hit the floor they're not interested in them anymore. They're starting to color up though! =D


----------



## erijnal (Apr 5, 2006)

Any way you can put a teeny pump in the tank? That helps keep the food in the water for a longer time in my ten gallon. Or you could crush the pellets into even tinier granules, that should let the food float around for a while wee


----------



## SnyperP (Dec 10, 2004)

Yea, that's my next step. I thought these semi-floating pellets would work. I'm just going to find larger floating pellets and crush them.


----------



## takechanmanus (Mar 19, 2006)

I have Botia Sidthemunki/Chain Loaches. They are fun to watch. Well, I paid $$$ for that. You are lucky.


----------

