Are you a serious aquarist who’s learned the art of patience and appreciates more than simply getting the lowest price when it comes to aquarium livestock? Do you like things that are a little off the beaten path when it comes to your next fish or breeding project?
MiniWaters.FISH might be the perfect place to find exactly the fishes you’re looking for.
What’s Different About MiniWaters.FISH?
MiniWaters.FISH exists to fix a problem I perceive in the aquarium livestock marketplace. Since 2006, there have been consistent cries for a “Marine Breeder’s Co-Op”. And since 2006, I’ve said that doesn’t work when breeders are scattered around the country. What does work, however, is a wholesaler (or retailer) who aggregates fishes from multiple sources and then redistributes them. I saw that work firsthand when helping run The Cichlid Factory, a Chicago-based Cichlid speciality importer, wholesaler and hatchery, owned by John and Grace Baker. Today, in late 2015, no such company really exists in the marine world.
There are many captive breeders producing many interesting fishes that wind up being virtually impossible to find if you want them. There are fish people want, but have a hard time finding, yet I may have ready access to them. I’ve seen it happen with my own production; I know people out there want what I produce, but those same fish aren’t being purchased by local fish shops and trying to pair you, the retail customer, with a LFS intermediary has proven to be a consistently futile exercise. On the flipside, I’ve seen breeders gouged by retailers, and I’ve watched the “race to the bottom” in online price wars. It seems everyone is looking to make quick profits and not supporting these breeders in the long term.
I aim to fix these issues, when & where I can.
It starts by trying to support my fellow breeders (learn more on our page about pricing), and connecting them with you. I designed MiniWaters.FISH with the initial intention of avoiding becoming a household name, or even a busy etailer. Quite the opposite in fact; I hope to ship no more than a few retail orders per week! When you shop MiniWaters.FISH, you are shopping directly with me, along with the breeders and the companies I’ve chosen to work with. My time is precious, but if I can get some really great fish to some really discerning customers, I consider it a worthwhile effort.
When it comes to our limited, curated offerings, every freshwater or saltwater fish for sale at MiniWaters.FISH is a species or variety I’d be proud to call my own.
Curious? Browse my offerings now purchase your next off-beat aquarium fish!
The Man Behind MiniWaters.FISH
MiniWaters.FISH is the online retail offerings of aquatic life from MiniWaters LLC, led by aquarist and author Matt Pedersen. In short, you’re buying fish from me, Matt P.
I’m perhaps best known as a marine fish breeder, including still being the only person in the world to succeed in the captive breeding of the Orange-spottted or Harlequin Filefish, Oxymonacanthus longirostris (I’d love to see someone else do it, truly! Happy to help anytime!). I was also the person responsible for successfully breeding the highly coveted Lightning Maroon Clownfish from Papua New Guinea. I also co-authored the Banggai Rescue Project‘s end product, the book Banggai Cardinalfish, contributing the chapters on husbandry and breeding.
My efforts as a breeder and aquarium community organizer led me to be recognized as the Marine Aquarium Societies of North America (MASNA) Aquarist of the Year in 2009, as well as the first (and sadly only) IMAC West Aquarist of the Year. These days, most know me as one of the Senior Editors for the highly respected CORAL Magazine and AMAZONAS Magazine. CORAL is published by Vermont-based Reef To Rainforest Media, along with the online home at www.Reef2Rainforest.com
The English edition of AMAZONAS was also launched by Reef To Rainforest in 2011 (first issue Jan/Feb, 2012). In mid-2018, I joined my good friends and partners Stephan Tanner (Swiss Tropicals) and Michael Tuccinardi (Front Range Tropicals) in taking over as the publishers of AMAZONAS Magazine via the new Minnesota-based company Aquatic Media Press, LLC (AMP).
