Tropical Fish/plant Shops And Farms?

[NYCbirdie]

Hello,

I'm visiting Thailand in June and will be in Bangkok and Phuket. I keep planted tanks and am very interested in seeing some tropical fish/aquatic plant shops and farms.

I know of the Chatuchak (sp?) market and was told that the aquarium/fish shops are open all week, so it was worth looking at even if I didn't go on a weekend.

Can anyone suggest more options in or around Bangkok and Phuket?

Does anyone know of any restrictions regarding the shipment of tropical aquatic plants to the US from Thailand?

Thanks!

[jaiyenyen]

Hi NYCbirdy,

I live in Bangkok (originally UK).

Yes, the Chatuchak (fish section) is open all week and very much worth a look as there is a great variety on offer. I have found another aquatic market in an area to the north of the city, don't know what it's called but it's only 30 mins from my home. It was pretty good but not as big as Chatuchak (JJ).

I keep two Flowerhorns, and I bought them at a small local shop which was much cheaper than the markets.

Sorry, I can't help you with the plant info, maybe you should try a Thai government fisheries site?

I would be happy to show you around the markets when you get here, just let me know.

Regards

Jaiyenyen

[burman]

Plenty of plant shops in Chatchuk market now, you can get specialist co2 units, ADA substrates, halide lighting units etc. It's all there. Not a great variety of plants though to be honest.

A search on google will bring you into contact with local fish/plant farms around Bangkok. Alternatively ask one of the shop owners at the market for their whereabouts.

[NYCbirdie]

Thanks everyone for the replies so far. Does anyone know of any sights that would be of interest to an aquarium hobbyist in Phuket? All internet searches lead to the Phuket Aquarium (which I saw on my last visit to Thailand).

Thanks again!

[LaoPo]

Hello,

I'm visiting Thailand in June and will be in Bangkok and Phuket. I keep planted tanks and am very interested in seeing some tropical fish/aquatic plant shops and farms.

I know of the Chatuchak (sp?) market and was told that the aquarium/fish shops are open all week, so it was worth looking at even if I didn't go on a weekend.

Can anyone suggest more options in or around Bangkok and Phuket?

Does anyone know of any restrictions regarding the shipment of tropical aquatic plants to the US from Thailand?

Thanks!

Heng, a member here, is in the business you're talking about. If I'm correct he's Thai/American....or American/Thai....

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showuser=4530

LaoPo

[burman]

Thanks everyone for the replies so far. Does anyone know of any sights that would be of interest to an aquarium hobbyist in Phuket? All internet searches lead to the Phuket Aquarium (which I saw on my last visit to Thailand).

Thanks again!

Grab a snorkel and flippers.

Or another note I didn't know Heng was in the aquarium plant export business. It's something I had a mind to get into when I came to Thailand, but with fish not plants.

[Heng]

Just PM'ed the OP. And Burman actually we do fresh cut flowers, aquatic plants, and pet fish export: to give you some idea... on any typical flight going out Bangkok, a good 50-70% is fresh fruit, flowers/plants, and live fish. Not a huge forex earner for Thailand like say rice, but in the modestly healthy low hundred $ millions. Just capturing .001% of the market like I have and I'd say it's more than worthwhile. It also happens to be a business sector that they heavily promote (with virtually no red tape). The Dept. of Agriculture (from whom you'll need a few certs./licenses) are super helpful and are quick to rubber stamp your product on its way.

[NYCbirdie]

Thanks!

I was in Phuket briefly last year and the ocean life was really really memorable.

I suppose I'm on the search for some new additions to my aquascape here at home (I keep a planted S.E. Asia themed tank: sidthimunki loaches, siamese algae eaters, shrimp, gouramis). They say NYC has everything, but the tropical fish shops/freshwater plant varieties around here are awful expensive and sort of suck! I do a lot of mail ordering and was hoping to cut out a few middle men by just shipping plants to myself directly from Thailand.

Thanks everyone for the replies so far. Does anyone know of any sights that would be of interest to an aquarium hobbyist in Phuket? All internet searches lead to the Phuket Aquarium (which I saw on my last visit to Thailand).

Thanks again!

Grab a snorkel and flippers.

Or another note I didn't know Heng was in the aquarium plant export business. It's something I had a mind to get into when I came to Thailand, but with fish not plants.

[burman]

I suppose I'm on the search for some new additions to my aquascape here at home (I keep a planted S.E. Asia themed tank: sidthimunki loaches, siamese algae eaters, shrimp, gouramis). They say NYC has everything, but the tropical fish shops/freshwater plant varieties around here are awful expensive and sort of suck! I do a lot of mail ordering and was hoping to cut out a few middle men by just shipping plants to myself directly from Thailand.

I had a lovely group of Sidthimunkis many years ago back in the UK. I was thinking of making a very Thai themed tank here (already keep 5 ruby sharks together) and go out and catch a few wild gouramis and whatever else I could find myself.

In chatachuk you'll often find some unusual fish but I never found the wide variety that you could in the UK. I would guess a walk round the market will bring you into contact with only about 5-6 species of gouramis for example. On the other hand you can find some very nice rasboras and danios from Burma at a good price.

They'll certainly be some treats for you to find their though just take a good look around.

Heng, thanks very much for that information. I also think that a purely export company can be 100% foreign owned though maybe I am wrong.

Have you ever considered live coral export? Not the hard corals, but soft corals as I think hard corals are illegal to export. I often wondered if it was a feasible idea (for someone with a lot of cash!) to rent/but some ocean floor space and propogate live coral for export.

Kind of like this..

The reason I always thought of doing this business is because my friend had quite a few connections years ago with TMC (a large coral and marine fish importer, perhaps you have heard of them) and a few other importers as well as several retail outlets.

[colino]

Talad Thai at Rangsit wholesale as well as selling to Joe public

colino

[Ieyuhrah]

Do not even think about trying to hand carry plants back. Go to the USDA site and tatoo the regs onto your brain. You may be able to have a commercial source send then to you but with aquatic plants, you may have a high mortality rate because of possible quarantine delays. The problem with aquatic plants is not only the plants themselves but the water/'soil' with them. Unless you are a serious conneseur, the cost & hassle may be more than you will want to mess with. Do not even dream of bringing them in 'undocumented'. No statute of limitations to my knowledge and really bad consequences. Give this a lot of thought & planning!!!!! Good luck & plan some more. [My last experience was with CITES Class 1-2 orchid species. All totally legal & documented but still had a hassle at LAX I had not fully planned for.]

[NYCbirdie]

I understand the complexities of formally importing live plants. But the idea got into my head after I had mail ordered a number of live plants that were shipped to me via airmail. The plants did not go through quarantine or come with any formal documentation. Perhaps this was all done in a not-so-legal manner and I should not do the same again!

Do not even think about trying to hand carry plants back. Go to the USDA site and tatoo the regs onto your brain. You may be able to have a commercial source send then to you but with aquatic plants, you may have a high mortality rate because of possible quarantine delays. The problem with aquatic plants is not only the plants themselves but the water/'soil' with them. Unless you are a serious conneseur, the cost & hassle may be more than you will want to mess with. Do not even dream of bringing them in 'undocumented'. No statute of limitations to my knowledge and really bad consequences. Give this a lot of thought & planning!!!!! Good luck & plan some more. [My last experience was with CITES Class 1-2 orchid species. All totally legal & documented but still had a hassle at LAX I had not fully planned for.]

[Ieyuhrah]

WOW, were they shipped directly to you from outside the US? I have purchased foreign plants before but they always went through a broker (bulk shipments which were then re-mailed to the customers after arrival). The only way that I have seen plants come in unquestioned is in sterile culture medium (seedlings or tissue culture). Were those aquatics that you received? Maybe they have different regs now but the last time I inquired they were tougher with anything water related. But, you do have me wondering how they import salt water & other tropical fish given travel constraints (time, O2, & temp.). Then again, I have mainly worked with orchids, ferns, & carnivores.......

[NYCbirdie]

Yes, they were shipped directly and yes they were aquatics. I don't believe that they were "sterile culture medium" grown, since their roots had soil residue. Perhaps all the customs work was done in Thailand? I'm not sure!

The regulations for fish seem to be rather different, I've received tropical fish imported directly from Thailand and that was a slightly more complicated process in that they had to be shipped to a transhipper in the US who handles all customs work in a fairly quick time. My local fish shop receives most of their fish stock from Asia and I guess the procedure is similar.

[burman]

Fish shops in the UK often import fish direct from Asia. Plants would come from a large supplier in Holland so I assume the paperwork was taken care of there.

Edited May 7, 2008 by burman