The iFISH StoreReviews of theifishstore.com

Response from The iFISH Store· Mar 18, 2020

Hello Rosaida; Discus can be quite shy but if your water parameters are optimum, they will eventually settle down in their new tank. You'll also find they will be more sociable once they realize you are the one with the food. There are a couple of factors that affect their shyness or need to hide. They do not favor bright lights and noisy environments. And they are more comfortable with a few places to hide in the tank rather than having a bare aquarium. They prefer being in groups with other Discus and also adding some schooling fish such as Tetras help them feel less threatened. These are just a few ideas to get your new Discus to be less shy. We hope this helps you coax your Discus out a bit more!

Response from The iFISH Store· Mar 19, 2020

Hello Mark; We're sorry this was your experience with us. A few notes of explanation from our end and a note on how this resulted in you seeing the bagging that you did. Quarantine: We quarantine all the fish marked for shipment a minimum of 24-48 hours and then they are shipped out the next Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or sometimes Thursday (depending on your location) - whichever comes first. During the quarantine period, the fish are fed up to the final 12 hours prior to shipping to ‘clean out’ their digestive system and limit their ability to soil the water. This lessens the chance of fish dying in transit due to poor water quality. Also, it may have taken a week to receive your fish, however, that doesn't mean they were quarantined for a week. At the most they would have entered quarantine on a Wednesday and then shipped on the following Monday. Nevertheless, they would have been fed up until the final 12 hours in quarantine. Packaging: The packaging procedure you see on our site is the procedure we have been using for years. We double bag with the first bag being filled ~25% with aquarium water containing methylene blue to prevent bacterial growth. We then fill the remainder of the bag with oxygen and it is tightly closed with a rubber band. We then put the double bagged fish upside down into a third bag resulting in a triple-bag scheme to contain potential leakage and provide extra protection, durability and longevity. Multiple bagged fish are then secured together with plastic wrap to ensure added stability during shipment. Here's the glitch which caused your bad experience. The above procedure is one we've been using successfully for years and believed it ensured a very safe and healthy environment for the fish we were responsible for packaging and shipping. However, most recently, we were evaluating new, more automated packaging equipment and did several beta tests on shipments to evaluate the method. Our conclusion was it is not a reliable and safe methodology and rejected adopting the equipment and procedure. We have immediately returned to our established and reliable methodology as is outlined on our site but unfortunately, you saw the results of one of our beta tests which was not good. We apologize for the bad experience you had with us and thank you for your honest feedback. All this being said, in order to rectify the situation, we would like to offer you a credit on a future order worth the full value of the fish that you purchased. We will be sending you an email outlining all that was stated here. We sincerely hope that you will give us another try and experience our established packing/shipping procedure. As you mentioned, the value of our fish is exceptional and shipping is fast. We hope to count you as a recurring customer in the future. And again, our apologies for the packaging mishap.