Club members go on fish buying trip
Last weekend the members of Kirkcaldy Aquarist Society travelled hundreds of miles to buy unusual fish at some of the country's top specialist fish shops.
Club member Mike Dewar told PFK that the group hired a coach and left Scotland in the early hours of the morning so they could take in a number of shops on the trip.
Says Mike: "As a club we have various levels of knowledge and fish requirements, so when it comes to trips we try to get to large outlets, like BAS and specialist catfish shops like Pier Aquatics. And Sid at North Lakes Aquatics in Penrith has such a varied stock that we would be daft to miss him!
"Scotland is a small country, so we generally have less fish and less choice. Also most of the shops that can be reached at the weekends by car, so the members can always visit our shops in small groups. This trip allows a larger group of members to go together, outside club nights, and makes for a very good social event."
What they bought
The members picked up loads of unusual Betta species, like this enisae.
Mike told us that the members managed to pick up a great selection of fish, including: Nannostomus mortenhaleri, Crenuchus spilurus, Betta pi, Betta persephone, Betta tussyae, Betta enisae, Brochis multiradiatus, Corydoras concolor, Corydoras armatus, Corydoras sp. C121, Aspidoras sp. C125, the Zebra otocinclus (Otocinclus cocama), Osteobrama neili, Puntius ashmeadi, Puntius dorsalis, Puntius narayani, Puntius punjabensis, Neolamprologus occelatus, Altolamprologus calvus, Neolamprologus meleagris, three species of unidentified characins, four unidentied species of Danio, various L-number plecs, Pyrrhulina and some Hyalobagrus flavus (formerly Pelteobagrus ornatus).
Regular eventsThe Society has lots of small trips in cars and mini buses throughout the year, but they also make this big outing to England's bigger specialist stores once each year.
Mike says: "We always try and visit local shops and Deep Sea Worlds as club meeting nights, but we have also had several trips to Wholesale Tropicals in London. Terry at Wholesale Tropicals has always been very good to our club.
"The Yorkshire area is always a good hunting ground for the small specialist shops like Rainbow Aquatics in Mexburgh, Frisby Aquatics in Hull and KKC in Hessle, to name but a few."
Fancy going along?If you fancy going on one of the club's excursions, why not considering joining the club? It's a very active group and 30-35 people go to every weekly meeting.
Mike told us: "We are always looking for more members. Anybody with an interest in fishkeeping, whatever their knowledge, will be made very welcome. We are a very warm and friendly club with novice to experienced members.
"We meet every Monday night of the year in our own premises and we hold table shows every six weeks, with usually 50-70 entries in every show."
Kirkcaldy Aquarist Society meets at 21 Junction Road, Kirkcaldy. Doors open at 7.30pm and meetings start at 8.00pm. For further information contact Mike or Jill on 01592 757089 and leave a message on the answering machine, or call Joe on 01592 782964.