View Full Version : How Not to Sell an African Tigerfish
ChilDawg
04-16-2003, 1:58 PM
Hey all,
I've been doing some really fun things since 11 last night...I pored over the species profiles at www.liveaquaria.com (Drs. Foster and Smith's non-Caribbean fish site) and sent a whole bunch of corrections in to them using the "Contact Us" feature. Out of 11 submissions so far, they have responded to 2.
I need your help with one thing, though. They need to adjust the profile for their African Tigerfish right away. They claim that the max. size of these fish is 7-1/2", but, in reality, they get to be 30"+. If you guys could go there, use "Contact Us," and tell them how wrong they are with this fish's profile, that would be much appreciated!
Thanks,
Matthew
VoodooChild
04-16-2003, 2:38 PM
Lol. That's good Chil. I don't know much about the tiger's so I can help ya there. I was wondering though what else did you send them? If you do it again, ask them why they recommend ocellaris in a 50 but a maroon can get by in a 30. Good luck to ya man.
ChilDawg
04-16-2003, 4:09 PM
For those who need info on the Tiger before writing, this is the relevant data from AC:
In their profile on Hydrocynus goliath, it is said that that leviathan gets to 72" but this is what is said about the H. vittatus, which is the one sold by Drs. Foster and Smith on www.liveaquaria.com : "Breeding is rare in captivity. Only H. vittatus has been known to spawn in the aquarium. It is a smaller species, reaching three feet in length."
I appreciate your helping me with this lesser crusade.
~Matthew
ChilDawg
04-16-2003, 7:19 PM
They did fix one thing on site so far--the South American Cichlids link has been changed to New World Cichlids in order to include the C/A and N/A groupings (which they had done before anyway).
Let's get them to change the Tigerfish page now!
I sent them a letter about it. I noticed from before with the plecos the gibbicep they say a normal gets 16" which is close enough I guess but they say the albino only gets 14.5". Never knew albinos grew small then the regulars.
ChilDawg
04-16-2003, 7:34 PM
Thanks, GER...each little bit helps! Hopefully they change it by the close of business tomorrow...
I right to them once in a while about differant fish and there products so hopefully that will give me more of a leverage. Also it was no prob I would have told them along time ago but never found them interesting so never looked up more info on them.
ChilDawg
04-17-2003, 12:33 PM
Update: Yay, they just changed the numbers on the Tigerfish! Thanks to all who mailed them!
GEV83
04-17-2003, 12:37 PM
It was all because of me yup yup yup. Hip hip hurray hip hip hurray. Nah just kiding your welcome childawg what were all the other mistake they had???
ChilDawg
04-17-2003, 12:43 PM
Under the aegis of New World Cichlids, they now have all the fish which they had labelled as South American Cichlids (including FMs, Texans, etc.)
They have Brochis Cats listed as "Cories."
They have the Tigerfish in the non-existent family Hydrocynae.
They currently have a picture of a non-albinistic Buenos Aires Tetra as the Albino B.A.T.
They have Carassius and Rasbora misspelled.
There are several others which I have sent them but can't recall off the top of my head, but I'll keep looking, and they will hopefully have an accurate website by the end of the summer.
ChilDawg
04-17-2003, 12:46 PM
Update: They just fixed the spelling on Rasbora.
ChilDawg
04-17-2003, 12:48 PM
The other two things: they had Discus labelled as specific species, but that is next-to-impossible to discern. They fixed that.
They did not have species names for Angels. I don't believe that any of their varieties have the Pterophyllum scalare x altum genetic traits, so it would be okay to call them P. scalare.
they had altum and they were called Pterophyllumaltum scalare which had me confused but they dont have the altum on there any more.
They sent me an e-mail about the tiger fish.
"Dear Gabriel,
Thank you for your email.
We apologize that this information appeared incorrectly on our web site. We have passed this information onto our site administrators, and they have changed this information on our web site. You can view this information by using this link http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=21&pCatId=1029 and as you ca see the size that we now have listed is the 3 feet that you found.
Again we do apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. If we can be of additional assistance, please contact our Live Aquaria Department at 1-800-334-3699 or via email.
Sincerely,
Nick
Internet Customer Service
Drs. Foster & Smith "
We hope that you find this information beneficial. You will also find over 1500 articles full of helpful information on our Pet Education website! Browse by species or topic. Your question(s) may already be answered there. http://www.peteducation.com
ChilDawg
04-17-2003, 2:10 PM
Cool. I didn't get that E-mail yet, but I assume it is coming. In the meantime, I'm gonna go check the site to see if any of the rest of this has changed.
Just sent mail out about the Albino B.A.T.
Edit
Just sent another about the CARASSIUS spelling error. Im going to have to buy from there under a differant name when were done.
ChilDawg
04-17-2003, 2:20 PM
Thanks, man! That is one of the most glaring errors I've ever seen in pictorials of fish...besides the back cover of "Catfish" by Richard E. Geis.
ChilDawg
04-17-2003, 2:33 PM
The genus Brochis is a group of three catfish (B. splendens, B. multiradiatus, and B. britskii) which are similar to Corydoras cats but are generally plumper and have (I believe) 50% more rays on their dorsal fin as well as many other, less obvious morphological differences.
Is there any really big differance though??? Im just saying because I wouldnt know the differance. Would it really be necessary for them to put them in there own section by themselves???
ChilDawg
04-17-2003, 5:37 PM
That's not what I was getting at...calling them "Emerald Green Cory Cat" and "Brochis Cory Cat" is more what I was lambasting.
oooooooooh im still lost but oooooooooooh. So what do I tell them???
ChilDawg
04-17-2003, 6:03 PM
Just that they should not be referred to as Cory Cats, but instead as "Emerald Green Brochis" (Brochis splendens) and "Hog-Nosed Brochis" (B. multiradiatus).
GEV83
04-18-2003, 10:38 AM
They sent me another reply but the sound like there getting fustrated with me already and Ive only sent 3-4 emails to them. They have not fixed the error with the Albino B.A.T. that they dont have a pic of one when they find one and get permission to use it it will be replaced and the errors with the goldfish spell error has not changed as well as the gibbiceps max sizes. They basically just sent it like say it in a non derect to Shut the hey up. I dont think theyll be getting my business any time soon.
ChilDawg
04-18-2003, 10:40 AM
Yeah, here's the one I got from them today:
Dear Matthew,
Thank you for your email.
The tank mates for the fish can vary. In many cases these fish could get along together. You are correct in stating that the faster moving fish may frighten the other fish in the tank. As we have done in the past we will send this information to our site administrators to see about changing this information.
If we can be of additional assistance, please contact our Live Aquaria Department at 1-800-334-3699 or via email.
Sincerely,
Nick
Internet Customer Service
Drs. Foster & Smith
We hope that you find this information beneficial. You will also find over 1500 articles full of helpful information on our Pet Education website! Browse by species or topic. Your question(s) may already be answered there. http://www.peteducation.com
At 04:06 PM 4/17/03 -0500, you wrote:
From: Matthew Childers
Zip Code: 61010
Email: Hidden
Comments:
In the Zebra Danio profile, it is mentioned that Angelfish and Discus are suitable tank mates, but that is not entirely correct, as Angels and Discus are shy, slow-moving fish, and would be frightened by the speedy fish zipping around their tank.
Drs. Foster & Smith
Customer Service Agent 387
I'd still suggest going with them...they sell high-quality fish and the customer service isn't that bad...they're just getting sick of being questioned. I think they think that you and I might be the same person since we're calling them on the same mistakes.
GEV83
04-18-2003, 11:44 AM
true but no reason why to get upset online in a e-mail when talking to customers. The customers are always right.
GEV83
04-21-2003, 10:02 PM
They fixed the Gibbiceps size error gold fish spelling but not the b.A.T. pic and not the cory cats
ChilDawg
04-21-2003, 10:16 PM
It's a good start, though...and I thank you for that. I'll hit them again this summer with some of my E-mail addies that might be a little unfamiliar as well as my aliases.
GEV83
04-21-2003, 10:29 PM
They sent me an email not from the site but the ones who made the site the ones who make the corrections they said in a couple of weeks they should have a Albino BAT pic up there going to take a pic of one from there own stock.
ChilDawg
04-21-2003, 10:32 PM
That's really cool...let me know when they post it as nobody from the site seems to ever want to talk with me again! (I'll be back under assumed names...you can be sure of that.)
GEV83
04-21-2003, 10:36 PM
Oh boy let me know if you need help again.
Brochis are just as cute as Corydoras but about twice as big. Also I haven't seen them in nearly as many varieties as cories.