Skinny and delayed Tetraodon schoutedeni (spotted congo) shipment

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StinkyPete
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Skinny and delayed Tetraodon schoutedeni (spotted congo) shipment

Post by StinkyPete »

Hello puffer fans,

Here we go.

Day 1:
There was a delivery of five Tetraodon schoutedeni puffers set for an overnight or 24 hour next day arrival.
It was seen in the carrier's online tracking system to arrive in 24hrs by noon the next day after the store shipped.

Somehow the carrier missed the date/time.
The puffers arrived on the second day before 10am.

They are all alive.
The store held off from feeding for a portion of a week for the delivery.
The store stated they would not have so much food in their intestinal system which would keep the waste down in the shipping bags.
I filmed the unboxing, time stamped the videos taken as well as video logged the progression of the feedings/puffers health.

Of the 5 total, 2 look somewhat normal.
3 look really skinny. They all attempt to eat.
Only one has had to go to the bathroom so far as I see it coming out.
The 3 skinny T. schoutedeni seem to have low energy and swirl around and roll sideways a little bit here and there.

I think some may have ick. I do observe white spots on the fins, but I have no way to say it is for sure.
Lastly, I'd assume they are carrying the normal parasitites as well and may need treatment.

This year, I have had 2 separate shipments of Tetraodon schoutedeni puffers.
One was from across the nation that made it the next day (24hrs).
This 2nd order was a state and a half away, but took 2 days.

My past (next-day/overnight) live fish orders from last year and this year all have made the mark of 24 hours.
This week the order was weird, but I can figure that out later.
Right now, I'm trying to keep them clean, happy and fed.

Below are 3 photos of what a skinny Tetraodon schoutedeni puffer looks like.
These 3 pics are copied and pasted codes from my photo converter and I believe one photo is an attachment from the pufferforum's uploader.
I'm not positive on how the forum uploader fully works as some of the pics automatically delete at times and some wont delete at all.

Image

Image

Image
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gkai
Figure 8 Puffer
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Re: Skinny and delayed Tetraodon schoutedeni (spotted congo) shipment

Post by gkai »

Really skinny indeed...hopefully they will bulk up quick!
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Pufferpunk
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Re: Skinny and delayed Tetraodon schoutedeni (spotted congo) shipment

Post by Pufferpunk »

Awww... poor lil skinny guys!
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
NJD
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Re: Skinny and delayed Tetraodon schoutedeni (spotted congo) shipment

Post by NJD »

wow they do look skinny! Please keep posting updates, interested to see how they get on :-)

I am trying to get some of these in the UK so far only found 1 but the shop want £475 ($630) for it. I know they come at a premium but that is a bit steep!
StinkyPete
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My Puffers: (Pea puffers),T. schoutedeni, P. Turgidus, P. palembangensis, Random target puffer, cutcuia, palustris...
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Re: Skinny and delayed Tetraodon schoutedeni (spotted congo) shipment

Post by StinkyPete »

Today is Sunday the 17th of June, and this is currently day 2 for them in my possession.
They all try to eat.

When I turn my pumps down to the minimum for feedings, they get real lazy and sit on the bottom.
As soon as I turn the flow up, even the weak looking skinnies get happy and zip lightly in the flow at times.

Frozen mussels, frozen Blood worms, Live brine, live black worms, trumpet snails, ramshorn snails, and small pest snails from my plants are the main sources I have tried.
Ghost shrimp get tossed in from my quarantine tank and all the puffers get a chance to chase them if needed.
The shrimp are fast and get away with a lot of skill.
The shrimp seem to pick the leftovers of the filters as well as on the bottom.

On my first set of 2 puffers, I do 25-50% 1-2 times per week and slap out half of their foam media and sometimes leave the sponges alone depending if its a sponge in a hang-on unit or another type of filter sponge near the bottom.

I use multiple types of filters.
Hang on units on the top, and foam round sponges jammed on to a Cobalt MJ series small pump that gets the water to move the way I'd like it.
Lastly, some of my tanks have a small canister filter stuffed with more porous foam to keep that water nice and clean with the good old denitrification process as well as plants in most of the tanks.
It takes time at first, but soon the top is clean, the bottom is clean, and the puffers are not getting blown around either.

Back to the new skinnies:
No serious personality traits just yet in this new bunch of 5.
My first set of 2 schoutedeni came last month, and one is shy, the other is full of spunk and loves attention.

On this new skinny shipment of 5, I keep the lights off for most of the day as I am gathering plants to fill up their tank.
I use the lights for observation times for now.
I do have aged driftwood structures for them to cruise around for now.

The seller has great reviews.
I asked for pre shipment photos of them, but did not get a response as they are a busy store.
So far, I obviously have more time and have a camera.
I do my best to have documentation of everything I sell throughout my aquarium journey, as well as photos or video of what I may sell (fish, tanks, equipment etc.).

Lets see what this week has in store for the skinnies.
NJD
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Re: Skinny and delayed Tetraodon schoutedeni (spotted congo) shipment

Post by NJD »

Thanks for the update!
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eieio
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Re: Skinny and delayed Tetraodon schoutedeni (spotted congo) shipment

Post by eieio »

they don't look too good.
have you been in touch with the seller, sent pictures?
when you requested pre-shipping pictures, how much time went by between the request for pictures and the shipping of the fish?
"I plan ahead. That way, I don't have to do anything right now!"
StinkyPete
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Re: Skinny and delayed Tetraodon schoutedeni (spotted congo) shipment

Post by StinkyPete »

eieio wrote: Mon Jun 18, 2018 9:56 am they don't look too good.
have you been in touch with the seller, sent pictures?
when you requested pre-shipping pictures, how much time went by between the request for pictures and the shipping of the fish?
We started talking about an order in mid May.
May 17th started a good amount of email replies.
We were getting to see what else he had for sale as well as waiting to get another paycheck devoted to these 5 fish and equipment.
He is a busy guy and has a well respected store and good reviews.
By the time we bounced emails back and forth about pipefish, cories and gobies to add the order, all he really had for us was the puffers.

We made a solid reply June 4th for big June 15th target delivery date.

I had asked a few questions June 5th.
My Q&A to seller:
Do you have any current photos of the Puffers?
What foods are they used to eating from your store?
How many are in the tank/tanks?
Do they live with each other or are they separated?
These are 100% Tetraodon schoutedeni?

I did speak with him on the phone, but did not get much info besides how many he had in the store to buy and that they were together sharing a tank.
He is very nice, but I could tell he was always pressed for time and in a hurry.

We sent Paypal to the Funds request on the 12th.
I did not receive any photos of the fish before they shipped out.

I'm on day 3 of owning them currently, and they are eating, but the skinnies only peck, but do not belly-swell like the others I have in the room.
A positive I can say is the colors on some of them are nice and the spots are large and dark.

For feeding, I feed them three times.
Starting in the morning at 6am, 4pm after work, and at night around 7-8:30pm.

No lights, just when I want to see them and spot check them over for details on their belly area etc.

All the puffers in the room love the frozen Blood worms when they are room temp.
Different companies have slightly different qualities of the staple food frozen blood worm.
I stock it all the time.

Back to the seller.
He did state please give them a good week to fatten up.
My thought was "why did my 1st order from the other store look way nicer"?

Did he pass off skinnies to me in hopes I'd get stuck with them or other misc. reasons?
The thing that bother me was the good reviews that were recent on the facebook page as well as a company theme (below) that did not relate to such unhealthy looking fish.

So why order from *************
Posted on April 10, 2018 by *******
15+ years of shipping fish
35+ years in the hobby
25+ years in the industry
Proper ID’s are a passion
No Turn and Burn, I strive to send out healthy properly quarantined fish
Live Arrival Guarantee with a refund or replacement for DOAs
I’m a fellow hobbiest treating you like I want to be treated.
I got into this because I was frustrated by the limited selection, poor quality, and improper ID and sexing of fish.
Styrofoam shipping boxes WITH heat packs (when needed).


It sounded like a great place to buy.
I'm just doing what I can to keep these puffers happy and fed right now.

I keep him (seller) updated each day, no matter how annoyed he may get.
We're good people and should be treated the way the business model he created states.

Were on good terms.
No fish are dead yet.
It's about hope and good food right now.

I'll have plenty of pics and video once these fish make it.
cdarminio
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Re: Skinny and delayed Tetraodon schoutedeni (spotted congo) shipment

Post by cdarminio »

I have bought fish from the same seller you did and I've always been pleased with my purchases. To be fair I have never bought fish as expensive as your puffers, but all the fish I have bought (cichlids, tetras, catfish) have been healthy. They do arrive skinny, but bulk up over a few days.

I remember I talked to him about ordering puffers, and he told me that he treats them before shipping them out to customers. Not sure if you asked him this.
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eieio
Mbu Puffer
Posts: 1033
Joined: Sat Jun 13, 2009 11:34 am
My Puffers: *
The Congo Puffer:
"olivia"
and.......
The DP:
"cream puff"
RIP cream puff :-(
Location (country): U.S.A.
Location: Prescott, Arizona

Re: Skinny and delayed Tetraodon schoutedeni (spotted congo) shipment

Post by eieio »

they are VERY emaciated
they may have a serious case of IPs.
if they looked like the picture in your first post when delivered, I'd REALLY take exception.
who did you order them from?
I've ordered fish to ship to me, and none have ever looked like something that I wouldn't purchase in person.
I'd have walked without current pictures of the purchase.
That would be a deal-breaker.
"I plan ahead. That way, I don't have to do anything right now!"
StinkyPete
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Posts: 107
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My Puffers: (Pea puffers),T. schoutedeni, P. Turgidus, P. palembangensis, Random target puffer, cutcuia, palustris...
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Re: Skinny and delayed Tetraodon schoutedeni (spotted congo) shipment

Post by StinkyPete »

cdarminio wrote: Mon Jun 18, 2018 11:10 pm I have bought fish from the same seller you did and I've always been pleased with my purchases. To be fair I have never bought fish as expensive as your puffers, but all the fish I have bought (cichlids, tetras, catfish) have been healthy. They do arrive skinny, but bulk up over a few days.

I remember I talked to him about ordering puffers, and he told me that he treats them before shipping them out to customers. Not sure if you asked him this.
We have plenty of email exchanges, and I do see it in his store's statement (below).
****No Turn and Burn, I strive to send out healthy properly quarantined fish***
- in reality "I strive" does not actually mean "I successfully did or always do".
To me there is a lot of hype on the internet and what people stand by.

To give him credit, I do not own a store, and can see where he has a lot of things to do.
I wish he would have some more TLC in his transactions.
Before they shipped, I said to him in an email "please give them the care your reviews seemed to reflect" (his social media pages).
StinkyPete
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My Puffers: (Pea puffers),T. schoutedeni, P. Turgidus, P. palembangensis, Random target puffer, cutcuia, palustris...
Location (country): USA

Re: Skinny and delayed Tetraodon schoutedeni (spotted congo) shipment

Post by StinkyPete »

eieio wrote: Tue Jun 19, 2018 11:26 am they are VERY emaciated
they may have a serious case of IPs.
if they looked like the picture in your first post when delivered, I'd REALLY take exception.
who did you order them from?
I've ordered fish to ship to me, and none have ever looked like something that I wouldn't purchase in person.
I'd have walked without current pictures of the purchase.
That would be a deal-breaker.
I'm not sure If I have permission to state the name, but the statements I listed above from the store's "why-buy-from-us" topic should allow google to lead your search right to the store's websites.

This forum actually had a member recommend the store to me from the misc "where to buy" puffer forum topics.
I was looking fro more stores to choose from. I already had great success 2x from the popular place in Oregon.
The price was hard to beat.
This store seemed very legitimate. I just did not get the photos I asked for before the shipment date.

This morning they were all still alive for the 1st feeding. Day 4.
I have to get going to get them feeding #2 on day 4.
gkai
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Re: Skinny and delayed Tetraodon schoutedeni (spotted congo) shipment

Post by gkai »

still as thin, or bulking up a little bit? Maybe with a lot of live snails they will be able to feed regularly when they want, even during the night...
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Pufferpunk
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Posts: 32764
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
Gender: Female
My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles
Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Re: Skinny and delayed Tetraodon schoutedeni (spotted congo) shipment

Post by Pufferpunk »

You ABSOLUTELY have permission to post their name! It is very possible they changed hands since the person who recommended this place to you bought their fish. I was very pleased with a place I had spent thousands at for years. Then, they started sending me emaciated, diseased fish. Caused me to loose almost my entire collection of fish. Turns out the owner & his GF had a fight. The GF left. She was in charge of the shipping process, especially picking out fish.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
gkai
Figure 8 Puffer
Posts: 104
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2014 5:06 am
Location (country): Belgium

Re: Skinny and delayed Tetraodon schoutedeni (spotted congo) shipment

Post by gkai »

Well, indeed googling the statements return the shop ;-)
Out of curiosity, I've checked the price of a schoutedeni...Ouch. It seems that for this puffer, we fare much better in EU ;-) Maybe central africa shipments are easier here, or there is this german breeder keeping the market reasonable, or a combination of both.
Now after seeing how expensive it is in the US, I start to feel like maybe 50-70€ schoutedeni may be a reasonable option for my tank ;-)
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