Wild caught vs tank bred

[omtay606]

Which is better? Differences?

[Eddie]

Better how?

Wild caught are from the wild and tank bred are raised in captivity. lol

[Second Hand Pat]

I think this is purely a manner of personal choice. Many wilds keepers do try to condition their water for keeping wilds by using RO and/or other means.

[omtay606]

Hi Pat, thanks for taking the time and being helpful and not being a smart aleck.

[Poco]

I am assuming you never kept discus before.

Domestic discus will be easier to keep with regards to water pH, as they can be kept in a wide range of stable pH.

Wilds need soft water i.e low pH which most of us dont have coming out of the tap. so you need to alter you tap pH using reverse osmosis etc.

[Eddie]

Better in what way?
there must be citeria for this question to be properly answered.

Each fish and strain have a beauty on its own and cant be compared easily apple vs apple.
These are the reasons why Discus competitions have various categories and each category has criterias for the categor champ.

Exactly! The question was too vague.

[Chicago Discus]

One, from the University of Florida

Conservation Issues
Although it is not well documented, the absence of discus fish from some of their traditional fishing areas has led fishermen to report possible declines in discus wild populations. Especially in the last ten years, such reports have been increasing, leading researchers to speculate that over-fishing and destructive fishing methods may have diminished populations of the brown discus. These observations further emphasize the need to aquaculture the discus, potentially relieving the pressure on the wild population from collection for the aquarium trade.

[Chicago Discus]

This is why I personally don't have wilds, they are stunning and very exotic but not for me....Josie

[Cosgrovb]

My ultimate discus is a fry that I breed that stems from a wild male Heckel and a huge domestic straight lined Altum Flora female. The fry must exhibit the Heckel bar and pass it in to its F2 offspring!

[omtay606]

I am assuming you never kept discus before.

Domestic discus will be easier to keep with regards to water pH, as they can be kept in a wide range of stable pH.

Wilds need soft water i.e low pH which most of us dont have coming out of the tap. so you need to alter you tap pH using reverse osmosis etc.

This is correct, I have never kept discus before. Also new to the forum. I was hoping to learn more about these guys by posting in the "beginner's" section...

[Poco]

Read the stickies in this section there is a lot of great information.

[roclement]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Best recomendation I can give you is...don't post, read. Then ask more specific questions in the future. There is no better or worse, it comes down to taste or even philosofical beliefs like protecting the wild populations etc.

Wilds are generally more difficult to keep since they are not used to the artificial setting we throw them in and also don't exibit some of the extreme colors that some domestics do. Domestics are generally more easely maintained in an aquarium, and take more readily to prepared foods, etc so they may make a better starter fish for a new hobbyist.

More than anything, the source of your fish, be it wild or domestic, is the most important thing to consider. A high end wild that has been properly quarentined and introduced to artificial foods is a better starter fish then a cheap, local fish store discus. Your supplier is as important, if not more, as the type of discus you choose.

Read on and good luck!

Rodrigo