what did I do wrong ...

[h0nkzz]

This is frustrating !!!! as some of y’all know my experience with tropheus hasn’t been a really good one and guess what, it’s not getting any better.

1st, I got the Moops from Fishcrazy, then i have to sell them due to personal problems.
2nd, I had to backed out from the once in a lifetime deal in the December 07 direct import due to getting laid off from my job.

and then i got the chimbas from J, they’re great and really got me all enthused again about tropheus.
and so I decided to put some money together and bought a colony of 18 WC Kasangas from a troph dealer. Great guy, very nice to work with.

Then I picked them up at the cargo last night after a same day shipping, got them home an open them, n guess what ! 10 out the 18 fish arrived dead !!!!!!
The seller said he doesnt know what went wrong and it NEVER happened before. He was nice about it and gave me a refund for then 10 dead fish right away.  
But in reality, its not completely about the money, Its FRUSTRATING to opened up a box of the Trophs you’re so excited about and found over half of them dead.

why does such thing only happened to ME ??? what did I do wrong !!!      

sorry guys, just needed to vent here.
on the side note, the surviving 8 trophs are in my tank. 7 are fine,  1 wasn’t too good when i got them out of the bag last night but seems to be doing alot better as of this morning when i left for work.

[Mzungu]

Re: what did I do wrong ...

:(  Wow, that's terrible. I'm sorry, I can see why you would need to vent! Glad that the remaining trophs are doing well, and I hope that the one having trouble ends up okay.

[CichlidFan]

Re: what did I do wrong ...

Well, as one who has had his own problems keeping tropheus, I'll give you my opinion on the subject, it all boils down to experience and circumstances as I see it. The more experience you have with these fish the better, but that still will not guarantee success by any means.  In my opinion, a lot of what happens with any fish keeping venture boils down to circumstance and or chance.

If the fish are eating, and you can provide them with a clean and comfortable environment, thats' half the battle right there.

Keep learning and the odds should eventually improve in your favor, good luck.

CF

[J-WS6]

Re: what did I do wrong ...

hey andri, sorry to hear that! the shipping must have stressed them out really badly. the only thing you can do is do your best to keep the ones you have left alive and healthy!

if it makes you feel any better, my first colony of tropheus was 13 duboisi's. i was so excited to get them, stayed on top of water changes etc, etc. then i left out of town one weekend only to come home to my tank full of dead trohpeus because the heater burned up on me. the water in the tank was 90 degrees! and somehow my giraffe cat was the only one who managed to live. i'll never use titanium tube heaters again!!  

[h0nkzz]

Re: what did I do wrong ...

I'm sure I'm still learning. As for providing the neccesaries for the fish to be well, I can do that.
It's the unfortunate things that happened everytime I am dealing with trophs, I can't control.
Coincidence? i dont know. but it sure is frustrating

[J-WS6]

Re: what did I do wrong ...

which tank are these guys in? didn't you get that 135 from marsh?

[h0nkzz]

Re: what did I do wrong ...

no. right now they're in the 75. they're going to a 5' 110gal when I move.

[J-WS6]

Re: what did I do wrong ...

oh sweet.

[Zulaab]

Re: what did I do wrong ...

Andri..  I am sorry to hear how things are going for you.  I wish there was something I could do for you, but all I can do is give you sympathy.
I am glad to see you back on the boards again and back in keeping fish and glad to see you are not completely heart broken over your bad luck.
I hope after your move things will settle down for you and things will work better out for you :)

Keep smiling :)
Jesper

[Delock]

Re: what did I do wrong ...

Man,

I order 36 ikolas from a dealer...they came in fine and within 1.5 months I was down to 1!

[Zulaab]

Re: what did I do wrong ...

A group of DUBS scared them out of their minds ?

[geoff_tropheus]

Re: what did I do wrong ...

Shipping fish into Houston can be a very difficult problem in the summer, especially if your carrier uses Southwest or some other airlines that have stops where the temperature is in excess of 90F

If the fish are left in storage facilities while they are awaiting transfer or pickup to their flight/another flight, then there can be serious issues with the temperature.

I do not know where you purchased the Kasanga's from, but it could be a packaging pronblem if all the fish were in the same bag, and a shipping problem if he did not get you the most direct flight to Houston.

Anytime your shipping fish, it is of the utmost to get the most direct flight, or one with little or no lay-overs.

Southwest is very prone to leaving fish in Phoenix or Dallas, which are major HUBS for them which cause problems for fish.

So my advice here, is get with your seller about getting whichever carrier has the most direct flight, and that his shipping/packaging experience is up to par so that he does not put them all in the same bag, or if he does, then the bag is large enough, packed with O2, and highly oxygenated to ship the fishes.

There are a lot more things I could tell you about recieving fish, but that is a different topic.

The most important thing is getting experience by having it trial by fire, or seek it out.

Take care,

Geoff

[h0nkzz]

Re: what did I do wrong ...

just came home from work. The one (who's in bad condition last night) seems to be doing fine and already claimed one of the rock pile. he's definately the biggest of the groups, close to 5".

[Zulaab]

Re: what did I do wrong ...

I have never had anything shipped via freight here to Houston, but since Continental has a hub here, I would say if you can get it shipped via Continental Airlines.  I know Mike used to get fish shipped via Continental Airlines (yes I know because I had to go pick up fish once for him) and it was really easy to get etc.. and they where alive...

[Delock]

Re: what did I do wrong ...

I used Southwest today and didnt have a problem!