Sunrise Tropical - A very dissapointing experience

[bernie82]

I had heard some good things about Tony Peng from Sunrise Tropical Fish in Daly City, Ca so I took a trip out there last month. He had a tank with about 30 nice bright 2 inch Yellow Diamonds there. I bought six at $50 a piece. It's been 3 weeks now and 4 of them turned a dusty charcoal color and the other two turned gold. I brought the fish back to him and asked him to return my money. He still had about 10 fish left from the same batch that I bought these from and they were still bright yellow but they hadn't grown much. In 3 weeks, the ones that I bought were twice the size of his.
He blamed me for the fish turning gold and black and wouldn't take them back.
I feed them mostly California black worms with some frozen brine shrimp, frozen blood worms, and Sally's San Francisco Bay Beefheart.
He said no one else that bought them complained about the loss of color. Am I being unreasonable to expect a dealer who specializes in quality Discus to stand behind his fish?
Any ideas on why all his fish from that batch are still a pretty yellow?

[heavyp83]

Can you tell us a little bit out the tank you put them in, and you water change schedule?

[Dave C]

What color was the tank background, substrate or painted bottom... both his tank and yours? Yellow fish in a tank with black gravel or background will change from yellow to something less desirable very fast. Put them in a light blue painted tank, bottom & sides & back and their color might change back.

[brewmaster15]

Bernie,
I believe your probelm comes partially from expecting too much from "yellow" discus. These have become notorious for not turning out quite as well as the buyer and even the seller hopes.
I would suggest you compare your water chemistry, tank back grounds and diet to his. Try and match all parameters exactly and see what happens.


As for your questions about the named seller standing by their fish and not taking them back.... Those matters are best discussed between you and he, and should not be debated on simplydiscus out of fairness to both parties and in adherence to board policy.

http://www.simplydiscus.com/mission_statement.html

Thanks,
al

[bernie82]

Hi. Thanks for the response. The fish are in a 60 gallon bare bottom tank with a bankground glossy mural on the back. I do 50% water changes daily and their diet is mainly Ca black worms, some, frozen blood worms, frozen brineshrimp and frozen beefheart.Tony says he feeds them only frozen blood worms and he had no background on the tank he kept them in.
I'm sorry Brew for personalizing the problem. I felt that since many of the members give LFS cudos for selling quality fish at fair prices, it seems only fair to be able to state the facts. I'm not saying I had a right to expect a refund. I felt cheated but maybe it was my fault?

[brewmaster15]

Bernie, I can sympathize with you here, but past events and legal concerns have lead us to where we are on this subject. Please read the sites mission statement, and if you have further questions feel free to Im me to talk about it .

You are free however to go back to the post you made when you first visited that seller, and change it to say something along the lines of.

" If you would like to know my experiences with this seller, please email me at... " this removes the board from any liability and still allows you to share what you feel was a negative experience here.

hth,
al

[bubabui]

I am sorry your exerience with Sunrise was dissapointing. I am planning on flying up to San Jose to see Tony's store later this month.

I am not trying to stir things up here, but I thought this site had a positive
feedback policy only?

To the administrators & moderators:

Shouldn't this post be considered a negative feedback?

"This site has a zero tolerance policy for anything posted in a negative fashion about other members, fish breeders, wholesalers, or suppliers. We feel this is the fairest policy possible to all parties. Positive comments are welcome. This is called a Positive Feedback System."

Just wanted clarification....



Joe

[bernie82]

Thanks for the clarification Brew. I understand.

[brewmaster15]

Joe,
Have you read anything I have written in this thread so far? :-\ >:(

For the record, questions on policies for this board can be directed to me privately by IM or Email at brewmaster15@att.net They will not be discussed on the board.

thanks,
al

[bubabui]

Sorry Al.

Seems you posted your message while I was typing mines...(look at the times posted). Anyway, your post says it all ;D ;D ;D


Don't be mad...Discus keeping is a GREAT hobby!

[brewmaster15]

Its okay Joe, but if you dealt with buyer-seller issues on the board as many times as I have, you'd really understand :)

take care,
al

[Jeff]

Bermie,

I too have had some problems with a few yellows that I even sold to a friend. I just gave the money back on the ones that did not turn out. I resolved the problems with the yellows and have not had problems since. I'm not defending Tony I don't even know him, just stating the facts.

Yellows are very sensitive to background issues. As dave said a light blue with a light bottom should be fine. I do not think you did anything wrong. The ones that turned charcoal have PB in them vs. the ones that did not. As far as some turning gold I do not know what you mean. Do you have any pics you can post of these?

[DISCUS USA]

Just want to say that i have ordered from Tony early this summer and he did not disappoint me.I purchased 2 Yellow Diamonds at $100.00 each at 3 inches,their shape ..very round..eyes red..no peppering at all ZERO.Now thats why i paid $100.00 for each...the perfect specimen discus in my opinion..When i recieved it was colorless in body area and eyes were in between orange and red..now 4 inches...NOWWW!!!! 4 inches body 90% colored ,eyes more red and still has good round body.I am not dissapointed at all with Sunrise Tropicals,one of the Yellow diamonds spends most of the time pecking at pvc tube and seems to be deciding between two what i believe are males..heres 2 pics..the one on right is yellow diamond from SUNRISE TROPICALS.

[daninthesand]

I totaly understand why a fish seller would refuse to take fish back. Who knows where they've been? He'd have to quarantine those fish again and I'm sure its not worth his time or the risk to all the other peoples tanks that buy from him after that.

As for refunding your money, thats a whole other story that, nneds to be resolved by IM or some other means.

[calgalindi]

I consider Burnie's posts to be a positive feedback for Sunrise Tropicals however the title sounded nagative. According to the buyer, Burnie's statement : "In 3 weeks the ones that I bought were twice the size of his fish." and " Any ideas on why all his fish from that batch are still a pretty yellow?"
The fish I bought from Sunrise grow really fast too! Discus do change colors! Try to move your discus to different tanks with different color backing, substrate, lighting, temperatures, tank mates, you will know! Why the ones in the seller's tank are still bright yellow ????

[goldengatediscus]

I personally have had a good experience with Sunrise Tropicals, but I also know that others have not. I have not purchased any yellow fish from Tony.

When I started keeping discus, I fell in love with the canary yellows that Dave C had purchased, and I was determined to get some. At first, the fish were a bright yellow. After a few weeks, they changed to a dusty rose or pink color, and some turned orange. I was disappointed that I could not get them yellow again. Later, I found out that the yellows cannot have any food that contains any shrimp or astaxanthin. That meant that the yellows had to kept separated from my red fish, since my flakes and tetrabits have a lot of red color enhancer. I was also told that the yellows need to be fed cockles or clams, and that the yellow color needs to be enhanced with dried crushed yellow marigold flowers added to beefheart, and carophyll yellow (if you can get it). Well, I don't feed beefheart, and cockles/marigold flowers sounded like too much hassle, so I got rid of the fish early on, and thus ended my love affair with the yellow discus. No more yellow discus for me. Been there, done that. Now, when I need a fix of yellow fish, I go to a LFS and stare at the yellow tangs for a while.

Keep in mind also that your water in Vallejo coming from Lake Berryessa is quite hard. I used to live in Vallejo, and the kettle always had a calcium carbonate deposit at the bottom. I don't know the pH. Sunrise Tropicals is in Daly City. They get their water from Hetch Hetchy, and the water is very soft. Tony also just throws in a few blackworms in the tanks at the store. The fish get enough to eat to keep them from being malnurished, and keep waste production to a minimum until sold. I personally don't think that you'll get anything back from Tony
Brigitte

[Not2Day]

I think Brigitte hit the nail right on the head. I, too, have had Yellows turn Charcoal and Orange on me. Certain color types need specific dietary and water requirements to flourish and must be kept separately. I do think that the sellers could be more forthcoming in this matter.
Dave

[OEG]

Bernie, I hope those guys clean up for you, i just wanted to say that i have made three purchases from tony and all three times he has come through with flying colors althought the fish i bought were 6 inches and not babies which i think tend to get sick after shipping but with a little tlc they can come back with a vengence. Tony is a tough man to get to change his mind, i think as a buisness man thats all he can do to be profitable but i feel for you. What other types of fish do you like? Do you like SS or Red Diamonds? Let me know.
Oscar
PS pics of my fish from tony

[OEG]

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[OEG]

lst1