in the news, the cold

[korith]

Well with the cold weather lately, it seems the florida tropical fish farms haven't fared that well. [Only Registered Users Can See Links.] an interesting read.

The cold weather is causing lots of problems for their outdoor ponds.

Just a few exerts, didn't want to post the whole article as it is long.

"The little guys are dying by the millions."

"A severe guppy shortage has already emerged, according to distributors, while fish farmers statewide expect losses of more than 50 percent as African cichlids, marble mollies, danios and other cheerful-looking varieties sink like pebbles to the bottom of freshwater ponds across Florida."

"The freezing temperatures have come at the worst possible time. Florida provides about half of the tropical fish sold nationwide (Asia provides most of the rest), and like oranges, the colorful pets sell best in winter. "

Wonder what kind of effect this will have on the hobby in the short term?

[Red]

Not good for the prices of normal fish in the petsmarts and petcos, I hope they can all bounce back.

[Rue]

:scry: :scry: :scry:

[Lab_Rat]

Poor fishies. :scry:

[-Lp]

I read that. I also heard the iguanas were falling out of trees, and the citrus crops were 30% frozen. Truly sad.

[Algenco]

Heard yesterday a preliminary survey showed losses of over $500 million

[MCHRKiller]

Prices are definatly going to be reflected in LFS. Those 12cent wholesale neons are probably going to atleast double in cost, thus means your hobbyist cost is going to go up an extra buck or two as well per fish...especially since the survivors will be in a weaker state due to the temps, LFS will have more loss to.

[korith]

Looks like its worse than expected. This was posted by Thefishjunky on mfk

Below is news I am getting reports on in the fish industry in Florida at the moment.For those on the East Coast as well as throughout the country,very large amounts of our fish are brought in from the wild and sent to farmers/breeders in Florida.They then disperse them out across the country and raise breed them etc b4 they can get to us.I had a large order being flown in to Florida for me from Brazil through my one supplier and the entire shipment was DOA do to the weather.This is no joke,this was just reported to me and I am now speechless.Please read below:

We have fielded calls for 24 hours from farmers from all over the state. The news is not good and losses may be greater than ever. We are going on the 11th day of temperatures below 60 degrees and the effects are showing. We believe the South American Cichlid supply is totally gone. Some farmers are concerned that they may not have breeders to restock. We are working with them all on sharing stock with each other after the cold is gone. This product will not be re-planted until the last cold so we are looking at late summer before we have steady supplies of Convicts, Firemouth, Jacks, Jewels, Salvini, etc.

Tetras will also be short in the coming months. The advantage here is that these can be spawned and restocked immediately and there is quite a bit of supply inside. The items that were hurt include anything that was thought to be cold tolerant and left uncovered. (Black Tetra, GTO, Black Phantom, Lemon, Red Eye, etc). Although there are heavy losses, we should have adequate numbers for at least the next 60 days. Other tetras such as Serpae, L/F Serpae, Black Neon, Scissortail, etc. are covered and we will not know the extent of the damage for a few more days but there are losses. Several farmers do have fish ready to sale.

Barbs - It is still too early to get a good picture on barbs. Tiger Barbs are covered and no one is touching them until the weekend. Many farmers see dead fish but are hoping for the best. Rosy Barbs and L/F Rosy made it through on our farmers uncovered. We think we will be ok with most of the rosy varieties after the water warms. Gold Barbs are still a question although our primary suppliers have good numbers inside.

Angels - Too early to tell. Our primary vendor’s operation is inside and should be ok long term. We will know more next week.

Plecos - Losses are more severe in the interior sections of the state.. Again, we will know more when it warms up and we pump the first pond.

Feeder Guppies - Probably a complete wipeout.

Danios - No major losses at this point although they are not available due to pond temps. If it was not in the building, they are not trapping until the weekend. Unless they break down when the water warms, we should be back to normal on these by the end of next week.

Gouramis - They are running short this week because no one has brought any in this week. Even the fish we are getting here are having cold water issues. Kissers will be short. I will know more on the Blues, Golds, Opalines, etc. in the coming weeks.

Africans – Fish raised in doors are fine. We’re meeting with the other African cichlid farmers today.

Glofish - No major issues as of yesterday except we have probably lost all fry that was one month of age or younger. The older fish seem to be doing fine.

In all, it is still too early to determine the extent of the damage, but it already is shaping up to be severe. The industry leaders are already speaking with the state and Federal agencies about assistance for farmers.

[Red]

Dang that is terrible, thanks for the update korith.

[Northernguy]

Unreal.

Thats a depressing thought, the cost of fish is on the rise.
Hopefully breeders will take their time replenishing all the numbers.
Quality over quantity would be a great way to restart.thumbs2:

[Bristley]

I live in Orlando, FL and I have been witness to the effects the hard freeze has had on this region.

As an example I was speaking with the owner of my LFS about 4 days ago. I was curious about ordering a Bristlenose Pleco for my tank. He said he didn't have any in stock but could get one for me for about $6.00. I talked to him again yesterday because I wanted to talk about it a little more and he told me that due to the hard freezes we've experienced he may not be able to get one for me right now, and if he was able to it would probably be a lot more expensive.

[Rhaethe]

Interesting. And very sad.

Perhaps this is why I was told that a specific fish I was looking for was off the stocking list and they would not know when it would be available again.

Which is said ... Olivia the lonely emerald eye rasbora really needs some friends ... all she does is hang out in one spot all day hiding :(