Re: Welcome Back Mike

[Mike & Diane Wise <apistowise@bewellnet.com>]

Bob,

    My trip to Stavanger, Norway was fantastic!
The weather couldn't have been
better. I was told to expect it to be cool &
rainy, like the Pacific Northwest,
but the week I was there was sunny & cool.
Stavanger is the oil capital of
Norway. Norway is the 2nd largest exporter of oil
in the world, after Saudi
Arabia. Because of this Stavanger is a very
cosmopolitan city. Still gas was
NoK9.80/L (~$6.00/US gallon) so we American have
nothing to complain about in
that area. I stayed in a bed & breakfast (the
bridal suite - with my wife of
course) in the older part of the city. Breakfast
was Continental style - with
caviar. We spent most of our days walking through
Old Stavanger, looking in the
shops,  going to museums, & enjoying a boat ride
up the fjords.
    I got to visit some of their pet shops. The
pet shops were surprisingly
similar to those in the US. They had mostly the
same 'bread & butter' fish.
Most of the dwarf cichlids that I saw for sale
were commercially bred fish from
western & central Europe. I saw Hüser Red
Agassizi, Red Shoulder Macmasteri, A.
cacatuoides Double Red, A. gibbiceps, A. iniridae
(lots!), & A borellii (I may
have forgotten some). One difference that I saw
was that the most commonly sold
catfish was not Corydoras aneaus. Instead everyone
sold C. sterbai - a much
prettier fish. The shops have mostly the same
brands of equipment we have in
the US. Of course the tanks were metric. I was
particularly enthralled with a
brand from Denmark that had aluminum frames. I was
told that these tanks cost
about the same as all glass aquariums.
    My program was well received - all 2 hours of
it! There were aquarists who
traveled 5 hours by ferry & road to get there. Alf
Stalsberg even delayed a
trip to South America & flew into Stavanger for
the program. I hope it was
worth it. Alf is someone we should bring to the US
to give us programs on his
many collecting trips. This gentleman is very
knowledgeable & can TALK!
    An auction was held after my talk. It was
similar to the typical American fish club auction.
It had the general mix of fish & used equipment, &
books. I was lucky to buy a copy of "Die
Buntbarsche Amerikas, Band 1" for NoK150
(~$21.00). This was a steal & it was one of the
books I was hoping to buy while there. There are a
few Norwegian books in Norwegian & a few books
that have been translated into Norwegian, but most
of the books were in English. Actually, most of
the aquarium books used in Norway are the same as
we see in the US. The main difference that I saw
between US & the auction in Stavanger was how item
were purchased. At every US auction I have been to
the buyer pays at the end of the auction. In
Stavanger you paid for each bag as it was
auctioned off. At least there was no 'bidder's
shock' at the end of the auction.
    The members of the local fish club (Jæren
Akvarienklubb) were wonderful
hosts! I was treated like a king. Diane & I were
invited to members' homes for
dinner & viewing their aquariums. Language was no
problem at all. Almost
everyone can speak English. Popular fish among the
members were South American
cichlids, large & small, and wild types of
livebearers. Malawi Peacocks & some
Tanganican cichlids were more popular than Mbunas.
I did see 2 species that I
wished that I could bring home with me. One is the
rarely available A. sp. Rio
Preto do Candeias. This species came into the
hobby, in low number in both the
US & Europe, about 3-4 years ago & quickly
disappeared. The Stavanger crew has
kept the species breeding while it has disappeared
everywhere else, it seems.
The other fish is Nannacara sp. Essequibo. This
fish has features somewhere
between N. anomala & N. taenia. This is an
undescribed species, originally
collected by Scandinavian aquarists in Guyana
about 5 years ago. As far as I
know it is not found in the hobby anywhere else.
They have been keeping it all
this time - and they had tanks full of adults
waiting to be moved! Most of
their rarer species, it seems, come from specimens
brought back from collecting
trips by the members.
    The Jæren members have major problems getting
wild & unusual fish. They
have found it almost impossible to find anyone who
can supply wild caught fish
in lots of 10- 20 fish. It's hard to justify
buying box lots of rarer species
in a country of 4 million. Right now they are
looking for anyone who is willing
to sell small lots of species, at 2 - 4 boxes per
order. If any North American
or European sellers are interested in selling fish
to them, please let me know
& I'll forward your email address to them.

Mike Wise

Bob Wiltshire wrote:

> Mike,
>
> How was the trip? Did you see any new fish? What's the
> state of the hobby there?
>
> Mostly just lurking on the list but paying attention.
>
> Bob Wiltshire
>
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