Has anyone imported fish from Lawrence Soon at Lucky Tropical Fish Farm in Malaysia ? I would be interestred in hearing any comments about his fish
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Has anyone imported fish from Lawrence Soon at Lucky Tropical Fish Farm in Malaysia ? I would be interestred in hearing any comments about his fish
As this is the review section, I felt this was the correct place for this post?
Recently, a group of approximately 30 individuals collaborated on an order from Lawrence Soon & his Luckytropical Fish Farm. The order was for 116 AAA grade Discus to be delivered to South Africa, from his farm in Malaysia. I'm representing them.
As always, there are risks in these type of orders, that's to be expected, and we were happy with these risks (unhealthy fish due to the travel etc) but none of us were prepared for the disaster & terrible service that we received! Following are some of the issues we experienced:
Approximately 10% of the fish ordered were substituted with other strains (without notification)
The most expensive fish ordered, a "confirmed breeding pair" tried to kill each other and it appears that they are the same gender (One of which has a broken dorsal fin)
Only a few of the "Ring Leopards" have a few rings, the rest have none
Numerous fish appear to be stunted
Numerous fish have deformities such as underdeveloped/short gill plates, beak shaped mouths (clearly not award winning AAA grade shapes that were ordered) etc
Numerous fish have bad shapes too. This is always a contentious subject but being a award winning Breeder, and after advertising his AAA grade to us, we expected the same. The fish we received were nowhere near the AAA grade pictures that he posts everywhere!
Above all, he has been evasive & unwilling to resolve the matter in a satisfactory manner. His only solution offered was to send us more fish (of which we are already not impressed), at his costs (Freight) .......BUT ........ we still have to PAY for the fish!
He has also sent messages to common friends in the industry that we haven't paid him in full for the original order yet anyone that knows how he operates, knows that he only sends the order once the full amount reflects in his account, and we can prove that the full payment was made weeks prior to delivery!
Based on the above, the dealings with this Breeder have been a disaster! Our local importers bring in cheap imports on a weekly basis from all over the world that are of a similar quality but like I said, at a fraction of the price. This order was placed specifically for top quality (AAA Grade) from a "renowned" breeder so that those ordering could try to breed quality here in Southern Africa.
Unfortunately, there are no governing bodies to protect the small guys in international purchases (over $7000US) like ours was. We can only try to share our experiences so that hopefully others don't fall into the same trap!
Our rating is 👎🏻 (Find another Breeder to buy from)
Wow that's crazy and sad to hear sorry to all involved.
I had some lovely fish from Lawrence via Chicago discus a few years back I mean 4 plus years ago prob. But they were some stunning fish.
Just in case you were curious, Chicago Discus has not carried Lawrence Soon discus for 3 or 4 years. We are proud of the quality of discus from our current suppliers, and I am sure you will not be disappointed either.
I had some gorgeous mosaic turqs from Lawrence Soon three years ago - some of the nicest discus I ever owned. Five months later, this entire tank of fish came down with discus plague. These fish were in their own 75 gal tank the entire time and this was the only tank to have the problem. No other discus had come into my fish room since these guys.
Willie