The aFISHionados

10/22/2025

Good morning,

New Items are listed in red on the list. You can view our latest stock list on our website.

Highlights of the newest arrivals are;

▪ The continuation of a bonanza of Corydoras species continue with many more added to the list again.
▪ Adonis plecos
▪ Black snouted whiptail catfish
▪ Vampire otos - Nannoptopoma sternoptychum (Say that one 3 times fast!)
▪ Flash plecos - L204
▪ Orange and Red laser corys
▪ Some of Northfin foods have been restocked as they restart in a new location
We almost are done sorting the driftwood and rock. I anticipate it will be on the list shortly.

Some of you may have noticed the Fishmas counter has started counting down on the website. It is by far our most favorite time of the year! This year we have added to the fun but here are the important dates...

Fishmas will run December 13, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23 and 26 in the warehouse. We will not be holding sales beyond the 26th this year. If you are to attend any of the Fishmas days December 13th would be the day as we open up with food stations throughout the warehouse once more. As well....

The next gathering of the DFO is now set for Saturday, December 13th 5PM

Art Parola - Tampa, Florida -
Expedition Honduras

Art spent much of his childhood covered in mud and creek water, chasing every critter that crawled, slithered, or swam with a butterfly net, and trying to identify them with his collection of field guides. This led him to a career focused on animal welfare, sustainable development, and conservation, particularly through sustainable use policy initiatives. Art is now an attorney for the United States Association of Reptile Keepers (USARK), Legislative and Policy Advisor for Project Piaba, and an Advisory Board member for NAIA, where he leads the CITES Engagement Program. Art’s childhood love for animals and nature has not abated, though he now usually carries a camera instead of a net. His writing and photographs have appeared in numerous online articles, as well as in print publications in multiple countries around the world.

A Fishmas DFO gathering with the most elf..... I mean the shortest hobbyist I know! A match made in heaven! Tickets will be 30.00 for this event including the speaker, dinner and more! (Our deepest sales often are after DFO hours for attendees)

We are committed to not only getting hobbyists together to share their love of fish but bringing in to Winnipeg the best minds in the hobby from around the world. As with this hobby you are never done learning.

Next up we are anticipating plants to arrive

Spencer

Spence's 50th Birthday Weekend!

February 14/15, 2026

Hans Georg Evers
Hamburg, Germany
Hans is the founding editor of the Amazonas magazine. Hans is a world renowned expert in plecos, rainbow fish, corys among many others. He is also a renowned birder... This will be his second visit to Winnipeg and first in 11 years.

Ad Konings
El Paso, Texas
Ad has always been Spence's idol in fish keeping. Many of his first fish books were that of Ad's. Ad is the world expert on Rift Lake cichlids. While lately he has lost his way and become a birder he is coming out of semi retirement on fish talks for this one event and we cannot be more excited for it. Ad has written dozens of books on cichlids and hundreds of articles. This will be Ad's fourth trip to Winnipeg and first in 13 years.

Spencer Jack
Resident fish pimp.
Spencer will be giving a brand new talk at this event for the first time. A rare time for him to be speaking at home. As a good friend said so wonderfully... "The ginger always tastes better away from home!"

Lee Newman
Port Coquitlam, British Colombia.
Another personal favorite of Spencer's and our token ginger for diversity on the weekend! A world expert on Geophagus species among many more South American species. He has not quite yet started birding but with his recent retirement I am certain it will be any day now... This will be Lee's I believe 5th trip to Winnipeg.

Tickets for this weekend's events will be 100.00. We will be spending every last penny on the event to make as memorable of a weekend as possible for those in attendance. As space will be very limited we will require either full payment or a down payment of 50.00 to hold your spot. If ever you wanted to travel to Winnipeg to see the warehouse this would definitely be the best event for it. (We have passed 70% committed). Any questions do not hesitate to ask!

See Spence Live!

Saturday, June 27th - The American Cichlid Association - Lexington, KY

10/17/2025

Good evening,

New Items are listed in red on the list. You can view our latest stock list on our website.

Highlights of the newest arrivals are;

▪ A good number of Corydoras species as we finally are starting to see availability after a number of river systems were in high water for much longer then normal this summer
▪ Bucktooth tetras - Exodon paradoxus
▪ Nice sized L330 - Water melon plecos
▪ L327 - Eggspot bristlenose
▪ Buccochromis rhoadessi - probably my favorite of all Lake Malawi predatory haps
▪ Nice sized Chalinochromis brichardi
▪ Nice sized false rummy nose tetras
▪ Cowboy whiptails
We have also received the latest shipment of driftwood. We will add it to the list in the coming days but will take us some time to tear that order apart and stage it.

A reminder starting tomorrow the warehouse is now open Friday's 12-5PM for the winter months.

Next up we are anticipating South American fish.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask!

Spencer

Spence's 50th Birthday Weekend!

February 14/15, 2026

As promised on previous emails I will keep unveiling speakers for the big weekend including another one now below!

Hans Georg Evers
Hamburg, Germany
Hans is the founding editor of the Amazonas magazine. Hans is a world renowned expert in plecos, rainbow fish, corys among many others. He is also a renowned birder... This will be his second visit to Winnipeg and first in 11 years.

Ad Konings
El Paso, Texas
Ad has always been Spence's idol in fish keeping. Many of his first fish books were that of Ad's. Ad is the world expert on Rift Lake cichlids. While lately he has lost his way and become a birder he is coming out of semi retirement on fish talks for this one event and we cannot be more excited for it. Ad has written dozens of books on cichlids and hundreds of articles. This will be Ad's fourth trip to Winnipeg and first in 13 years.

Spencer Jack
Resident fish pimp.
Spencer will be giving a brand new talk at this event for the first time. A rare time for him to be speaking at home. As a good friend said so wonderfully... "The ginger always tastes better away from home!"

Lee Newman
Port Coquitlam, British Colombia.
Another personal favorite of Spencer's and our token ginger for diversity on the weekend! A world expert on Geophagus species among many more South American species. He has not quite yet started birding but with his recent retirement I am certain it will be any day now... This will be Lee's I believe 5th trip to Winnipeg.

Tickets for this weekend's events will be 100.00. We will be spending every last penny on the event to make as memorable of a weekend as possible for those in attendance. As space will be very limited we will require either full payment or a down payment of 50.00 to hold your spot. If ever you wanted to travel to Winnipeg to see the warehouse this would definitely be the best event for it. (We have passed 70% committed). Any questions do not hesitate to ask!

See Spence Live!

Saturday, June 27th - The American Cichlid Association - Lexington, KY

10/11/2025

Good morning,

New Items are listed in red on the list. You can view our latest stock list on our website.

Highlights of the newest arrivals are;

▪ A number of very nice Malawi peacock males in color. Lwanda and blue regal are especially nice sized
▪ Nice sized threadfin rainbows
▪ Bit upsized Mpimbwe blue frontosa for what normally would have
▪ Black rams once again
▪ Nice sized Honduran red points. Same family as convicts but way less productive and a much more calm peaceful fish
▪ Nice sized Glossolepis wanamensis
▪ Nice sized forktail rainbows

A reminder once more starting next week we will be opening the warehouse on Fridays 12-5PM for the winter months. All other days will remain the same for walk in hours, just the additional 5 hours on Friday to take note of. We are of course available for appointments outside of our regular hours for orders of 300.00 and up at a mutually decided time if you wish to have the whole place to yourself!

For those in the Calgary area I will be speaking at their local fish club on Tuesday, October 14th and will be bringing fish with me. Those wanting to order live you can now give us orders and we will hold for Tuesday evening event. Shipping and box charges will be free to the event, but obviously must be attending the meeting to receive the fish.

Next up we are anticipating South American fish, driftwood and rocks!

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask!

Spencer

Spence's 50th Birthday Weekend!

February 14/15, 2026

As mentioned previously will be adding additional speakers to the DFO gathering next year for my 50th Birthday. I will try to add additional speakers to the list as we go. The first one is below being a rather obvious one...

Hans Georg Evers
Hamburg, Germany
Hans is the founding editor of the Amazonas magazine. Hans is a world renowned expert in plecos, rainbow fish, corys among many others. He is also a renowned birder... This will be his second visit to Winnipeg and first in 11 years.

Ad Konings
El Paso, Texas
Ad has always been Spence's idol in fish keeping. Many of his first fish books were that of Ad's. Ad is the world expert on Rift Lake cichlids. While lately he has lost his way and become a birder he is coming out of semi retirement on fish talks for this one event and we cannot be more excited for it. Ad has written dozens of books on cichlids and hundreds of articles. This will be Ad's fourth trip to Winnipeg and first in 13 years.

Spencer Jack
Resident fish pimp
Spencer will be giving a brand new talk at this event for the first time. A rare time for him to be speaking at home. As a good friend said so wonderfully... "The ginger always tastes better away from home!"

Tickets for this weekend's events will be 100.00. We will be spending every last penny on the event to make as memorable of a weekend as possible for those in attendance. As space will be very limited we will require either full payment or a down payment of 50.00 to hold your spot. If ever you wanted to travel to Winnipeg to see the warehouse this would definitely be the best event for it. (We have passed half committed). Any questions do not hesitate to ask!

See Spence Live!

Tuesday October 14th - Calgary Aquarium Society

Saturday, June 27th - The American Cichlid Association - Lexington, KY

Send a message to learn more

10/07/2025

Good Afternoon,

New Items are listed in red on the list. You can view our latest stock list on our website.

Highlights of the newest arrivals are;

▪ Geophagus sveni - the most stunning of all the Geophagus
▪ More of the incredible Trichromis salvini "Rio Tobasco". This time we have adults and young available
▪ Nice sized Cuban cichlids
▪ Hypostomus laplatae - The Uruguayan redfin pleco I brought back now some 17 years ago to the hobby. Without a doubt the best of the best for algae eaters. They handle almost any water you throw at them in a huge range of temperatures and will strip algae off of rough concrete their entire life. Have smaller ones for the first time since before covid as well
▪ Few species of killifish
▪ Pseudotropheus daktari which have not had in quite some time
▪ Latest plant shipment has arrived which has a number of nice sized Anubias as well as a new plant for us in Schismatoglottis prietoi (Say that fast three times)

A reminder once more Starting October 17th we will be opening the warehouse on Fridays 12-5PM for the winter months. All other days will remain the same for walk in hours, just the additional 5 hours on Friday to take note of. We are of course available for appointments outside of our regular hours for orders of 300.00 and up at a mutually decided time if you wish to have the whole place to yourself!

For those in the Calgary area I will be speaking at their local fish club on October 14th and will be bringing fish with me. Those wanting to order live a reminder that we will hold fish to bring from the availability on October 10th not prior to that and shipping will be free to the event. Obviously must be attending the meeting to receive the fish. (There will be much more fish on the list by this speaking date)

Next up we are anticipating South American fish, African cichlids and rainbow fish.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask!

Spencer

Spence's 50th Birthday Weekend!

February 14/15, 2026

As mentioned previously will be adding additional speakers to the DFO gathering next year for my 50th Birthday. I will start announcing them in the coming emails but a reminder of the headline speakers...

Hans Georg Evers
Hamburg, Germany
Hans is the founding editor of the Amazonas magazine. Hans is a world renowned expert in plecos, rainbow fish, corys among many others. He is also a renowned birder... This will be his second visit to Winnipeg and first in 11 years.

Ad Konings
El Paso, Texas
Ad has always been Spence's idol in fish keeping. Many of his first fish books were that of Ad's. Ad is the world expert on Rift Lake cichlids. While lately he has lost his way and become a birder he is coming out of semi retirement on fish talks for this one event and we cannot be more excited for it. Ad has written dozens of books on cichlids and hundreds of articles. This will be Ad's fourth trip to Winnipeg and first in 13 years.

Tickets for this weekend's events will be 100.00. We will be spending every last penny on the event to make as memorable of a weekend as possible for those in attendance. As space will be very limited we will require either full payment or a down payment of 50.00 to hold your spot. If ever you wanted to travel to Winnipeg to see the warehouse this would definitely be the best event for it. (We have passed half committed). Any questions do not hesitate to ask!

See Spence Live!

Tuesday October 14th - Calgary Aquarium Society

Saturday, June 27th - The American Cichlid Association - Lexington, KY

Send a message to learn more

09/27/2025

Good evening,

New Items are listed in red on the list. You can view our latest stock list on our website.

We definitely are feeling like we are back to full speed. Highlights of the new fish are;

▪ Very nice chameleon whiptails arrived
▪ The whole rainbow of glofish including for the first time in at least a year all the colors of glopristellas at once, and they are running a nice size as well
▪ Nice sized galaxy rasbora
▪ A number of Corydoras species including pygmies again
▪ Blue eye panaques at a more ideal size to work with!
▪ More upsized domestic rams and wild rams
▪ Wild blue umbies to complete the trifecta of all the colors of umbies in right now for our first time ever
▪ Ornate tetras, pretty now stunning as adults a really under appreciated tetra
▪ Nice sized tucan fish
▪ Nice sized Orinoco peacock bass
▪ Very nice marble headstanders

A reminder once more Starting October 17th we will be opening the warehouse on Fridays 12-5PM for the winter months. All other days will remain the same for walk in hours, just the additional 5 hours on Friday to take note of. We are of course available for appointments outside of our regular hours for orders of 300.00 and up at a mutually decided time if you wish to have the whole place to yourself!

For those in the Calgary area I will be speaking at their local fish club on October 14th and will be bringing fish with me. Those wanting to order live a reminder that we will hold fish to bring from the availability on October 10th not prior to that. As well you obviously must be at the meeting to receive the fish.

Next up we are anticipating plants to arrive next week.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask!

Spencer

See Spence Live!

Tuesday October 14th - Calgary Aquarium Society

Saturday, June 27th - The American Cichlid Association - Lexington, KY

09/20/2025

Good morning,

New Items are listed in red on the list. You can view our latest stock list on our website.

We definitely are feeling like we are back to full speed. Highlights of the new fish are;

▪ Some very nice L25 scarlet plecos
▪ Extremely nice Serrasalmus geryi - The violet line piranha. One of the few that actually can live together
▪ Pterygoplichthys parnaibae a cool sail fin pleco type that is a bit more striking then the normal ones
▪ L260 - Queen arabesque plecos a fantastic small pleco
▪ Nice condition L04 - Angelicus pleco (one of the most underrated of all plecos)
▪ An angelfish from Rio Mocajuba I have not had before
▪ Mesonauta acora - one of the cooler Festivum types when adults

Starting October 17th we will be opening the warehouse on Fridays 12-5PM for the winter months. All other days will remain the same for walk in hours, just the additional 5 hours on Friday to take note of. We are of course available for appointments outside of our regular hours for orders of 300.00 and up at a mutually decided time if you wish to have the whole place to yourself!

Next up we are anticipating another South American order and Glofish to arrive.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask!

Spencer

See Spence Live!

Tuesday October 14th - Calgary Aquarium Society

Saturday, June 27th - The American Cichlid Association - Lexington, KY

09/14/2025

Good evening,

New Items are listed in red on the list. You can view our latest stock list on our website.

Starting to get back to full speed here! New arrival highlights are;

▪ A number of Corydoras species including red and orange lasers
▪ Some livebearer species domestic and the cool one sided livebearer - Jenynsia onca
▪ Rusty Jelly Catfish
▪ Flash plecos L204
▪ Nice sized Papa Panaque - L90
▪ Swamp eels
▪ Rio Nanay angelfish - the prototypical angelfish in my mind
▪ Nice sized Nannostomus mortenthaleri - Red pencilfish
▪ Black and green umbies for those who adore cichlids with personalies equivalent to a dog
▪ Tiger knife fish
▪ Gymnogeophagus terrapurpura one of the nicest of the small Gymnogeophagus species.
▪ Blue tetras - Boehlkea frecochui
▪ Dragon blood peacocks, pretty much all male and coloring
Next up we are anticipating two more South American orders.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask!

Spencer

See Spence Live!

Tuesday October 14th - Calgary Aquarium Society

Saturday, June 27th - The American Cichlid Association - Lexington, KY

09/03/2025

Good morning,

New Items are listed in red on the list. You can view our latest stock list on our website.

We are finally back from our trip to South America and firing back up to full speed. We have received numerous orders this week, highlights of which are;

▪ A number of very nice sized rainbow fish, Millenium rainbows being the largest I would say
▪ A number of nice sized peacock males
▪ The latest plant shipment is in with a number of species running nice due to the time of year
▪ Upsized L191 - broken line royal plecos
▪ Nice L102
▪ Upsized black angelfish
▪ Upsized rams which are a bit of a rarity
▪ Very nice silver arowana
▪ Fully restocked on most of the glofish
▪ A number of geophagus
▪ Nice marble headstanders
▪ Fantastic sized Neolamprologus tretacephalus
▪ For the first time in a long time gold sexfasciatus
▪ Nice Tanganyikan gobies - Eretmodus cyaenostictus
▪ Exochromis anagenys - a fantastic predator from Lake Malawi

The latest Sera order has arrived as well. Next up we are anticipating 3 more South American imports this month to arrive.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask!

Spencer

See Spence Live!

Tuesday October 14th - Calgary Aquarium Society

Saturday, June 27th - The American Cichlid Association - Lexington, KY

Send a message to learn more

08/01/2025

Good afternoon,

New Items are listed in red on the list. You can view our latest stock list on our website.

Every now and then we have an order come in that even I have to google to get the names right! All sorts of first time offered by us fish within this one, so lets get right to it!

Highlights of the new arrivals are;

▪ Cichla mirinae - the fantastic Fogo Peacock bass, or in English... Fire peacock bass! At a great size and pounding food.
▪ Albino red head Geophagus pyrocephalus
▪ All sorts of new tetras including...
▪ A "Lemon" tetra from Brazil that is actually screaming orange even at the small size at the moment - Hyphessobrycon cf. pulchripinnis
▪ Hyphessobrycon peugeoti the fantastic peppermill tetras
▪ Inpaichthys parauapiranga - purple striped king tetras. A tetra that when grown almost looks more like a rainbow fish with colors then a tetra!
▪ A number of hillstream loach species
▪ Fantastic purple sailfin gudgeons
▪ Imperial flower loaches or Royal Clown loach. Lepbotia elongata a rare treat
▪ Devario interruptus which once was Barilus interuptus. Sorta like a minature trout in a danios body. Extremely active distinct fish
▪ Ospariichthys evolans (Long fin banded hill trout) and Zacco Platypus (Pale Beak) both very cool fish and fantastic centerpiece fish for midwater of the aquarium.
▪ Very nice sized Jiangxi golden loaches
▪ 3 more species of Rhinogobius. A group of fish I adore and not seen in Canada much if at all
▪ Very nice Chinese neon gold stripe sharks - Sarcocheilichthys parvus

We will be heading to South America in the middle of this month so we will have a small no shipping period coming up August 14-25th to keep in mind. We will move as many orders as possible before those dates, but if are planning to order try to not leave it to the last moment to make sure we get everything out before then. The warehouse will maintain regular hours through this period of time for walk ins. We will not have appointments available during this period of time as well.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask!

Spencer

See Spence Live!

Tuesday October 14th - Calgary Aquarium Society

Saturday, June 27th - The American Cichlid Association - Lexington, KY

07/09/2025

Good morning,

New Items are listed in red on the list. You can view our latest stock list on our website.

A quick note that I will be taking the hound running near Saskatoon on Friday, July 18th and with that I will be bringing orders for drop off along the way. Brandon anticipating around 11 AM, Regina ~2PM and Saskatoon around dinner time depending on stops with the hounds.

Space is on a first come first serve basis and we will hold orders from now till then. Remember with the big van always think heavy things expensive to ship if wanting to really take advantage of the free shipping!

We are anticipating plants in next early next week.

Spencer

See Spence Live!

Tuesday October 14th - Calgary Aquarium Society
Saturday, June 27th - The American Cichlid Association - Lexington, KY

06/28/2025

Good afternoon,

New Items are listed in red on the list. You can view our latest stock list on our website.

We have updated the list with the new plants and a few more items.

A quick heads up incase it is not obvious we will be closed on Tuesday, July 1st for Canada Day. A reminder though that with our reduced summer hours we are still open for appointments of 300.00 and more. Please feel free to contact us directly to set up appointments outside of our regular hours. If not a fan of humans, or want the full attention of a 1 on 1 appointment we do suggest these.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask!

Happy Canada Day!

Spencer

See Spence Live!

Tuesday October 14th - Calgary Aquarium Society

06/20/2025

Good morning,

New Items are listed in red on the list. You can view our latest stock list on our website.

A number of new items have arrived, highlights of which are;

▪ Slate plecos
▪ Nice sized Chameleon whiptails
▪ Nice sized L191 - broken line royal plecos
▪ Large L177 - yellow seam gold nugget plecos
▪ Myloplus sauron - a true indication scientists have a sense of humor. The eye of sauron
▪ A new Hypostomus chrysostiktos
▪ Golden dorado
▪ Upsized flagtail prochilodus
▪ Smiling acara - Laetacara araguaiae
▪ Couple new tetras for us in Hyphessobrycon stegemanni and micropterus
▪ Aszul peacock bass

Plants are set to arrive early next week next.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask!

Spencer

See Spence Live!

Tuesday October 14th - Calgary Aquarium Society