On the point of the club selling raffle tickets to decide who gets the
fish. What good does it do if the fish gets into the hands of somebody
that doesn't breed or has no luck at it? Many members of our clubs
have no interest or experience with breeding. This really does nothing
more than selling the fish to the highest bidder. It may or may not
get to the general membership.
The main problem that seems to be occurring is fish coming in and
ending up in the hands of only a few people. If these people don't
breed and sell eggs or fry the species will be lost to the hobby. So
IMHO we get back to getting a Species Maintenance program going. We
need people to take ownership of the species they have.
By ownership I don't mean just keeping the fish in a tank. I mean
caring about the long term good of the species. Part of this means
spreading the fish to as many people as you can. Sell eggs, sell fry
or trade. Damn just give some eggs away to other people. Who makes a
profit in this hobby anyhow? If I'm lucky I may have one month a year
where I don't spend more than I take in with my fish. I bet most folks
are in the same boat. This ain't about money folks its about a love
for the fish. Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with making a
few dollars to cover expenses, but is making money why we keep fish?
Hopefully as the Species Maintenance program grows we'll have more
people willing to make fish and eggs available. Too few people do this
at present and that's why fish disappear, nobody can get them. We
can't expect the half a dozen people listing fish and eggs in America
to supply the whole country. For all you folks that only have one or
two species you can get to spawn, list that one or two fish. You don't
need a list of a dozen species to be accepted in any publication. If
you really like a species and plan on keeping them over the long term
get in touch with me a join the program. You are a resource this hobby
needs, and thats a person with the species. It doesn't matter if you
feel you're just a newbie and learning, we're all still learning.
Don't feel intimidated by big fish rooms and large species counts,
there is still more unknown about these fish than know. Just look at
some of the problems that never have a conclusion in this mail list.
well off my soap box for now
Cary Hostrawser
My Rainbowfish Home Page
http://pw2.netcom.com/~caryho/home.html
Rainbowfish Study Group Web Page
http://home.stlnet.com/~gwlange/rainbowfish.index.html