# Group order for Amano shrimp



## niko

The meeting at Sang's place was very casual and very nice. Everyone felt comfortable. Thanks to Sang for hosting!

The next meeting will be at Cliff's house. He has a big planted tank, a reef tank, and a big paludarium with dart frogs - surely a lot to see and talk about.

About the shrimp group order:
As we talked at the meeting we are going to place a group order for Amano shrimp.

Pedro recommended a place to buy them online - a guy that he has dealt with.

The price for 1 shrimp will have to be determined after we have the final count. I guess that anything above $1.50 per shrimp will be too much for a big order but let's see how many we will be ordering.

Nathan suggested that everyone on the list should pay 10% addition to the price. There will be a few casualties for sure (shrimp, not people) and these 10% will be an "insurance" of sorts against that. I will explain in details as soon as I understand how it works. 

Here's the list as of today (name and number of shrimp desired):

Bill W. - 50
Mike H. - ?
Kathy M. - ?

--Nikolay


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## TAM

Tammy M. - 20

Sang, you have a lovely tank and a lovely home, thank you for sharing both with us.

TAM


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## gnatster

It's really quite simple and it helps to insure that no one takes a loss in the event of die off. We have been using this methodology in GWAPA for about a year now and it's worked well. 

As an example...

5 people order 20 each. Total 100 pieces needed. 

Price each before shipping is $1.00 ea

To help insure against loss each member pays $1.10 per unit. 

Club orders livestock using club funds, member has not yet paid (unless order is over $500 in total then each pays a deposit)

Livestock arrives, however 90 are alive. 

Each member receives 18 pieces, paying $19.80 (18 x 1.10) + %age of shipping. Since this had 5 equal orders each pays 20% of shipping cost. 

In this example the club looses $1.00. ($0.20 x 5 orders) Where this methodology really pays off is in the long run. Some times the club will lose, sometimes the club will win. The idea is over the long run the club breaks even and everyone that places an order is protected from losses. 

In GWAPA we have a set of rules and regs that we drafted for group orders and have found that they work well. I'd say the club has done 6 or 7 group orders since implementation and all are happy with the way it has worked. I'll ask if I can share the rules and regs drafted.


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## niko

Uptade of the list as of July 16:

Bill W. - 50
Tammy. M. - 20
Mike H. - ?
Kathy M. - ?


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## CrownMan

I will buy 40.

Thanks,

Mike Herod


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## milalic

Uptade of the list as of July 16:

Bill W. - 50
Tammy. M. - 20
Mike H. - 40
Kathy M. - ?


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## Spar

I will take 30 (and up to 20 extra if needed to complete a box or if someone drops out later).

Thanks for doing another one of these!


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## david lim

I'll take 25!!!! howdy y'all! 

David


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## milalic

Uptade of the list:

Bill W. - 50
Tammy. M. - 20
Mike H. - 40
Kathy M. - ?
Cliff - 30 at least (20 more if needed)
David - 25


Rgds,
Pedro


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## sangpeiris

I'll take 100. Never can have enough.


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## niko

Update as of July 17:

Bill W. - 50
Tammy. M. - 20
Mike H. - 40
Kathy M. - ?
Cliff - 30 at least (20 more if needed)
David - 25
Sang - 100


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## Kjm

Kathy M would like 40 to 50.


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## CherylR

Cheryl R wants 20.


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## milalic

Updated list:

Bill W. - 50
Tammy. M. - 20
Mike H. - 40
Kathy M. - 40 to 50
Cliff - 30 at least (20 more if needed)
David - 25
Sang - 100
CherylR - 20

-Pedro


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## milalic

Anyone else interested?


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## niko

Ok, the deadline to join this group buy is Monday, July 24 at noon.

Please make corrections to your shrimp count before that.

Details about shipping and price to follow. From what I see now each shrimp will be about $1.50 including shipping and the 10% "club insurance against losses". For those that don't know - $1.50 is a good price.

--Nikolay


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## david lim

Was the list emailed? Sometimes people dun check apc :/.


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## Spar

go ahead and up mine to a definate 50, rather than the 30+20-if-needed.

Thanks!


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## dstephens

I will jump in for 25. Thanks, Darrell


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## niko

Updated list:

Bill W. - 50
Tammy. M. - 20
Mike H. - 40
Kathy M. - 40 to 50
Cliff - 50
David - 25
Sang - 100
CherylR - 20
Darrell S - 25
================
TOTAL: 370 - 380

Yes I e-mailed a link for a second time today.

--Nikolay


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## Ricky Cain

*As*

Gimme 50


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## CrownMan

This is probably a stupid question but are we going to have to worry about the current heat wave affecting these shrimp? Or does the shipper use cold packs?

Thanks,

Mike


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## niko

The seller will ship the box overnight. We will have someone picking the box from the airport as soon as we are told it's there (same day, possibly within 1-2 hours of hearing about it).

Between that fast delivery and the 10% "club insurance" as it's described above we should receive all shrimp fine and not disappoint anyone.

We'll still ask for extra insulation/cold packs though.

Updated list:

Bill W. - 50
Tammy. M. - 20
Mike H. - 40
Kathy M. - 40 to 50
Cliff - 50
David - 25
Sang - 100
CherylR - 20
Darrell S - 25
Ricky C - 50
================
TOTAL: 425 - 435


--Nikolay


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## fstallin

*Shrimp Order*

Please put me down for 40. I can go up to 50 if the club needs more.

Frank Stallings


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## milalic

Updated list:

Bill W. - 50
Tammy. M. - 20
Mike H. - 40
Kathy M. - 40 to 50
Cliff - 50
David - 25
Sang - 100
CherylR - 20
Darrell S - 25
Ricky C - 50
Frank S - 40 to 50
================
TOTAL: 465 - 485

Rgds,
Pedro


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## dstephens

Niko,

I have to bow out. After looking at it, I don't think I can accomodate any more shrimp. sorry, I had signed up for 25 I think. Darrell


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## niko

Darrll, no problem.


Updated list:

Bill W. - 50
Tammy. M. - 20
Mike H. - 40
Kathy M. - 40 to 50
Cliff - 50
David - 25
Sang - 100
CherylR - 20
Ricky C - 50
Frank S - 40 to 50
Tarrah N. - 15
================
TOTAL: 455 - 475


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## niko

Updated list:

Bill W. - 50
Tammy. M. - 20
Mike H. - 40
Kathy M. - 40 to 50
Cliff - 50
David - 25
Sang - 50
CherylR - 20
Ricky C - 50
Frank S - 40 to 50
Tarrah N. - 15
================
TOTAL: 405 - 425


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## niko

Updated list:

Bill W. - 50
Tammy. M. - 20
Mike H. - 40
Kathy M. - 40 to 50
Cliff - 50
David - 25
Sang - 50
CherylR - 20
Ricky C - 50
Frank S - 40 to 50
Tarrah N. - 15
Harold L. - 20
================
TOTAL: 425 - 445


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## niko

Ok we have really good news about the group order of Amano shrimp.

Each shrimp will cost only $1.05. That's a very, very good price.

To the price for each shrimp we have to add about 8 cents for shipping (super fast - next day with live arrival guaranteed!) and also about 1 cent for the 10% club "insuranse" which was explained above.

In any case *the price per shrimp will come to be about $1.14!*

Since it's up to us to say when we want to receive the shrimp and since they will be shipped with a next day service I'd like to ask:

*Is everybody ok with the idea of coming to pick up their shrimp at the club meeting on Aug. 19?*

--Nikolay


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## sangpeiris

I may not be able to make it... can someone hold it for me.. I will pickup the following weekend.


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## Kjm

Wow Niko...That's a fantastic price! Thanks for working out that deal for us. 

I can pick up my share at the meeting on the 19th. Do we pay you then, or can we pay you now?

Thanks,
Kathy


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## CrownMan

Pickup at the next club meeting is fine with me.

Mike


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## niko

I can hold the shrimp of people that can't come to the meeting.

It will be best to pay when you get the shrimp so everything is simple and clear.

Pedro works with the seller and all props go to him really. The price is indeed great!

--Nikolay


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## niko

Bill W. - 50
Tammy. M. - 20
Mike H. - 40
Kathy M. - 40 to 50
Cliff - 50
David - 25
Sang - 125
CherylR - 20
Ricky C - 50
Frank S - 40 to 50
Tarrah N. - 15
Harold L. - 20
================
TOTAL: 500 - 520


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## milalic

Bill W. - 50
Tammy. M. - 20
Mike H. - 40
Kathy M. - 40 to 50
Cliff - 50
David - 25
Sang - 125
CherylR - 20
Ricky C - 50
Frank S - 40 to 50
Tarrah N. - 15
Harold L. - 20
Pedro - 25
================
TOTAL: 525 - 545


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## david lim

Niko- can I come by and pick the shrimp up next weekend from your place? I'll try to bring some plants for the meeting to be split around.

David


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## milalic

The order has been placed.

-Pedro


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## niko

Well, there is a good news and a bad news. Bad news first, good news second:

The shrimp will not be here for the meeting.

They will be here NEXT Saturday, August 26-th.

I will have the joy of keeping them and everyone is welcome to come to my house on August 26-th:

4945 Morris Ave., apt. 1350
Addison, TX 75001

phone: 214-537-9759

I couldn't believe this group order is going so smooth. Now that there has been a glitch I finally feel everything is allright. 

--Nikolay


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## david lim

Well, when everyone comes to pick up the shrimp on Aug 26th (not too much later for poor niko and his tanks), then we'll make you feel uneasy again .


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## niko

195 of the shrimp lived, about 400 died thanks to USPS who didn't deliver Next Day.

*The seller will replace all the dead shrimp.* So some people can pick up their shrimp on Saturday, Aug 25 and some will have to wait until, hopefully next Saturday, Sep. 02.

Please call me on Saturday, Aug 25 to see if there are shrimp ready to be picked up. First come first serve for these 195 shrimp.

My phone is 214-537-9759. *I will be home after 12, noon.*

--Nikolay


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## niko

Cliff came to pick up his shrimp last night.

This morning (Sat, Aug 26-th) I have 120 shrimp left to be picked up.

Please call and come to get them off my hands.

--Nikolay


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## niko

Ok,

The seller of the shrimp will resend the entire amount of shrimp + some extras at no cost for us, not even shipping. He will also hold the shrimp in his tanks for 1 week prior to shipping them to us to ensure that the weak ones don't die during transportation and poison the rest.

*The new box of shrimp will be shipped to us on September 6-th. The shrimp will be available for pick up on Saturday, Sept. 9.*

This time I'll try to pick the box myself instead of waiting for it to be delivered. I've cleaned and prepared a 55 gal. tank for the shrimp so providing everything is fine we should have minimal losses.

Please plan on coming to pick up your shrimp on Saturday, Sept. 9. I will be out of town but Pedro will be at my house to wait for people to come.

Hope it all works the way it's in my head (the way I wrote it here) 

--Nikolay


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## milalic

I'll be there. I will post information for contacting me later. We can have a party afterwards in Niko's apt.

:flock:


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## sangpeiris

Yippee... sounds like we all get a little bonus... 

What is the algorithm for assigning the extra shrip to all that ordered? I believe there will be about 200 extra that need to divided between everyone using some kind of weighted average.


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## gnatster

milalic said:


> I'll be there. I will post information for contacting me later. We can have a party afterwards in Niko's apt.
> 
> :flock:


Afterwards? Heck, the party is going to be all weekend

Don't let Niko see this


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## milalic

sangpeiris said:


> Yippee... sounds like we all get a little bonus...
> 
> What is the algorithm for assigning the extra shrip to all that ordered? I believe there will be about 200 extra that need to divided between everyone using some kind of weighted average.


Sang,

Not sure if they are going to be extras or not. Based on the first shipping, I do not expect too many extras.

-Pedro


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## sangpeiris

I'll bring the cigars...


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## CherylR

Maybe we could give everyone who ordered a chance to pick up their shrimp, then give anyone else who wants some or wants more a chance to buy any leftovers.

Nikolay, THANKS for going to all this trouble. You're a trooper.

Cheryl


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## Kjm

If we don't sell out to club members...I think I have a few local's from the discus community that might be interested. 

I've let them all know that it's pending.

And I second what Cheryl said...Thank you so much Niko!


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## niko

Thursday, 4:30 PM

Without any respect to anyone that works for USPS I hereby state that the people that work for that pathetic excuse for a service are complete and utter morons, slackers, bulgarians and just plain <your favourite racial slur here, in my case "dirty gipsies">.

They are people genetically gifted with complete absence of any accountability. They possess distant euphoric glare and voices. They also seem to draw some kind of subdued pleasure from all that. Observe carefully next time you visit the post office and you will agree with me.

500 shrimp already died in their grimy hands and 600 more are on to meet the same fate. Noone can tell me where the box is - phrases like "Live Animals", "$105 for shipping", and "Next Day Shipping" mean nothing to them. After 1 (one) hour on the phone being transferred from one <your favourite racial slur here, in my case "dirty gipsy"> to another one of the same fine pig race a smart <your favourite racial slur here, in my case "dirty gipsy"> just hung up on me. I felt like in an instant I was transferred to my motherland - Bulgaria - which is rather different from what we like to call America in the 21-st century.

I'm pondering some fun time tomorrow morning at the local latrine, excuse me "post office". An accidental drop of the big box of dead shrimp, busting the plastic bags in the process, and practically making everyone vacate the local post office for 1 hour due to the smell of Ammonia from dead shrimp. In the times we live I may be put on some black list among suspected tourists, excuse me "terrorists" . Ammonia in a box? Dropping a huge box in a public facility and releasing toxic waste? And he practiced at home with the same setup a week before the public offence? Oh my!

But what good is all that? The <your favourite racial slur here, in my case "dirty gipsies"> will not change anyway.

As you see I'm over the whole thing (at the moment) so my weird sense of humor is "on" and "fulll blast". This is our hobby and we need to keep it fun, or so they tell me...

That is where we are (and are not) with the Shrimp Saga. I am and (I am not) looking forward to a 3-rd re-shipment.

4:45 PM:
15 min before the local post offce/latrine closes I'm on the phone oh hold waiting to hear that the truck arriving at 4:30 delivered my box. Car keys in hand I'm ready to dash out the door. Now I'm told that the last truck arrives at 6:30PM and the whole USPS staff, from all around the US, will call me and make sure I get my box... *IF* it's on that truck! Now, that's what I call service!

The last girl I talked to was super nice and helpful. I think she maybe the only person in that fine piece of USPS that has to counteract the rampant bulgarian trends. And of course you reach her last, that's how life is.

--Nikolay


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## Kjm

Oh My Nikolay! 

I have been through similar circumstances with them and gotten the same reception. I don't know if you are a beer drinker...but sounds like it's time for a cold one.  

Hang in there and I hope you know that we all REALLY appreciate you going through all of this for us. Call if there's anything I can do to help.

Kathy


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## niko

Thank you Kathy!

Now I have something to say on a more positive note. And it's not just any positive note but the biggest positive note of them all (if such thing existed).

We are buying the shrimp from Mike, who runs Aquaboy Aquatics. Please visit his web site - Aquaboy Aquatics

Mike has been extremely helpful through the whole ordeal the first time around. Pedro talked to him around 5 PM today and Mike has actually already accepted to re-send the shrimp for a 3-rd time!!! And yes, at no extra cost once again! I don't think any other online vendor would do something like that. Mike does have insurance on the shrimp but the hassle of packaging 600 shrimp, dealing with the USPS insurance and so on is not something anyone would do just like that.

This 3-rd time USPS will be sent with Next Day Service to hell and another carrier will take care of the shipping.

Kathy,

In case I actually receive the shrimp in 10 min. or so and in case they stay alive I will need help on Saturday. Pedro can't be here on Saturday and I don't know if Nathan can do that with all his care for his father at the moment. I will call you to see what we can do.

--Nikolay


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## CrownMan

Nikolay,

I would skip the beer and go right to the Crown (no, I don't own stock in that company) !! In fact, I volunteer to be your designated Crown drinker during this ordeal. What are friends for, anyway.

Glad to see Mike from Aquaboys (great name by the way) is going out of his way to get this order completed. You can't say enough about great customer service.

Good Luck with the next shipment,

Mike

P.S.
I have some Red Cherries for you when the Amanos come in. Any particular equipment you are looking to trade for.


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## milalic

All,

Good news. Shrimp were picked up today and so far only one dead! 
Excellent packaging from Mike at freshwaterinverts.com

Please PM gnatster for further instructions on how to pick up the shrimp.
You can also pm me if you have any questions.

-Pedro


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## Bill Weber

Where is the pick up point and what time?
I will need an address


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## milalic

You have to PM gnaster for that. It is going to be in Nikolay's apt, but I do not have the details.

-Pedro


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## gnatster

I'm headed there in a few minutes to check out the shrimp, make sure they are ok and to note the address. Right now I'm thinking from 2-4pm on Saturday. I'm open to other times if need be but can't keep running back and forth from Plano to Addison. Look for another post in a few hours with something much more definitive as to to time.


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## gnatster

Shrimp are all fine. Very few perished. 

How many people need to come and pick up shrimp?

Will 1 - 4 PM be a good window for ya'll?

Lets go for that for now. If need be I can meet some on Sunday or Monday night but would greatly prefer if the majority was handled on Saturday. 

PM me for the address please.


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## beznsarah

Has it been decided what's going to be done with the extra shrimp? Extra shrimp for everyone who purchased or available for sale to anyone wanting to buy more? 

If most of them in this shipment made it then there's probably a good 200+ extra available.


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## milalic

When everyone gets there shrimp, Nikolay will let people know what we are going to do with them. I think probably offer them to people that di dnot had a chance to get in the first order.

-Pedro


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## fsnow55

If the extra shrimp are available to people that didn't order, please put me in the waiting list. 
Francis


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## niko

Ok, I'm back and I find a lot shrimp left. People are out of town, never called to pick them up, or are called "Ricky".

If anyone wants to purchase shrimp at $1.20 a piece please call me asap.

My home phone is: 972-788-0789

Leave a call back number if I'm not home because I seem to have developed a tendency to get busy.

--Nikolay


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## CherylR

Don't you give away my shrimp, nikolay. Can you bring any to the meeting?

Cheryl


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## Kjm

Sorry Cheryl...I already took your shrimp home. But it's ok cuz I'll let you have mine. Your shrimp just couldn't wait to jump in that net so I couldn't help myself.

They did tell me to tell you that they missed you and send their love.


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## niko

Cheryl,

I won't give your shrimp away but I cannot come to the meeting. 

Moving grandma from CA to TX is a lengthy ordeal and the Saturday of the meeting we will be doing the worst part - unpacking the 50 boxes we so carefully stuffed with everything that grandma has collected over the course of 81 years... 

--Nikolay


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## CrownMan

Niko,

I got my shrimp last Saturday and will bring you money this Saturday. I hope you take Diners Club.

Thanks to you, Pedro, Nathan and Mike for going to this much trouble.

Mike


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## milalic

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/freshwater-inverts/30897-thank-you.html


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## Kjm

Niko,

What's the status of the shrimp? Do you still need to sell some, or are they all gone?

Kathy


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## niko

I'm holding 20 for Cheryl but I don't know when she can pick them up. Also I'm holding about 20 for Tarah but I don't know even more when she will pick them up 

I don't want to sell them to someone that shows up with cash at my doorstep because both Cheryl and Tarah signed up for shrimp a long time ago and it will not be fair to leave them with empty hands. The approx. 40 shrimp that are left seem to do fine in the 55 gal. tank. No dead ones for a long time now and they have grown too because I feed them sinking buscuits meant for snails (a mix of many different ingredients).

--Nikolay


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