RAS auction day is here!!!!!

[Oxquo]

I am burnt, spent the whole night moving and setting up tanks. I am psyched for the new arrivals whatever they may be, Never been to a Regina auction but they seem to have good ideas. I really liked the one rule where if the price starts at 2 dollars and no one bids it gets reduced to 1 dollar and the first hand owns it. Of course reserve bids are frequent out here and that often gets to me. should be the same rule. If no one bids past the reserve the seller should just take it, never mind asking him if he wants to lower his bid, He set the reserve now he keeps the fish. Anyways I'll let everyone know how it goes. Last time at SAS africans went for dirt cheap as they should and the few SA's were way up there, bad for me but nice to see. Hopefully killies show up this time as well.

[Oxquo]

The auction was awesome and one of the best I have been to in Canada so far. The quick sale format worked amazingly and very few fish went down to a dollar to the first bidder. Alot of the bags, some members and some non-members though should have had fish rebagged, I think the club and the sellers benefit from this as I could hardly see buying a bag of fish that is more than half deflated with 100% water and gasping fish. Once again the damndest thing happened, a crazy little castle statue with a shark attached to it sold for $22.00, java fern $12.00 holy smack and tiger val, catch this, I am serious, from $8.00- $15.00 a bag. Serious I am not kidding. There were a few items I didn't get that I really wanted, 2 american toads, like the big assed bullfrogs that had just lost their tails, man they would have been cool. I also missed the bucktoothed tetras but Petland had them for $5.35 each if You bought 5 with a membership so I may get them after all. What a price for angels, I didn't sell at this one but I should have sold My gold breeding pair. The bad news was killies, I only managed to get 2 bags of the same, Notho Guentheri not sure of location but looks like Zanzibar. Nice bags too of 5 and 6 each.

I got My syno multis, 2 per bag damn I hate that!!! Got all three bags though for $58.00 combined

S. Fryeri 2 bags and 8 fish for $29.00

Killis $12.00 and $11.00 so $23.00 for a crapload of cute killies.

A massive bag of Bacopa carolinia for $14.00, I have to flower this guy outside next year, have to.

5 nice blue rams 2 males 3 females for $26.00, Wish I could have gotten Homers fish.

1lb of Hikari blood worms $12.00 can't complain there.

Once again, no grindals, whiteworms, Aphyosemions at all. Some beautiful Carpinte cichlid fry though, wish I had more space. There was alot of lots and a tonne of tanks including a 600 ish gallon terrarium, would have been perfect if I could have gotten the frogs, But I think I will build one similar. A 65 gallon homemade but brand new and excellent tank went for $62.00 damn I need a trailer. Great raffle prizes too. A slick 55 gallon in an oak stand and canopy with drawers and doors, wish it were mine.

I did pick up a fish towel with the RAS logo and Cories on it for $5.00, the se are sooo cool every club should have them. What a blast and what an excellent group of people there. It was so organised and quick I was almost too late plenty of times.

Met some very cool people and set up a shot at swapping some S.multipunctatus fry for S. Petricola fry. Over all I have to rate this clubs auctions high on My things to do in spring list. There was so many tropica plants there I could have started a nursery and I have never seen so many donation items to a club. I may even buy a RAS membership along with My SAS just to show My support for such a great group of aquarists. If You ever have the chance it is well worth the trip, even if just to sell your fish. The no hesitation policy made people bid quickly and competetively as an auction should be. I paid more for fish than i did at SAS but for the Record I got alot of good stuff and a towel for under $200.00. I also got a big @$$ Hybrid parrot, but I only wanted the pail, JK. I am sure he will look fine in a service tank somewhere.

I was worried about the last second call on items that didn't sell for $2.00 but it actually brought the prices up and even hornwort beat the $2.00 minimum. Crazy times, time to go unpack.....

[Toirtis]

Sounds nice....what killies did you get?

[Oxquo]

They are all Notho Guentheri zanzibar so I am pretty pleased. I was also thinking that a person could charge at the auction for fish identification. I even saw bags labelled "Cichlid". As for killies, they are young and already a stunning color. I will try and get pics but it's not My strong point. I did manage to lose 1 S. Fryeri female on the trip home but it was my fault for not bringing extra bags as there was 5 good sized fish in one bag. Along with the unpacking came hatching of My Aphyosemion Marginatum eggs. It all comes at once. I am getting a little tired of driving 3.5 - 5 hours for one species of killies. Tried to contact the CKA but their website is really bad and contacts don't respond even though email sends. Hard to renew at this rate.

I guess I truly looked at the auction in different eyes today and learnt a few things to add to what I already have learned.

Selling....

-Bag fish properly they sell for more even, never more than a 1/3rd of water and 2/3 air, don't feed before auction 24 hrs minimum is My general rule. Also this can make them eat better and quicker in their new owners tanks as You may not be feeding the same food.

-More fish per bag attracts more attention but have big enough bags or multi bag a lot. Fish that live as trios are good sold as trios, shoals as shoals and pairs as pairs.

- Labelling is super important!!! Fish often share common names along with scientific names in part. There is even a killi named dovii and electric blue isn't there atleast 3 now? With labels give as much info as possible. When listing fish such as killi's how many forms of gardneri is there??? I have owned 6 so far.

- When selling fry, adding a pic of Your spawning adults gives a better idea than Herbert Axelrods. Adding age, number and even pH can help a tonne. I pail every bag and test before I match unless they are close in water.(same city, tap water) Sex is doubly important.... Imagine buying someones complete collection of male discus or say a same sex group of Zebra plecos?

-Those who often sell crap under the same number will eventually sell nothing. Don't need to give Your best but this is a chance to show off to Your fellow aquarists outside of the fishroom. At auctions fish are stressed, should they show half good color, I am twice as likely to give You My money.

-Females who are holding or that have fry in the bag sell for insane prices. today 3 pineapple swords of one which dies and one which gave birth to about 20 fry sold for $18.00. People looked past the dead fish somehow.

-If You aren't Spencer Jack selling cichlids or Bill Bishopp selling killies, list it on the bag that these men blessed Your fish before the auction or atleast touched Your fish in some sort of mental fish telepathy way, Your fish will double in price. Better Yet, Change your name to Jef Raps and sell your fish for more money..." I know it's Jeff Rapps, but that would be border line wrong now wouldn't it?"

Buying....

- Its often hard to refuse impulse urges like damn I never knew they'd have these. Paying more than store price is not a bad thing if the quality is there. Try to picture in Your head where You might put them and what You might pay for them in the store. Example: Bacopia caroliniana, I can place it in it's natural habitat and still likely kill it, but My drive to make it flower for 15 years + now means I will buy it until it is extinct in the wild, JK. I am giving it a 33 gallon all to itself, half day of sun and halogens up the hoo haa. It will not flower, I know this, if it should live until Spring, I will put it in the pond. when it flowers, I will quickly put it into a tank and lie to You all saying that it happened in the Aquarium. Strangely the aquarium is resting on the rocks on the side of My pond but that means nothing with todays trick photoshop programs. The point is that I had a space in Mind and a use for the space should the plant die before spring. I know the plant and that I have killed it for years trying to get one damn flower. Should it flower, I will get rid of it and never look at it again except in that cocky Hahahahaha I beat You stupid plant, then I will move on to killing more Madagascar lace plants, they will have the choice to propogate by seed or go extinct but i will give them the option.

- Read the labels, look at the packaging. Does a bag full of water and gasping fish show that these fish are a good purchase? Wrong labelling, wrong species, quality and color, know what You are buying and what it should look like. Fry are often cheapest but adults are in mature color and less risk most of the time.

- dont be afraid to ask questions but ask them during viewing not during the auction, We all have fish to unpack and have been up to the wee hours trying to catch that damn horseface laoch in that planted....Ex-planted tank. People there will normally offer any advice they can or direct You to the one who listed them.

- Be visible, be clear and be polite, it gets good response. You may even make valuable contacts this way.

- Lastly, don't get mad at the guy who buys all the killi's, just ask him about future fry, You will likely get a better deal with patience and a short wait.

- Good volunteers make an auction better. It is okay to point out tips to run smooth at the next auction even if you are a visitor, it is even better to commend all those who made it all happen. A club that steps it up and makes You one of them and goes the extra mile for You deserves to hear about it as do others who may visit their next auction. I will be returning to the next RAS auction and Sending an email to the group to express what a great job they all did. I also thought the "below $2.00 is a club donation and first hand at $1.00 wins would be bad, Man was I wrong. It sped things up incredibly and fewer items sold for under $2.00 this way. People wouldn't just wait for it to be handed to them as they could lose the auction alltogether. I would say that of over 600 items, 2-3 sold for $1.00 unlike other auctions I have been to where 20-30 sometimes sell in the $1.00 - $2.00 range. Like I said, even hornwort hit, no lower than $3.00.

[jvision]

I'm inspired to make a road-trip in the spring! :thumbs:

[Oxquo]

I guarantee there will be more than 1 type of killi there in the spring. The fishroom is getting back up slowly, it at 523 gallons now so a few more auctions and the others can get set up. feels good. It is always good to visit other auctions, it is very important to support Your own though first and foremost. Chances are though that any fish in Your home auction You have access to year round, this is a good chance to see what everyone else is keeping. There was a pile of discus that sold for good prices, but I resisted. Like I said, I have never seen so many donations and wonder how many hours they spent to get that. We actually visited Petland before the auction and browsed the fish while picking up some Prime. 2 people asked me if I was checking out the auction and suggested I looked there first. That is good community support along with their 4 boxes full of plant and fish donations. Definitely check it out even if just for the experience.... Next step.... American Killifish auction.... Hell Yeah, time to cash in those RRSP's.