| TROPICAL FISH COLLECTING |
| Dawn on the Amazon, 2005. All rights reserved. |
| Picture yourself standing on a sand bar by a small stream in the middle of the Amazon rainforest lifting a net full of shiny, splashing, tropical fish. This could be one of your most satisfying adventures. Imagine relaxing in front of your aquariums, sharing the story with your friends and family of how you |
| personally collected your tropical fish, with a little guidance from the expert crew of Dawn on the Amazon. The upper Amazon watershed near Iquitos Peru, provides over 420 species of ornamental fish to choose from, including 7 of the most popular aquarium species, and dozens of rare species. Depending on conditions, and how hard you want to work, it is possible to collect between 50 and 150 species on an eight day expedition. Of course we do not keep all of them. You choose the most interesting perfect specimens for your aquariums, the rest are photographed and released. |
| My personal favorites are the red spotted green discus, angelfish, cardinal tetra and neon tetra, Apistogrammas, and leaf fish, but if you let me know in advance which species you desire the most, we will try to find them. I recently learned some new techniques for |
| catching popular ornamental fish when the water is too high. I do not want to give my secret away on the internet, but will be proud to show you in person. Before you send me a mean email, I would never use barbasco, rotenone, or any other illegal method of collecting. The most productive time to collect tropical fish is when the water is low, usually in June, July, August, September and October. These months have the least rainfall and the coolest temperatures, and are also the best time to fish for peacock bass, piranha, arowana, wolf fish, oscars, 50 kinds of Peruvian cichlids, red tailed catfish, and the many other sport fish. Dawn on the Amazon is the only tour company licensed to export aquarium fish from Iquitos. Unlike other tour companies selling tours to collect aquarium fish, our price includes the customs fees and paper work involved in getting your prize jewels back to your personal aquariums. There are no hidden costs. We oxygenate the water, package them carefully in plastic fish bags, place them in plastic coolers and you should not have to worry about them for 60 hours. Should your travel time take more than 2 ½ days we can advise you on how to take care of them. If you are passionate about your aquarium, please join with Dawn on the Amazon for a fascinating voyage on our safe, comfortable river boat, Dawn on the Amazon III, to some of the most exotic, biodiverse areas on earth. We will use our small boats and canoes to access the small streams and lakes that will provide us with our most memorable experiences. You can customize your tour to best suit your energy level or goals. There are many options available, including using Dawn on the Amazon I for half the price of Dawn III. |
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| Tropical Fish Collecting You can collect your own tropical fish and have a great story to tell when you get back home. Visit this link to see some of Dawn on the Amazon's photos from past cruises. |