Convention shop visits...

[medaka]

HI guys

Apart from receiving a 12.5% discount voucher in your convention pack for this LFS
Aqualife & Pets Auldene Garden Centre, 338 Southport Road, Ulnes Walton, Preston, Lancashire, PR26 8LQ.
as mentioned by Coryman
They are also offering a delivery service FOC
If you order your fish they will be reserved for bagging up and delivery to the Convention venue on the Sunday afternoon; if you so wish.

[Richard B]

Thanks for posting that Medaka - that's what i call service!

TP - if you go & do a "reccie", let us know what you find - i would always try to maximise what i get up to, (even if that makes it a bit manic!)

[evesonevo]

Hi guys, most of the shops you've mentioned are all local to me, aquahome is a good shop but unfortunately haven't had a decent range of cats in lately, though they do update there stocklist on the website(www.aquahome.co.uk) quite regularly.
Aqualife is well worth a visit with it regularly stocking 20+ species of corys, recent stock has included c.imitator,c.fowleri,c.semiaquilis amongst others.
Other recent stock has included jaguar cats,L134,blue phantom plecs,flagtail dianema,hypoptapoma species.

[Jools]

Actually, it'd be good to know what cats are around closer to the time. Shops can range from having lots of interesting fishes in to having very little to speak of - five shops is really pushing it too! It would be interesting to check out their closing times as the ones that closes latest might be a sensible end stop.

Jools

[evesonevo]

I'd be willing to find out what's in stock at a couple of the shops near the convention dates as i normally call into them on weekly basis anyway and in the time being I'll find out and post closing times on the shops mentioned.

[TP]

Aqualife is open until 6pm and the MA near the hotel is as well.

Also the MA is so close to the hotel, less than a minutes drive, if missed on the friday it could easily be visited over the weekend anytime there was a 30 minute lull in the proceedings or during lunch.

Like evesonevo, all of these shops are really close to me so it will be easy to report back anything interesting in them closer to the time.

[MatsP]

I added closing times for the shops in my original list of shops. I also added Aquahome to the list, with closing time - even if we don't end up going there.

--
Mats

[Jools]

8am Mats? Go on, get up at 07:30, stop for a coffee half way and live a little.

Cool plans so far, thanks Mats!

So, let's say we arrive at BAS for 12:00 for 12:30 and leave at 13:15 which allows everyone to get coffee and recycle the previous beverage. What can our other stops be? Or should we just play it by ear? I was thinking if we had a plan then folks could join in as and when they could? I don't need to be back for 6pm at the hotel (but I will be thirsty after looking at so many fish!!!!) and so if it's good with everyone else, we can stretch our time on the road.



Jools

[MatsP]

8am Mats? Go on, get up at 07:30, stop for a coffee half way and live a little.

Yes, I was actually thinking more like getting going at 07:00 or close to. It's no problem getting there early, I can always look at the fish for a bit...

So, let's say we arrive at BAS for 12:00 for 12:30 and leave at 13:15 which allows everyone to get coffee and recycle the previous beverage. What can our other stops be? Or should we just play it by ear? I was thinking if we had a plan then folks could join in as and when they could? I don't need to be back for 6pm at the hotel (but I will be thirsty after looking at so many fish!!!!) and so if it's good with everyone else, we can stretch our time on the road.

Playing by ear is fine by me [as long as it doesn't involve ACTUAL musical instruments - can't play anything to save my life].

Likewise, I don't need to get to the hotel until after 6pm.

--
Mats

[Richard B]

In my best Hannibal Smith (The 'A' Team) voice ....."I love it when a plan comes together!"

[sojapat]

Be nice to see everyone
Should be nice to have a beer with good friends again.
I am sure you will have a good weekend .
Joolz I got the message from Mark .
And Ian no sour grapes here ... Remember who helped you get your speaker when he wouldnt answer your e mails?
We will have a good stock in for you guys ..
I am going collecting with 2 of the speakers and another prominant collector in Myanmar and Thailand before the convention.
Cheers

[Richard B]

We will have a good stock in for you guys ..
I am going collecting with 2 of the speakers and another prominant collector in Myanmar and Thailand before the convention.
Cheers

Very interesting - is there anything particular you are aiming to collect?

[MnG]

We can't join you on the Friday trip as George is coming home late Friday night - are there any plans for Saturday?
We are trying to convince Neil to keep the shop open till 6 so we can go after the last presentation - not seeing Neil's Loricariids somehow detracts from the event for us. Neil had also had some tempting c-i-c-h-l-i-d-s in lately which we haven't seen and George is dying to meet .. There will be more cars available then and maybe if we all 'pool' cars we can take other members with us. This will alleviate the pressure of the five shops in one trip as Jools mentioned earlier. What do you think? (If we get Neil and Adele to put the kettle on we can ponder on the nature of catfish with a hot brew too ...)

PS The magic of a catfish forum: it automatically considers c-i-c-h-l-i-d-s to be a four letter word so we have to spell it!!!

[sojapat]

Hi Richard ... Just was in India last week collecting a few nice things With HGE.
Went to Bombay (Mumbai)to collect with the exporter .. Fun and some nice things to follow
I have fed the mosquito population in Bombay ... They like the English blood since independance .
Anyway in answer to your question ..I am not sure .
Me ,Nonn,Kamphol and Hans will be doing Myanmar for a week then Thailand for a week.
We will visit several places of interest ..
Then on my return will have the fishes follow .
Under normal circumstances Kamphol ships some amazing fish ..
So i am expecting some breathtaking stuff.
ps Yes I can work with you to do something in the evening for those who want to see the shop .
I am sure that at least 2 of the speakers would like to see our special fishes .

[Richard B]

I have fed the mosquito population in Bombay ... They like the English blood since independance .
quote]

I always thought it was because of typical English blood alcohol content At least it was for me in Kenya, Brazil etc

Just was in India last week collecting a few nice things ...
Fun and some nice things to follow ...
Under normal circumstances Kamphol ships some amazing fish,
So i am expecting some breathtaking stuff.

Ooooo - you're really just teasing us now! Do you know what date the new stuff will be on sale from?

[Coryman]

I would ask all those visiting shops before coming to the convention hotel to ensure that they arrive at the hotel before 6.30 so that they can register at the CSG table and get their convention pack, which will contain their room docket without which you will not be able to get your room keys.
Late arrivals will not be able to get their convention packs until after the evening dinner and presentation.

Ian

Ian Fuller
(Chairman)

[Richard B]

sounds fair enough

[sojapat]

Hi Richard Slight change of plan no Myanmar now
Just Laos Instead Even better
As for the stuff well I think the Indian stuff is going to come next week .
The Thai/Laos/Myanmar/Chinese is due 1st week March .
There is a Peru shipment too that week .
Meanwhile there are 2 Brazilian shipments and a Colombian maybe some other bits ...
Never a dull moment
Should be full

[Richard B]

Mmmmm - sounds goooood!

[Jools]

Might be a good juncture then to post a summary of revised proceedings?

Jools

[Richard B]

Might be a good juncture then to post a summary of revised proceedings?

Jools

Indeed yes....

[MatsP]

I suppose that makes it my task? ;)

I will try to put something together, with some suggested timings - subject to review and "on the day" decisions.

--
Mats

[sojapat]

I would ask all those visiting shops before coming to the convention hotel to ensure that they arrive at the hotel before 6.30 so that they can register at the CSG table and get their convention pack, which will contain their room docket without which you will not be able to get your room keys.
Late arrivals will not be able to get their convention packs until after the evening dinner and presentation.

Ian

Ian Fuller
(Chairman)

Hey Ian , What about the people who are only flying in Late ?
How Are Ingo,Hans and Brigitte going to get in their rooms ..
They asked me to collect them at the airport if I am not mistaken the plane only lands at 6.30pm
Its cold on the streets of Standish in March Surely you cant be so cruel

[Coryman]

Neil,

I asked Hans and Ingo for their flight times, but was only told that you will be collecting them and bringing them to the hotel. As they have a copy of the programme I assumed that they would be well in time.

As you are with two of our speakers, would you please ask them to send me their actual flight details ASAP.

Ian

[Mongo]

Interesting, the last post is so off topic it is unbelievable, and the question asked about time of arrival was answered in the previous post by Sojapat.

In response to MnG's post, Neil seems amenable to keeping the shop open late, I was in Pier for about 4 hours today, but it would be helpful if the interest in him doing so could be expressed in this thread.

All the best

Mongo

[sojapat]

Hi All, Yes it is now done , I will keep the shop open on Saturday evening for an extra hour or so .
All are welcome and I am sure there will be lots of tempting things to see .
Dont forget your cards..

[MatsP]

So, based on the fact that Neil will keep the shop open an extra hour on Saturday, it make sense to skip Pier Aquatics on the Friday.

So, that leaves us with, I'd say, 4 shops that we can visit for the Friday afternoon.

• BAS - Arrive 12.30, leave 13.30
• Aquahome - Arrive 14.30, leave 15.30
• Aqualife - Arrive 15.40, leave 16.40
• MA Wigan - Arrive 16.50, leave 17.30 [unless we can convince them to stay open a bit longer!]

Timing for the driving is based on Google Maps. If anyone has a better way to estimate driving time, I'm happy to take advice and revision suggestions.

--
Mats

[Jools]

So, based on the fact that Neil will keep the shop open an extra hour on Saturday, it make sense to skip Pier Aquatics on the Friday.

So, that leaves us with, I'd say, 4 shops that we can visit for the Friday afternoon.

• BAS - Arrive 12.30, leave 13.30
• Aquahome - Arrive 14.30, leave 15.30
• Aqualife - Arrive 15.40, leave 16.40
• MA Wigan - Arrive 16.50, leave 17.30 [unless we can convince them to stay open a bit longer!]

Timing for the driving is based on Google Maps. If anyone has a better way to estimate driving time, I'm happy to take advice and revision suggestions.

--
Mats

Sorry Mats, but that means there's a risk of fish being sold on the Friday and us missing them. I guess however that's my risk. I went looking for a schedule for the talks on Saturday - in the past there hasn't been a lot of time to drop out for a while and I'd prefer not to have to chose between a talk and a LFS visit. That said, don't change anything yet on my account. I'll probably be visiting Pier before the convention anyway.

Here is the schedule for Saturday courtesy of the very helpful info on the CSG site:

Saturday
Doors open 9.30 am
Program start 10.00 Introductions -
CSG Market place 10.15 BCA - BLA - BKA - UKAPS - AAGB
Live food - Diseases & Parasites; Water quality; Breeders Award Programme.
2.30 Lunch
Talk 1 2.00pm Mark Henry Sabaj Pérez The work of the ACSI
3.15 Tea break 30 min
Talk 2 3.45 Kamphol Udomritthiruj Loaches of Myanmar & Thailand.
4.45 Announcements
5.00 Close day one
Convention Dinner 7.30 for 8.00
9.30 Ray ‘Kingfish’ Lucas
After dinner speach[sic].

If the programme runs to time, that means 5-7 is possible, however there is also a lot of spare room in the AM?

Cheers,

Jools

[MatsP]

Jools,

I don't disagree with your sentiments - Pier is the ONLY place that I'm SURE I want to see, so in some ways it's.

--
Mats

[TP]

If it helps I popped into Aquahome last weekend and in the way of catfish there was really nothing to see, if you were to drop it off your agenda I really don't think it would be a big miss (obviously only my opinion).