Reminder - the HAS Fall auction is

[Rico]

i was looking for CA/SA cichlids. the only thing i saw was nicaraguensis. i should have brought all my trimacs but then again since the fish i keep are not as popular they wouldnt have gotten that much action. i think i might drive up for the TCA workshop in Oct.

[marauder_77868]

You'll see maybe a few more CA/SA in Dallas, maybe not. You just never know. I can tell you for sure that there are always a LOT of peacocks and haplochromines in Dallas...at least every auction for the last six or seven years. You might see more CA/SA at the Oklahoma event in October....

[Rico]

wish i could make it to the OK meet but thats not possible. i also want to meet don conkel which the main reason why I already booked a 2 night stay at the Inn its being held at.

[newb]

so does anybody know where the tropheus chimba fry came from? I almost bought some but decided not to.

[Darbex]

There were a lot of items and some good prices on them. The thing with either the HAS or GHAC auctions is that most fish tend to be Malawi. Since I dont have those anymore I generally go to say hi to friends and find some gems that I need like plants and food and the occassional fish that will work in my tanks. But when I had Malawis this would have been an excellent auction. Some auctions will have really good stuff. I remember an HAS auction that was filled with Discus pairs and another had more rare African cichlids and SA/CAs. You just never know. For $5 it isnt a bad deal even if you dont get anything. But I would suggest looking around the tables and see if you find anything you like before getting a bidder card if you dont want to spend the $5.

[jeebus]

We came, didn't bid, but saw some good deals. Its an auction, made up mostly of private submissions, so you never know what you're gonna get. If we had a Malawi tank, we could have cleaned up at this one.

Just remember that the one auction you DON'T go to will be the one where they sell your favorite fish/plant or that piece of equipment you've been eyeing in the store for months, all for pennies on the dollar.

We had a good time. We didn't stay long, but did get to see Nick & Phung. See you all at the next one.

[76dragon]

Charles. Who had the ngaras at the show. They were stunning.

[Mzungu]

Just remember that the one auction you DON'T go to will be the one where they sell your favorite fish/plant or that piece of equipment you've been eyeing in the store for months, all for pennies on the dollar.

Haha, so true!! :)

[CichlidFan]

I would like to know who IGB was....I wouldn't mind having one or more Labeotropheus trewavasae ....

But not a big deal if you can't say....

CF

[mdwalt]

I thought the organizers of the auction did a good job under the circumstances. The bid tables were full of fish, equipment, plants, publications, supplies, medications and miscellaneous items. Definitely something for almost everybody.

My only complaint was the lack of preparedness/punctuality of the sellers. I saw people arrive late and spread out on the floor and around the room still labeling their many bags of fish at 11:30. (Check-in was stated to be between 9am and 10am. The auction was advertised to start at 11.) Perhaps there should have been more than one check-in table for sellers and bidders and the cut-off time enforced.

I will definitely attend another, though. You never know what you'll find.

[Zulaab]

mdwalt... in all of the HAS auctions I have made it to, I have seen the same as above.. its difficult to have everyone done in an hour. Check-in I promise you can start at 7am and you will still have people putting stuff on tables by 11:30.... and auctions like this one.. no matter how much you prepare to be ready to start at 11.. never can. At 11 usually EVERYONE wants to talk to the Auctioneer at that moment about this and that.. Since I have held two auctions myself with the assistance of others, we ran into the same issues as HAS has had.. I do not fault them at all for being late.

[danielp]

I agree with Zulaab's point. There is typically quite a bit of stuff being placed for auction. It takes awhile to get this stuff ready for bidding.

I've been to all but a couple of auctions held by HAS at the VFW hall on HWY 3.

The personal conclusion that I've drawn about the HAS auction is that to much second tier equipment and stuff is allowed in the auction pool.

I think rules should be established where only specific items like fish (upon a passed inspection including properly bagged and guaranteed health appearance ~ I've seen fish in ziploc bags or worse), plants (inspected for algae and snailsl) and quality rock and wood is allowed in.

If tanks, equipment and decorations are allowed in I thanks standards should be established.

These auctions are on Sunday and it's taking 6+ hours to finish it sometimes.

I didn't make it to FOTOS yesterday so i can't speak about what went on there.

[76dragon]

+2

[Mzungu]

If anyone was being paid to help at the auction, then yes, I agree that standards can be HRELPFUL. But those who help at the auction are NOT paid, and do it out of the kindness of their hearts. Items brought in for auctions are inspected as well as they can be. Remember, one person's trash...

Plus, there ARE rules that fish and other things should be bagged properly. Most rules state that ziplocks are not allowed, and that if something is not bagged according to standards, the item will be rebagged for a fee - meaning, bag it right or it's being rebagged because we care about these fish and want them to live through the auction. :)

I think it would be impossible to set any kind of standard for equipment brought in. If you don't like it, or think it's not good enough, no one says you gotta bid on it. :)

Just my thoughts. :) I don't mean to sound harsh or anything, so I apologize if that came across wrong. Auctions are fun because they're so unpredictable. I think this fish community in Houston will from now on always use the "khuli loach" example to educate anyone who thinks auctions are predictable. Lol. :)

[szidlon]

I typed up a reply and then erased it all, I'm just going to sit on my hands and not say anything .