MAC approved fish, the way to go?

magman

magman

Joined
31 Jul 2009
Posts
2,141
Reaction score
22
Location
Richards Bay
Last week I got a pair of Purple firefish and a yellow tang (R390:yeahdude:) from this MAC shipment that came in, and I can honestly say that there was a big differance in the condition of the livestock upon arrival. The fish were eating well 2 hours after introduction, you can see they are very active and I believe their was a big differance in welfare of the LS. Bags were well packed, after arriving in Durban the parcel still had to travel by road to RBAY, so I guess they were in the bag for another 14 hours. Water was still cool, and appreantly fish are not sold unless they are eating 100%.

I think all of us as responsible reefers should now insist on only buying MAC approved stock, it us reefers who are fuelling the cynanide and chemicals on the reefs as well, and we are responsible for what we do as end users. MAC livestock is all certified net caught, and I promise you now that I will not buy anything else for my tank, unless it is MAC approved, or propogated/cultivated in a tank. The reefs are now in our hands




21534adbffb99975b.jpg
,












21534adbff0a09ff6.jpg
 
i agree 100%
got my vote!
 
We had this big debate 4 years ago on sareef. Seemed at that time that the cost factor was too great, so therefore was not warranted. But clearly now, the costs are reasonable, if not lower. How did u come across mac certified dealers? Very interesting
Posted via Mobile Device
 
Andreas said:
I would also only support MAC registered dealers from now on. We just cant risk losing money if the livestock are poisoned and sick.
Click to expand...

Another point also is that they are will workout cheaper in the log run even if more expensive initially, I have had bad experiences with quality from our local LFS, with certain varieties, namely angels and goldies, where I suspect the fish were damaged internally from chemicals, this varies from shipment to shipment. Most of the MAC fish are all the same price as other LS, but some are much much cheaper, eg. the yellow tangs for R395, or the fire angels for R600.

The main factor though is you are almost guarenteed that they will survive, as they are only sold after taking to prepared foods, and you know that they are not going to die from chemicals a week or two later. I believe from the shipment that came in, there was only one loss from 100 fish that came in.

I don't think though they stock the local Kenya stock, and is more your upper market fish.
 
Hey guys how do u knw that the local lfs sells mac approved livestock. Iv had a few fish after a couple week that would die for no apparent reason.
 
This is one of my questions...is how do we guarantee that the fish are MAC stock? With the bribery and corruption rife is SA... and although it is much better for our reefs...livestock is livestock and there is no guarantee that they will survive...MAC stock or not! I would also like to support this iniative, but how is it monitored?
 
Yeah id also like to know how u know it is mac approved livestock or not?
 
inflames said:
This is one of my questions...is how do we guarantee that the fish are MAC stock? With the bribery and corruption rife is SA... and although it is much better for our reefs...livestock is livestock and there is no guarantee that they will survive...MAC stock or not! I would also like to support this iniative, but how is it monitored?
Click to expand...

Can't see how bribary and corruption come into this, the point is the LFS has to comply with the MAC requirements when the MAC shipments come in. I believe they get inspected etc. There must be a MAC logo or certificate etc with the LFS that should prove the if livestock are MAC or not.
 
basically its up to the LFS to use a supplier that is MAC certified, they are all listed on www.aquariumcouncil.org

one can also register your LFS as a MAC sponsor
 
@ Magman.. this is SA remember... money talks!! I guess I am just a pessimist!!
@ Dallasg.. So a LFS gets one shipment and has an inspection done, gets a nice sticker that says they are MAC approved. Then the rest of their shipments are not MAC approved, but the sticker still stays! Is this MAC not overseas? Who does the inspection and so on locally?

I guess that this is very, very hard to monitor...remember that most LFS need to move stock and keep cash flow going, and as much as we would like to think their are plenty guys out there that don't belong to MASA and don't even know what MAC is...will this even effect their decision to by a fish or not...purely based on being MAC certified or not?

My brother in law was sold R3000 worth of fish in one shot on Saturday...added 9 new fish to his tank in one day! one of them a Powder Blue in a 3 foot setup:(. The tank has been running for 6 weeks:( This is probably what most LFS do to get cash!!
 
inflames said:
@ Dallasg.. So a LFS gets one shipment and has an inspection done, gets a nice sticker that says they are MAC approved. Then the rest of their shipments are not MAC approved, but the sticker still stays! Is this MAC not overseas? Who does the inspection and so on locally?
Click to expand...

yes its all on the LFS shoulders, for them to be listed on MAC they get audited, but there is nothing stopping them from getting MAC shipments and normal.

but like magman said, you can see the difference straight away, and also the LFS will suffer less losses if they use MAC suppliers.

having read more, MAC is more for Suppliers then LFS, basically gaurantee'ing LFs' that there stock is healthier
 
inflames said:
@ Magman.. this is SA remember... money talks!! I guess I am just a pessimist!!
@ Dallasg.. So a LFS gets one shipment and has an inspection done, gets a nice sticker that says they are MAC approved. Then the rest of their shipments are not MAC approved, but the sticker still stays! Is this MAC not overseas? Who does the inspection and so on locally?

I guess that this is very, very hard to monitor...remember that most LFS need to move stock and keep cash flow going, and as much as we would like to think their are plenty guys out there that don't belong to MASA and don't even know what MAC is...will this even effect their decision to by a fish or not...purely based on being MAC certified or not?

My brother in law was sold R3000 worth of fish in one shot on Saturday...added 9 new fish to his tank in one day! one of them a Powder Blue in a 3 foot setup:(. The tank has been running for 6 weeks:( This is probably what most LFS do to get cash!!
Click to expand...

Who will do this......it will be the LFS that sells Durban harbour rock as figi rock, or sells locally caught LS, I am sure you can the decision yourself wether the LFS is dodgy or not.

For me, the proof is in the pudding, the fish I got from Sims were well worth it and you can see the differance. Not only that, but I know that no muti's were used in catching them that killed a million other gogo's in the reef. for me, it's more the reward in my consious that I am trying to make a change to the reefs us reefkeepers are responsible for destroying.
 
magman said:
Who will do this......it will be the LFS that sells Durban harbour rock as figi rock, or sells locally caught LS, I am sure you can the decision yourself wether the LFS is dodgy or not.

For me, the proof is in the pudding, the fish I got from Sims were well worth it and you can see the differance. Not only that, but I know that no muti's were used in catching them that killed a million other gogo's in the reef. for me, it's more the reward in my consious that I am trying to make a change to the reefs us reefkeepers are responsible for destroying.
Click to expand...

100% Dude!!:yeahdude: I would support a MAC certified supplyer and hopefully happier healthier fish that arrive and at the end of the day will be better for the LFS as they wont need to up the prices of other livestock (better for us), to make up for the ones that didn't make it! And it would be making a difference to the reefs around the world. Would it not be possible for some of the sponsors of this site to give us feedback on their expreinces and maybe we can even start a list of MAC accredited LFS? This would also help in the bigger picture!

I was at a LFS 4 weeks ago...trying to sell me a banana wrasse for R220...:ptold him he was crazy!! He said that I must buy now because the prices of fish country wide will be going up 200% by the end of the year and wont becoming down... Idol got a shipment in 2 weeks later and was selling banana wrasse for R60!!:thumbup:

So was one shipment MAC and the other not?!?!?!:whistling:
 
inflames said:
100% Dude!!:yeahdude: I would support a MAC certified supplyer and hopefully happier healthier fish that arrive and at the end of the day will be better for the LFS as they wont need to up the prices of other livestock (better for us), to make up for the ones that didn't make it! And it would be making a difference to the reefs around the world. Would it not be possible for some of the sponsors of this site to give us feedback on their expreinces and maybe we can even start a list of MAC accredited LFS? This would also help in the bigger picture!

I was at a LFS 4 weeks ago...trying to sell me a banana wrasse for R220...:ptold him he was crazy!! He said that I must buy now because the prices of fish country wide will be going up 200% by the end of the year and wont becoming down... Idol got a shipment in 2 weeks later and was selling banana wrasse for R60!!:thumbup:

So was one shipment MAC and the other not?!?!?!:whistling:
Click to expand...


Eish......I paid R320 for a banana wrasse from a Durban LFS about 6 months ago, I guess we even have to wait for prices of LFS to come down now as well as waiting for cycles to finish.......:1:

It is another point, say some diver in a third world country using muti, how many fish die in their dispatch, how many die on the way to SA, and then losses in the LFS and out tanks. You will probably find for you and me to keep nemo in our tanks, his cousin, uncles, boets, oupa, nieces and nephews all pegged it. Neverless, the LFS, exporter are all charging us to cover the costs of all the family that pegged it. You will probably find that a diver who catches only sells the fish for like R5 to a exporter, we end up paying R200.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom