Fake Tetrabits on the Market?

[Alistair]

Guys,

I recently got a can of tetrabits and noticed that it had a spelling error. The word 'radiant' was spelt as 'rediant'. I find it difficult to believe that a brand like tetra would let that error happen.

I am from the city of Mumbai, India and I checked with a few other hobbyists and they too had the same cans.

I wanted to check if people in the west, ie US and Europe have the same cans in circulation. Could you guys please check. I have attached images of the older cans with the correct spelling and the new cans with the error.

Another sign of fake Tetrabits is that it will leech a reddish color to the water, which might be more evident in smaller tanks. Have you experienced the same?

 

[Drstrangelove]

I worked at a packaging company for many years. (We printed the labels that go on containers.) Typos happen from time to time especially due to small design changes that aren't as properly screened as brand new products.

Countries have misspelled their own name on coins. Newspapers have misspelled their own name at the top of the front page. The ten commandments have been misspelled. Heck, the democratic party misspelled it's own presidential candidate's name on debate tickets.

While it's possible, a typo isn't a very good indicator that a product is fake.


FWIW, here are some infamous typos:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicamis...-of-all-time?utm_term=.gwN14EM4Wy#.amKow1kw84

http://www.cracked.com/article_18517_the-7-most-disastrous-typos-all-time.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/drummond-moir/worst-typos_b_5564977.html

https://www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2012/oct/25/worst-typos-pictures

 

[Alistair]

Thanks for raising up a valid point Drstrangelove. Very interesting links. I was ignoring the typo till my water turned reddish recently. We have mailed the company about this issue, lets see how they respond. But wanted to check if the same typo exists on the batches that went out to Europe and the US.

 

[Alistair]

Thanks for raising up a valid point Drstrangelove. Very interesting links. I was ignoring the typo till my water turned reddish recently. We have mailed the company about this issue, lets see how they respond. But wanted to check if the same typo exists on the batches that went out to Europe and the US.

Oh, and to add, a seller in a wholesale market in the past once asked me back empty tetrabits cans and offered me a good discount on a new can in exchange. I knew something was fishy and have heard about these fake products from quite a few hobbyists.

 

[GamerChick5567]

Oh, and to add, a seller in a wholesale market in the past once asked me back empty tetrabits cans and offered me a good discount on a new can in exchange. I knew something was fishy and have heard about these fake products from quite a few hobbyists.

He probably gets them cheap in bulk from china or something and then refills the empty cans and sells them that way.

I wouldn't use tetra food anyways as a staple. I only use it as a treat or I feed it only to my feeder guppies, I mix a bit in with the better stuff.

 

[Alistair]

He probably gets them cheap in bulk from china or something and then refills the empty cans and sells them that way.

I wouldn't use tetra food anyways as a staple. I only use it as a treat or I feed it only to my feeder guppies, I mix a bit in with the better stuff.

Yeah, he most probably does that. Else he wouldnt be able to sell me the cans that cheap.

Why wouldnt you use stuff from tetra as a staple? I too mix what feed my fishes. But my bottom dwellers eat a lot of tetrabits.

 

[GamerChick5567]

I prefer to feed my fish higher quality foods, that's all. Usually I stick with hikari and omega one. Seachem makes decent flake food too. Not gunna spend extreme amounts of money on stuff like nls though haha.

 

[flukekiller]

Why not email or call tetra and notify them.. it's possible that they know but do not want to spend the money to fix or recall the product

 

[Alistair]

Why not email or call tetra and notify them.. it's possible that they know but do not want to spend the money to fix or recall the product

Yes, have emailed them. Have to wait and see what they say. Will update their response on this thread.

 

[demonknight]

Ah man. Now i have to go home and check my tetrabit can