70 Year Old Florida Fish Farm - Now Sells Retail

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‎ Ever wonder how guppies, mollies, platies, and swordtails from the wild eventually became the colorful, fancy strains you see in pet stores today? We sat down with Summerland Tropical Fish Farms to hear their story of how they started off as aquarium hobbyists and eventually became a fish farm that developed famous strains like the gold dust molly and 24K gold molly.
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WHO WE ARE
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At Aquarium Co-Op, we focus on your aquariums. We specialize in freshwater tropical fish, aquatic plants, and the overall betterment of the freshwater fish keeping hobby. Our goal is to help you with your first pet fish and graduate you to an advanced aquarium hobbyist. If you'd like to take it to the next level, subscribe to Aquarium Co-Op and check out our weekly videos.
Cory McElroy is employed by Aquarium Co-Op LLC. He also owns Aquarium Co-Op LLC. Therefore, all content is sponsored by Aquarium Co-Op.
0:00 - Intro
0:22 - The History of Summerland Tropical Fish Farms
3:05 - Breeding Common Guppy Fish
4:24 - Selective Breeding Swordtail Fish
4:50 - Breeding Platy Fish
6:02 - How This Farm was Built
7:15 - Breeding New Strains of Aquarium Fish
9:36 - The Ichthyophile Aquarium Magazine
10:31 - The Plastic Fish Bag
12:04 - Tour of Summerland Tropical Fish Farms
#Aquariumcoop #Aquariumfish #Fishtank

[@AquariumCoop]

*What's your favorite livebearer strain you can't live without? Also, if you're looking for another cool livebearer farm, don't forget to check out this amazing guppy farm: **kzbin.info/www/bejne/rpSVfaaEeZKCd6c*

[@mrfish.-]

My favorite livebearing fish is the humpback limia. Very cool looking fish.

[@SonnyG1]

Endlers

[@Stan_pike_man]

Tiger endlers are the best

[@Rutrag]

I miss the big green sailfin mollies with the orange/ yellow bellies and the big green swordtails. Sometimes I see what I suppose are the same strains, but nothing like what came in during the late 80s.

[@Renagade5150]

Swords

[@deansfishroom]

This guy and the place was awesome! He’s got over 10 years on me and I remember many of the strains he speaks about from years ago. The giant green sailfin mollies were amazing, I hadn’t seen them in person since I was a teenager. If all works out we are going to do a fish swap with him.

[@MasterPhotographer]

Dean, that’s a great idea!

[@R.H.C.2782]

❤

[@GenRN]

This guy is a trip. I could listen to his stories all day. What a cool place. Honestly, livebearers stress me out with their lack of birth control usage. I started with 2 mollies and took about 60 mollies back to the LFS as a donation.

[@jacobjacksonsson9375]

That's why I keep angel fish with my livebearers. If you raise the angels with them as babies they get along amazingly, they just keep the fry population down

[@FruitTreeAddict]

What does LFS stand for?

[@Lancerwan]

@@FruitTreeAddict local fish store

[@FruitTreeAddict]

@@Lancerwan lol thanks so much! I keep seeing that and couldn’t figure it out🤣

[@melissaturner1737]

Me too that's why I stuck breeding Kribensis in with mine so they would eat the babies if they got to close to the nest. Only had two babies since.

[@filippamarraccini8300]

In 1950 with only a sprinkling of tropical fish farms, opening a farm like this was considered by many to be a folly. But our mother, Mary encouraged our dad Philip, to follow his passion and start Summerland Tropical Fish Farms. In the beginning she worked beside him and they both made fishing in the canals a fun family outing. I am proud of my brother Phil for continuing our fathers commitment to breeding beautiful and healthy fish for today's hobbyist to enjoy. Thank you fish lovers for appreciating our 71 year commitment to quality.

[@ansleybleu]

This guy and his family are a national treasure!

[@ccsorn]

What a natural story teller. Love that there is a place like this that can educate both adults and the next generation of fish keepers.

[@filippamarraccini8300]

Thank you

[@Renagade5150]

Cory your absolute best videos are ALWAYS when you hit the farms! Please do as much of it as you can fit into your schedule my man.

[@melissaturner1737]

I love that you guys highlight places like this and goliad farms. Its so important to preserve these parts of aquaculture. I truly think this is also the best way to share the aquarium hobby.

[@Myland25Ton]

You were wondering about content, and what there was left to show us. This, is the kind of content I devour. History? More of it. Backstory? The hobby, and how it developed. Well done here Cory.

[@jawjagrrl]

As a graphic designer and fish keeper - this really is an amazing glimpse into the origins of the hobby - Mollies in a bathtub in NYC! Marker renderings of amazing fish. My Dad was into them in the early 60s using tanks from the 40s that I wish I had kept now.

[@NiX_aKi]

This is Cory's paradise. Impressive breeding projects.

[@MakoyUnggoy]

He's the type of person that could do talks at events, he's got years and years worth of knowledge that's worth a listen

[@AquariumCoop]

He does, he spoke at the ALA convention.

[@Ripplerip5]

That was so great to hear him speak about everything his dad an he did back then...Great video

[@FruitTreeAddict]

What a FANTASTIC video! My heart ached for their loses. Thanks so much for sharing!! Love it! I’m a native Florida girl😊

[@sharonjack7239]

I love knowing that his dad loved to paint as well as keep fish. My fish and their colors inspire me to paint abstracts. Fish are a great subject matter for a painter. Great video!! USA

[@Cichlids23]

Love hearing stories from the OG's.... thanks for sharing Cory..

[@DannyKushmer]

As a former fish farmer in West-Central Florida I thoroughly enjoyed your video history. I often think how our business would’ve been different if we had social media. My grandfather worked at the first farm in America and then built ours in the late 40’s. As with many farms, the land was more valuable for development and we sold our last parcel in 1996. So much of what you said in your video hits home and I wanted to thank you for preserving this important history. 1st Generation: Gus Kushmer 2nd Generation: Warren Kushmer 3rd Generation: Danny Kushmer Farm Names… Kushmer & Sons (Grandpa and Dad) K & P Tropicals (my Dad and Uncle EJ Proctor Carol’s Tropical Fish Farm (named after my Mom) Late 40’s - 1996

[@KGcichlids]

What a cool history him and his dad had. Great video and editing jimmy!

[@reginaphalanges7331]

There's nothing like listening about real history, from someone who has lived it!!! Thanks so much for sharing this with us! ❤👍😃

[@AbbyBane.]

Love how you have been documenting some of the older breeders. Tomorrow isn't promised and their stories would be lost to time. THANK YOU!

[@Jushwa]

This is awesome. Thanks for bringing us along for the ride.

[@austinmcgoldrick4436]

This video is sick!!!! I could watch these styles of videos for hours and hours.

[@rae_ray8944]

Vids are getting better and better. That was fantastic !

[@williamamely7038]

Wonderful video. I loved all of it. I have got to visit Summerland next year. The experience must be fantastic to behold. The fish there are gorgeous and the history behind it, is wonderful. As a fan of the hobby myself, I loved visiting my local stores, in the 70's, to look at, and buy the beautiful fish available to me, then. Thanks for sharing.

[@johnwood738]

What an incredible amount of knowledge! Thank you for posting. I would love to see it in person.

[@drewzero1]

The gold dust (often sold as gold panda) is my favorite molly variety, and I've never been able to find much information on its origin. Thanks for filling in some blanks!

[@filippamarraccini8300]

Check out TFH May 1988, pg 62, '"There's Gold IN Those Black Mollies" and TFH July 1989, pg 22, "Giant STEPS Forward in the Quest for the New Molly Strains" both written by Philip Marraccini

[@drewzero1]

@@filippamarraccini8300 Thanks for the tip, sounds fascinating! I've had a look around but not sure where to find those. Is there an archive of old TFH issues somewhere?

[@joshcanada3988]

More fish? More footage? Part 2? Yes? Yes :)

[@1965zimmy]

It's videos like this that make Aquarium Co-Op the best KZbin channel for people in the aquarium hobby! Awesome video!

[@puirYorick]

I can't find a couple of older field-trip style videos with Cory from years ago that were similar to this one. One was on a tumbledown homestead and run by a young son of the owner in some old barn and shack but the kid was growing an amazing assortment of fish. The other one was a new modern aquaculture building with massive tilapia tanks and they were also raising pigs. Their buildings had some type of heat exchange system up in the attic space. Other FishTubers were also there on some kind of road trip (to Aquashella perhaps) and a third stop which I did manage to find was a guy with a huge in-home basement tank that had a huge RTC named Toast. That guy seems to mainly do hobby train videos now though. Point is, these kinds of road trip adventure videos are a great change from the usual and are very welcome on the site. I look forward to more now that travel is opened up again.

[@scottsolar5884]

Corey, you need to new “fish keepers notebook” with monthly pages sent out on subscription.

[@MasterPhotographer]

Great slice of history! The insight into the hobby from his perspective is quite interesting. Thanks for sharing this Cory!

[@codesempireunleashed7899]

This was awesome to watch! Great history lesson on aquarium fish and the breeding over the course of many years. Thanks for sharing this! 👍

[@spencer_wheeler]

You can tell when someone really loves fish keeping! It isn't just a hobby anymore, it is a way of life!

[@oogski2]

finally i’ve waited for this for YEARS i can finally re-tail my bettas that have missing parts of their tail!

[@oogski2]

don’t worry i dont actually have bettas with fin rot this a joke ok?

[@GenRN]

😂

[@ArtyMars]

This guys has the most incredible stories of the good ole days of aquarium hobbyists

[@klcpca]

In the 60's and 70's there was a very large old aquarium store in Lake Worth, FL called Baker's Aquarium.... they had everything imaginable... I LOVED to go there. And not far from where I lived there was a fish farm that had their fish in shell rock pits that were crystal clear. When it stormed and flooded, those pits would flood and the fish would escape into the surrounding canels... you could catch guppies & swordtails out of the flooded roads and canals!! I had a beautiful fish tank full of fish that way....

[@bm3aquatic]

Thanks for sharing! What an incredible place and wonderful stories.

[@Ben-there-paint-that]

Great video, great fish farm and I loved the history. I could watch hours of content just on this place and the history. Keep up the great work!

[@staceyhartford7116]

This guy has got to be related to actor Jeff Daniels- the looks, the mannerisms, even his speech pattern sound like him!

[@RenegadeLK]

Just amazing hearing their stories.

[@litoloco4fish]

Great history video...very interesting to hear it from this gentleman. His father passed his passion on to his son...❤👍🏼

[@sandyrodriguez2803]

Loved hearing about the evolution of fish over the years. Thanks for sharing.

[@erindense2099]

Fascinating,I could listen to his stories all day!

[@richardreynolds9896]

This place was really cool. The knowledge he has is awesome!

[@BradK02]

This was gold. Loved hearing the stories.

[@davesherbinin]

Super video! That gentleman is a serious wealth of knowledge! What an awesome place to visit. I hope to see more footage of your time there.

[@Cgraseck]

You have to love Jimmy’s editing. This was awesome👍😃 Cheers, Chris

[@marypaigeflynn4512]

Love the video!! Awesome info!! It's just incredible the different variations Guppies that we have available today to us!! I hope you all are having an amazing and blessed day 👍❤️🌿🐟🌿

[@VacFink]

Nicely produced and an interesting story. Thanks!

[@leomaurice]

Love these videos! Watching breeders and hearing their successes and ideas is great content. Even if I never do it

[@BB-bv6uq]

Looks like an awesome day and awesome place. Thanks for sharing 👍✌️

[@sail3303]

Such a great guy! Love this video with all the old timer stories!

[@dalejones4186]

Awesome segment. Thank you.

[@jonisolis9645]

Wow! GREAT video. Love hearing about the history of these aquarium fish.

[@cem174]

It was very pleasant listening to him. I hope we get some more footage of the fish he has.

[@LogacysAquaticLove]

Wow this gentleman dropped some knowledge. Awesome vid!💯🤙🏼

[@trgaquatics2042]

I’ll watch Florida fish farm tours EVERYTIME

[@csharpe5787]

Absolutely fab.

[@rahamimdavidov5439]

Such a cool video ! This guy is a legend with true patience

[@jacobricherson6901]

Still haven't personally gotten into live bearers but the history behind them is fascinating. Thanks for the video.

[@aquapuncture]

This was fantastic! 😍

[@aquanewgrowig]

This is awesome! Thanks for sharing. Got me here measuring my mollies 😁

[@chrismcconnaughey]

Really cool video, thanks for sharing it with us!

[@jensmith3511]

This is a great video. I really enjoyed it!

[@comment.highlighted]

Awesome location. Loved the stories and history of the place 🙂

[@Si1983h]

I have gold dust mollies, really one of my favourite fish, I think they’re beautiful and they’re entertaining little characters too.

[@realtalkthebible]

Love the wisdom of those in the hobby thank you

[@bigraymie]

That was FASCINATING Cory.. Thanks Hi from Scotland 😃

[@jhaych]

Bet he's never heard of Scotland haha.

[@microharman]

Favorite video in a long time. Thank you!

[@CrowsRoots]

This was excellent. More content like this!

[@littlemidwestrebornsdolls]

Wonderful history of how the fish hobby began. Just fascinating. 🐠🐟🐠🐡🐡

[@48jhj]

so awesome they were able to get to the gold dust molly. prob my fav live bearer fish.

[@fishpony1211]

This place is truly amazing! There could be hours of footage of this 10 acre farm and you would not get bored. Aside from the fish, their homemade cinnamon bread is amazing lol!

[@filippamarraccini8300]

Thank you

[@juliemcgugan1244]

I got into the guppy hobby through my Dad, who also kept freshwater fish after he failed to keep a saltwater aquarium successfully. Grew up getting into tropical fish in 1980s Singapore and let me tell you, it was a pretty amazing place to be at the time! Would walk home from school instead of catching the bus, because I could save more of my allowance and spend it on guppies!

[@markthomas3730]

i worked here for several years..Phil is a great guy.

[@srudedman8503]

Loved his story

[@FruitTreeAddict]

Is he still in Miami? Love love love his stories! Priceless!! Thanks for sharing Cory❤️🐠

[@craigsfreshwaterfishplants9426]

He is down in homestead FL. Great place! Great guy!

[@eliashk5]

Love this!

[@ismackherbiehind]

I love the history this guy is sharing with his dad.

[@filippamarraccini8300]

Thank you

[@alanpitkeathly3055]

Awesome video thanks for sharing Cory

[@savis8067]

Wow i could listen to this guy for hours.

[@tobiassgaard6341]

Love this video 👍, wont love to see more like this

[@jakekelly640]

Wow!! this is so awesome! I love this content.

[@unholyorders82]

I really enjoyed this fish tour. Place looks awesome a d a lot of history.

[@HungQDang]

I remember 16 years ago when I still live in Vietnam and I had a male gold/orange sailfin moly that grew to a massive 14cm~5.5'' long. That fish was very impressive when it raise the sail up.

[@craigsfreshwaterfishplants9426]

Great coverage of a great location!

[@batch3052]

Awesome video. Keep up the great work.

[@uncleknife9887]

I could listen to this dude for days & still want to hear more.... ...PLEASE, how about a link to more from him??? or another Video?? Always a pleasure, THANKS!

[@chrisdelafuente8489]

Such an awesome video!!!

[@TuanCaCanh]

Wow very old farm

[@nothingbutfish6821]

Yooooo! I thought I’ve been subscribed to your for months 😭 but I just ordered some sponge filters and things for said filter. I’m about to head back and grab a few more things but, anyone who is on the edge of spending some money on these products. It’s affordable!! And it’s the best product we can buy as fish keepers. Great job man. Keep it up 💪🏼

[@nothingbutfish6821]

I gotta say, I just spent damn near 300 dollars but I know my fish are going to be happier than when I got them. ❤️

[@johnjwedrall4290]

Thanks for this very interesting video 👍🙂

[@karenthegoodtwin6908]

Great video!

[@popparock6506]

that was very cool!

[@Illinifan22]

Love this content!!!

[@jonleiend1381]

Nice video I like seeing fish farms.

[@kdog543]

I remember pineapple swordtail species that mostly resembles the wild species first kept and bred in fish enthusiast of the hobby.

[@Firestorm637]

Very interesting! Lots of knowledge

[@darrylmoore5847]

That was really nice.

[@gregorypeck2763]

A blast from my own past!