M.A. ma_ _st_c Aq_a_ics

[dfldcfire]

Well Im new here and to the whole discus thing here. Couple of months ago I decided to order my fish online through a website located in So Ca. The first problem I had with this shipper is he sent the package ups overnight next day by 10:30, well about noon and still no fish I started to investigate well turned out he forgot to write my apartment # on the box (but it was on the order form inside the box!). So I recieved the fish later on that night, well I got them and I was surprised, they were all alive but they were all different sizes. I had purchased 8 all 2" juvis ( well I thought) All bags had leaked but they held most of the water. The first bag had two 4" discus that were brawling soon as I floated their bag. The next bag had two more 4" discus, and the other 2 bags had two 2" discus in each. The first two that were fighting one looked extremely bad all black and hide for a couple weeks then I lost him. Within a week or two I notcied most of the fish had a clamped fin or two and were breathing hard a couple also had clamped gills. I elevated the temp and treated with prazi and metro. within a few weeks they started getting better and eating. The seller had managed to give me 3 different fish than I had asked for and didn't even tell me, I had to figure it out on my own. I then called him and he told me they were replaced with different strains he replaced $20 fish for $10 basic pigeons and didnt make up the difference in price just figured I wouldn't notice. After all that one of the small fish seem to have depth perception problem and has trouble eating. He misses the food constantly and it hits him in the forehead. The largest 4" discus he snet has the largest eyes I have seen they are almost the size of a dime(probably stunted) So now these three larger fish rule the tank and the smaller ones get picked on constantly. I was hoping to grow them all up together but it seems like there gonna have to go because the larger ones Are ready to pair up. I had told him all this but he didn't seem to care he said that he would replace the small one with the eye problem if I drove it to him 5 hours away. The small one is still the same size as when I got him the others are growing right past him because he cant get food. I had taken him up on the offer Because I would be in the are soon but he told me his tanks were down next week and to come next month but when I looked on aquabid he had tons of discus for sale what is he a transshipper?

[dfldcfire]

too bad and i didnt do research before ordering Ive been struggling to keep them alive for the last 2 months

[White Worm]

Look here in the sponsor section and you will receive good quality. I have been through the exact thing as you with the same dealer. Crooked to say the least. You may want to dump them in the garbage and ask for a full refund and give him negative feedback on the aquabid forum. Dont let him tell you that he cant because he did refund my visa for the charges for the dead ones. After I received dead fish and the rest were crap, he tried to make it better by telling me that he would replace the dead ones on my next order. I dont think so....I only get burned once. I took the partial refund, wrote the rest off to a live and learn and never purchased again from that source.

[dfldcfire]

Yeah I get you But I just cant dump them now Ive actaully put quite some time and money in them so far

[TrevorB]

I would recommend taking Mikscus' advice. Cut your losses now, chalk it up to an expensive learning experiment, as I did.

I think I started the same way as you did. Wanted to try discus, found this seller and thought I could get started a little cheaper than through other sources. I ended up getting his 30 discus package and splitting them with a friend. Had problems right away. Lost 10-15 in the first week or so, which were replaced to us at half cost (seemed ok at the time pre-SD). Long story short - after tons of medications, recommended by the seller, all were dead except one.

SO, by this time I had found SD and decided to try again through a sponsor here, Al @ Rocky Mountain Discus. Got 4 nice fish from him and as soon as they were put in with my one remaining discus from MA, they too caught this bacterial infection. I lost 2 of my new fish + the one remaining MA fish. Luckily I was now dealing with a reputable breeder and after months of cleaning up the tank and these two fish Al sent me 3 new ones to replace the lost fish at NC.

I now have 5 healthy happy discus in my tank. So yes, it was costly and I put tons of time into it, but I now have fish I can be proud of and I know they are healthy.

HTH,
Trevor

[brewmaster15]

HI all,
Now, as a preference I am not saying that those that commented here have not had direct experience with the seller.. BUT... This section of the board is for the expression of FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE...good or bad. Just want to remind everyone of this.

If you have first hand experiences and I know many do here, whether or good or bad, please share them in detail , so all may benefit.

Thanks ,
al

[Tad]

This sellers father stole off another website forum, pictures of my wilds to advertise "for sale" on Aquabid as his own,

Tad :mad:

[Inland Empire Discus]

Don't feel bad I was burned too. I even picked them out myself. Had very little light on the tanks and had no where near the selection he told me he had on the phone. Long story short 2 of the discus I ended up with have square or triangle eyes and only 5 of the 10 are decent fish and doing well. 2 died by the next day but that was my fault I should not have picked them out. 3 are not eating well and have eye problems. 10 for $100 not a bad deal but since I see only 5 living and doing somewhat well I will have to say 5 at $20 dollars each is not that good of a deal for the quality of discus I received. Will not buy from him again. Lesson well learned.

[dfldcfire]

Well i wish I would have done my homework before getting my Prize M.A. fish. Thanks for the input everyone wish I would have posted this first. Sorry to hear that extreme, i paid close to 20 a piece, I paid 10 for a pigeon and 20 for another, but they look exactly the same there is no difference I paid for the name I guess(exotic dragon pigeon blood), Most of them I paid around 18 a piece a few were swapped out with something else without telling me and didnt say anything til I figured it out a couple of weeks later. The order form he sent had the original strains I asked for listed no substitions. Some how I ended up with 4 red turqs each one had a different name but they all look alike. Now trying to decide what to do with them.

[White Worm]

When I started, I did my first mail order through him (bruce, previous owner / brad is his son who now runs it). I think I ordered 12 assorted or something. They all looked similar but you could tell the turqs were different. All peppered and stunted in growth (I didnt know that then but I know now after learning what to look for in quality). Upon delivery, they were packed 4 to a bag. They really did a number on each other while in the bags and 3 or 4 were DOA. I took photos like he requested and at first he said he would replace them on my next order. I told him that I wanted money back for the dead and after some deliberation and recalling my negative feedback on aquabid, he agreed to refunding the charges. Use the feedback, it works sometimes. They all ended up dead after some time and meds and I then found local breeder which works out very well. Now I strive to raise or find the best quality specimens that I can with what I can afford. Everyone is always looking for a deal but you always get what you pay for. This is my personal experience with this seller. At least with his father but i can see from feedback lately that things havent changed while keeping it in the family.

[crystalview]

The son did a bait and switch with me and will not return my emails. Three in the bag died and one is mishapped and stunted with a lot of peppering. Wish I saw this post first.