Buying catfish online

Moontanman · Post by **Moontanman** » 27 Feb 2007, 13:17

Can anyone give me a link to a good online site to buy catfish? I am intrigued by a great many of the catfish described in the cat-e-log but does any one know where some of them can be bought? Where I live you are lucky to get a pleco or cory cat. Possibly a seller who specializes in catfish especially rare catfish would be great. I like the smaller catfish like "debawii cats" or other small catfish that can be a part of a community tank but not cory type catfish. Of course I have a list but I am betting most of them are made of unobtanium!

Michael Hissom aka Moontanman
I collect fish and I have access to lower Cape Fear River and Lake Waccamaw drainage, and the only natural rock out cropping in the Atlantic Ocean on the NC coast

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 27 Feb 2007, 13:34

There are several ways you can buy fish that aren't in stock in your store. My preferred way is to ask the shop to check the availability of other species than what they have in stock. Most wholesalers have more availability than the shops can keep. The advantage here is that you can actually see what you're buying before you spend your money...

If that's not working, there are several places that sell catfish by mail-order.

You could also perhaps contact Waldo on this site. He runs an import company from Western South America to Washington. I'm not sure if you want to buy directly from him, but I'd say he can probably put you in contact with some of his customers - or perhaps you can find a local shop that is willing to buy from Waldo. [The problem with buying directly from an importer is that you get a "box of fish", which is usually a dozen of mid-sized fish and hundreds of small fish (Neon's would be several hundred in a box)].

There's probably other companies that specialize in for example African or Asian catfishes...

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Mats

Moontanman · Post by **Moontanman** » 27 Feb 2007, 13:40

Unfortunately all I have around here is the so called "big box" stores that simply don't carry anything unusual. Even usual is difficult to come by. I was hoping there was an online store that either specializes in catfish or one that has a good selection of catfish.

Moon

Post by **Silurus** » 27 Feb 2007, 13:54

If you like West African cats, you can contact Toyin Ojo of Rehoboth Aquatics. He doesn't have an online store, but he'll gladly ship. Here's his current stock list.

Although I now live on the other side of the world, I can vouch that Toyin is on the up and up (and I'm sure other forum members who regularly purchase from him will agree).

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 27 Feb 2007, 13:55

I suspect there are several on-line stores available, with a variety of selected catfish species. However, I live in the wrong country to be able to tell you who they are (and more importantly: which ones are GOOD!).

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Mats

apistomaster · Post by **apistomaster** » 27 Feb 2007, 17:44

Try googling: aquarium catfish vendors.
There are 5 pages of listings to peruse.