A nightmare at the airport

[Argentum]

At last i now have a chance to let you all know about the NIGHTMARE I experienced in the day that was supposed to the most exciting day fo my life.

Here are sample pictures of the wilds i ordered:

Blue Heckel
98884

Bluemoon Heckel
98885

Cuipeua -Solid red-
98886

Rio Xingu
98887

I started the day @ 5:30 am after only 1.5 hours of sleep full of excitement and anticipation. After driving to Jeddah The flight arrived in time 9 am Saturday (weekend) morning after it has spent 75 hours!! In flight and transit. I barely had time to receive them and drive back to yanbu and place the fish in their tanks.

I received the delivery note from the cargo office and was ready to receive the discus & 9:30 am the only thing left was the custom clearance, simple right? WRONG!!

We spent full 8 hours arguing with the customs employees and escalating the issue about their senseless, useless, stupid delay and arguments.

In the last 3 hours I lost hope, all my dreams of breeding wild discus vanished, the only think i was thinking of is that they have suffocated to death. After finally the manager of Quarantine arrived and intervened and released the fish @ 5 pm (85 hours) and the first bag i inspected was a dead angel fish! I thought that if this small one died the large discus must have all suffocated to DEATH.

we rushed back to my friends place which was not ready for this all we had to save any living discus was 20 gallons of RO water a bottle of Safe and an air pump!!! Hopeless case right? WRONG!

To our surprise and thanks to GODs answer to my prayer then of course the excellent packing and preparation from Vitor Hugo ALL the discus were not only alive but in an excellent condition!!! (except the angel fish). Many thanks to him, I don't believe it could have been done any better!

But the challenge did not stop here! Now i had the discus emptied in the shipping boxes (excellent quality by the way) with half shipping water and half RO clean water and some Prime and grains of salt. I couldn't re-bag them for my 4 hour trip back to yanbu because i didn't have the bags or the oxygen.

[Phillydubs]

What a cliff hanger....

[LizStreithorst]

Keep going...You have me on pins and needles.

[Argentum]

We went and bought two battery operated air pumps and added more clean water placed an air stone in each box placed them in the car and went back home and arrived @1 am.
So now the wild discus spent 85 hours in the bags and 7 more hours in the boxes.

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/p634/argentumblade/E52B410A-B3A0-43C5-BF81-F82170112D3E_zpsix7vvfbx.jpg (http://s1159.photobucket.com/user/argentumblade/media/E52B410A-B3A0-43C5-BF81-F82170112D3E_zpsix7vvfbx.jpg.html)

When i arrived i did no acclimation and just placed them in their aquarium directly. Previously prepared with 60 ppm TDS, 25 C and salt (to match the salt i added to thd shipping boxes.

After this rough trip this is how some came in

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/p634/argentumblade/WIld%20Discus%202016/Arrival%20and%20first%20week/DSC03723_zps4mbkiu9o.jpg (http://s1159.photobucket.com/user/argentumblade/media/WIld%20Discus%202016/Arrival%20and%20first%20week/DSC03723_zps4mbkiu9o.jpg.html)
http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/p634/argentumblade/WIld%20Discus%202016/Arrival%20and%20first%20week/DSC03722_zpso023x1wy.jpg (http://s1159.photobucket.com/user/argentumblade/media/WIld%20Discus%202016/Arrival%20and%20first%20week/DSC03722_zpso023x1wy.jpg.html)
http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/p634/argentumblade/WIld%20Discus%202016/Arrival%20and%20first%20week/DSC03719_zpsymyjpy2j.jpg (http://s1159.photobucket.com/user/argentumblade/media/WIld%20Discus%202016/Arrival%20and%20first%20week/DSC03719_zpsymyjpy2j.jpg.html)

Later i will post some pictures of them after 12 hours in the tank.

Thanks to GOD, not a single Discus died ���� I almost died from worrying the whole day, until the moment i placed them in their aquarium.

[LizStreithorst]

When they say Discus are tough they ain't kidding. Surviving 85 hours in a bag is a testament to that. I never would have thought it possible. I'd have driven them home in buckets but using fish boxes with an air stone was a better idea. You got some beauties. Now that they're home with you they will be fine. I'm looking forward to seeing more pics. Please take care of them. Are they tank bred wilds?

[Argentum]

When they say Discus are tough they ain't kidding. Surviving 85 hours in a bag is a testament to that. I never would have thought it possible. I'd have driven them home in buckets but using fish boxes with an air stone was a better idea. You got some beauties. Now that they're home with you they will be fine. I'm looking forward to seeing more pics. Please take care of them. Are they tank bred wilds?

Thanks Liz,

They are very strong indeed!
The challenge was that the bags after all this time will be loaded with ammonia and once the bags are open CO2 will start to escape from the water, increasing the pH, thus making the ammonia toxic again. Here seachem Safe was the saver!

These are Wild caught discus from Heckels from Nahamunda, reds from Cuipeua, Yellows from Rio Xingu and there are two from the Trombeta not shown here. They all came from Santarem Discus.

Now they have completed a month in the QT tank, all fine with a little drop in the middle (they had a minor ammonia burn due to a mini cycle). But I wanted to share the story from the start :)

[LizStreithorst]

Just sent you a PM.

[Altum Nut]

Wow...now that's an experience not many would be willing to take on. Glad it all worked out and surprised you have any finger nails left...Lol
Superb looking Discus considering the many hours in transit and will be patiently waiting till they are settled in your tank.

...Ralph

[Argentum]

Wow...now that's an experience not many would be willing to take on. Glad it all worked out and surprised you have any finger nails left...Lol
Superb looking Discus considering the many hours in transit and will be patiently waiting till they are settled in your tank.

...Ralph

My nails are intact lol, I was burning from inside however, at one point i was so depressed and started to imagine in my mind how will i quit the hobby sell my new fishroom, Discus ... Everything... Not to mention the huge financial loss!

[LizStreithorst]

God must have been smiling on you. The fish should have been dead. I'm sure that you will do very well with them. I want more pics as time goes on.

[rickztahone]

God must have been smiling on you. The fish should have been dead. I'm sure that you will do very well with them. I want more pics as time goes on.

ditto. Would love to see pics. I would put in a complaint against customs. I know that probably no one cares there at the airport but if enough people do it, maybe someone will notice how stupid they can be?

[LizStreithorst]

If he lived in the States he could do that and it might help. But he lives in Saudi Arabia. I don't know that it's like there but filing a complaint with customs might not be the best thing for him to do.

[Altum Nut]

Since were on the customs subject and sorry Argentum for going off topic but this is the one reason why I'm not attempting to bring any of my Wilds to Nada for show.
I spoke to both US and Can borders about permits and all they say is fill out the online documents and submit them and you will get an answer. With my luck, I drive 4 hrs. to the border just to find out that someone mis-informed me from customs and have to drive back or they destroy fish. Not worth it

...Ralph

[Allwin]

Nevertheless gorgeous wilds, keep us posted when they retain their colors back.

[LizStreithorst]

Such a shame. April said that importing fish to Canada was a pain. Yet she could drive across the border, pick them up in the States and drive back to Canada with no problem. Go figure. I didn't know that is was so hard to ship from Canada to the States. After all, aren't our countries best buddies?

[Argentum]

ditto. Would love to see pics. I would put in a complaint against customs. I know that probably no one cares there at the airport but if enough people do it, maybe someone will notice how stupid they can be?

I would have if I knew it would make any difference, besides I don't even want to go to that place sgain. but as liz said it's not the best thing to do, they are one big family. Not that they can directly do anything, but if i ever need to go there again ... You get the point.

[Argentum]

Since were on the customs subject and sorry Argentum for going off topic but this is the one reason why I'm not attempting to bring any of my Wilds to Nada for show.
I spoke to both US and Can borders about permits and all they say is fill out the online documents and submit them and you will get an answer. With my luck, I drive 4 hrs. to the border just to find out that someone mis-informed me from customs and have to drive back or they destroy fish. Not worth it

...Ralph

Exactly what happened, everyone gives you different information that he is 100% sure is true... And we get lost in the middle:(


Nevertheless gorgeous wilds, keep us posted when they retain their colors back.

Thanks Allwin, will do for sure. I can't wait myself.

[Argentum]

Such a shame. April said that importing fish to Canada was a pain. Yet she could drive across the border, pick them up in the States and drive back to Canada with no problem. Go figure. I didn't know that is was so hard to ship from Canada to the States. After all, aren't our countries best buddies?

The problem is whoever writes these laws and regulations do it with businesses in mind, never considering the hobbyists. With a few exceptions here and there.

[Altum Nut]

Such a shame. April said that importing fish to Canada was a pain. Yet she could drive across the border, pick them up in the States and drive back to Canada with no problem. Go figure. I didn't know that is was so hard to ship from Canada to the States. After all, aren't our countries best buddies?

I think the laws have changed since then Liz. The species name Discus cannot be mentioned from what I hear. However the permit that is required under the category Finfish that needs to be checked off is Symphysodon Discus. Like I said the online documents are very confusing.
I used the name Symphysodon Aequifasciatus when I won a group years ago here on SD and crossed ok but it is not on the pick list now.

...Ralph