Would YOU Enter Your Discus In A Show??

[Kindredspirit]

Hey Guys ~ I had a lengthy discussion last night and the question was put to me ~ "Marie would you ever enter your discus in a show if the show was local?"

I said no. And of course it was asked why....here is what I said:

I said for one, mine would never win and two, I am not interested in competition ~ and then of course it was said "you have that nice one from Kenny now"....

Still ~

I said no ~ I am just not willing to stress him/them out for a competition I am not interested in....even if the show is 15 min away! lol! I am just a discus pet owner So I think, for me, being in that frame of mind, I would be a nervous wreck seeing my discus at a show not looking very happy, I know they come around ~ but ~for me...I do not care who has the best of the best ~ but I love to see the best, make no mistake about that!:)


So ~


My question to you is this: Would you enter a show if it was in your home town?

What if the show was for "discus pet owners only" and not incl sellers, breeders or infamous ones such as Kelvin, Kenny, Hans....?

Or would that make a difference to you?


Inquiring Minds Wanna Know.....:)



Marie ~ http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/16/16_4_10.gif

[AADiscus]

Marie, I think alot of people are nervous because they do not know what to expect showing a fish. (Me being one! lol) You don't want to take a risk of stressing that fish out because at the end of the, it is going back home with you to your tank. On the other side if there was a show in our town YES I would put fish in there. Even if that fish is nice but would not win, the more discus in a show means that they are getting recognized and people who have never seen them before or know alot about them start to get interested in them. IMO Which in turns means more in the hobby! ;)

[Graham]

Yes I would. Showing fish of any kind advances the hobby. Years ago when I was heavily envolved in the local aquarium club we would put on one major show a year. This always brought in new members .

In the last 10 years or so I've been attending koi shows on the East Coast. When possible my fish are shipped, via air frieght to Ottawa and then driven down to Allentown or Chantilly to be entered. Shos in Atlanta and Orlando are just too far for easy shipping, driving. etc.

There is no question that it's stresfull, but a healthy fish, packed properly will handle that stress, the showing and then the QT that it'll go into for the next few months once back.

Showing and attending are learning lessons.



G

Edit for anyone in the Baltimore/Washington area the is a major koi show in Westminster MD on Sept 28.............I'll be there, hopefully with fish
http://www.makc.com/

[Apistomaster]

Personally I would never show a discus. One worth showing isn't worth the risk of losing it.

Another reason is that I believe only discus one has bred and raised themselves should be shown. That is the true meausre of a particular breeders' state of their art.

Buying a fish to show makes no sense. It only proves one can afford it.

Wild fish would be a special exception since there is only one way to get them.

That said, it is nice that some risk it because I think we all enjoy seeing other peoples' discus.

I always thought the things judges consider attributes and flaws were so subjective as to be meaningless. Just my opinion.
The only perfect discus imho is a wild discus. The rest are colorful man made fish. Discus, just as other fish, will still always be shown; I'll stick with selling them. That is rewarding. (Ch Ching)

[mmorris]

...I believe only discus one has bred and raised themselves should be shown. That is the true meausre of a particular breeders' state of their art.


I would - in this scenerio. I think it would be fun! It might, as well, lead to sales. Martha

[Don Trinko]

No, Many of my discus were purchased before I knew what they should look like. They are pretty but might have a undesirable spot or not a perfect disk shape. Out of 12 discus I have 5 or 6 with the proper caracteristics but I don't like to move them unnessisarily and I am not the compeditive type. Don t.

[White Worm]

For a small hobbyist with 15-20 discus, it may not be worth the risk to bring your nice discus to a show. If I had larger numbers, I would consider it. After attending a show now, I know what to expect. I wouldnt worry about commercial or big breeders anyways. There is no reason why you couldnt raise just as nice a discus as some of them.

[Apistomaster]

I agree with you Mikscus.
I am a small scale breeder and have no aspirations of ever being a big operator.
For little guys most sales are to long established customers who know what to expect from me.
The International exporters have good reasons for wanting to get their latest greatest fish some broad exposure but then I guess the thread was mainly aimed at entering into smaller regional/local shows. We don't even have a fish club here. Barely one fish shop until I get 100 miles away which is where I sell.

I am going backwards if anything because I mainly want to breed and sell F1 Wild fish to those that like the natural forms. Those might get shown...on aquabid someday.

[Greg Richardson]

Yes. Most definitely would show my fish.

Being a member of NADA I have learned some key information I haven't seen on any other forum.

Not only showing your fish, but most importantly prepping your fish before the show, as well as transporting, showing, etc.

That only makes sense that info is there because NADA's is more geared to the show aspect of fish.

Their forum isn't to compete with SD, DAAH, because NADA is more centered on certain area's of the hobby.

It really opened up my eyes to what's involved.
The different factors you need to prepare for so when your fish goes to the show those factors won't become a stress factor before, during, and after the show.

The info I learned there on prep and showing was worth my $25.00 membership and more.

It is the fear of the unknown that stops us from participating in events.

If we counter the stress involved in prepping, transporting, showing our fish, we then have countered our fear of showing our beloved fish.

The below is just a few of many tidbits of info I obtained from NADA in regards to showing your fish.
Some I have added just from thinking about it in #1.

1. Put your show fish in high traffic area.
Feed them by hand.
Touch them while doing wc's.
Read a book or watch TV right up close to the tank.
If you have other adults there have them spend time in front of tank. Get them use to different people, noises, etc.



2. Many months before. Or weeks. I say many because like everything else in the discus world people have opinions of time, dose amounts, you get the idea.
So you need to decide on prep time.
Separate your show fish.
Find out if the show will have 10 or 20 gallon tanks?
Use what the fish will be shown in for their tank.


3. Start feeding all high quality foods.
Have the fish use to light on or off no matter time of day.
Use flash light or pen light now so he presents well later.



This is just a very small sample of what I learned at NADA.
After reading all of the info I felt very confident about prep, transporting options, show procedures, etc.

You will never know how well your fish will do until you try it.

Why not get involved with a local club and promote the hobby?

When shows have more entries it bumps up the rate of new people entering the hobby.


Jeff Young at NADA brought up the subject the other day that many probably don't even realize they have a club near them where locally they could start to show their fish and then as they get experience, success, go to the big show like the 2008 one in Atlanta.

I want to encourage you all to get involved on a local level.

Once you do when asked about Discus after giving them an answer why not let them know SD, DAAH, BIDKA, exists for their enjoyment of the hobby as well as NADA geared to-wards the future growth of the hobby?




http://home.mchsi.com/~jon.rink/ACAClubLiaison/clubs.htm


1. Aquarium Club of Lancaster County (PA)
2. Bermuda Fry-Angle Aquarium Society
3. Boston Aquarium Society
4. Bucks County Aquarium Society
5. Capital Cichlid Association
6. Charlotte Area Aquarists Society
7. Circle City Aquarium Club
8. Eastern Iowa Aquarium Association
9. Gainesville Cichlid Association
10. Grand Valley Aquarium Club
11. Great Lakes Cichlid Society
12. Greater Chicago Cichlid Association
13. Greater Cincinnati Aquarium Society
14. Greater City Aquarium Society
15. Greater Detroit Aquarium Society
16. Greater Pittsburgh Aquarium Society
17. Greater Portland Aquarium Society
18. Greater Seattle Aquarium Society
19. Green Bay Aquarium Society
20. Green Water Aquarist Society of Chicagoland
21. Hill Country Cichlid Club
22. Iowa Aquaria Association
23. Kitchener Waterloo Aquarium Society
24. Louisville Tropical Fish Fanciers
25. Long Island Aquarium Society
26. Medina County Aquarium Society
27. Midwest Cichlid Association
28. Minnesota Aquarium Society
29. Missouri Aquarium Society
30. Nassau County Aquarium Society
31. New England Cichlid Association
32. Northeast Council of Aquarium Societies
33. North Jersey Aquarium Society
34. Ohio Cichlid Association
35. Pacific Coast Cichlid Association
36. Rocky Mountain Cichlid Association
37. Sacramento Aquarium Society
38. San Francisco Aquarium Society
39. Silicon Valley Aquarium Society
40. Texas Cichlid Association
41. The Angelfish Society
42. Tropical Fish Club of Burlington
43. Youngstown Area Tropical Fish Society

[Graham]

Good post Greg:)

[Rod]

Yes , there was a show on here only a few weeks ago. I'm happy to say 2 simply discus members entered including me.
Who cares about awards and prizes, when the stewards came up to me and said the discus stole the show. People queing to see them, that i think is good for the hobby.

Rod

[RyanR]

Never.
The commercial breeders who make a living from their fish, and don't care about the stress they impose, which is probably proportional to the amount of the money they can make.
The second group are those, who are in effect saying "look at me, I bred this"
I suspect the fish showing world is just a corrupt as the dog showing world where "quid pro quo " reigns
Some of the champions I have seen, I wouldn't waste energy keeping them. Although I would qualify this by saying I have only seen pictures of these "champions".

[Graham]

In the koi world the breeders and dealers are not allowed to show and or compete with all us peons. The top 2 or 3 fish, the ringers, are always flown in and the owners takes all the credit for the fish and all he did was sign the $30K check. He saw the fish in japan and had it shipped over..This is fine...it allows the average hobbyist to see what a good fish should actually look like.


If a hobbyist can breed and raise a decent fish and win something all the credit to them and they should be able to brag. Owners names are held secert as much as possible from the judges and may the best fish of the day win............

Pictures never do justice to a good fish

G

[tdr1919]

I think it is great to compete on a local level, meet new people, create new interests, but I agree that there are "ringers" and the average Joe is not going to beat them. I look at it like my 86 Corvette, I have put a lot of work into it, but no way is it a show winner, but it is great getting together with other Vette enthusiasts.
My Discus are OK, more like "Junk Yard Dogs" but I still wouldnt mind showing one or two of them.

- Tom

[AmberC]

I would not because it would be too much of a hassle for me with my current situation, IE: stay at home mom with a ton of responsibilities that showing fish is not one of.

But.. once the kids were older/moved out.. I might think about it.

Amber

[Moon]

I am actively in volved in my local aquarium club and I do show fish. But not discus or my wild altums. The reason being that these guys are prone to stress during the show and cannot be returned to the original tank without a qt period.
Some other chiclids, guppies, bettas etc are not as prone to stress as discus and can be readily retured to original community tanks.

[White Worm]

I think it is great to compete on a local level, meet new people, create new interests, but I agree that there are "ringers" and the average Joe is not going to beat them. I look at it like my 86 Corvette, I have put a lot of work into it, but no way is it a show winner, but it is great getting together with other Vette enthusiasts.
My Discus are OK, more like "Junk Yard Dogs" but I still wouldnt mind showing one or two of them.

- Tom

I would have to slightly disagree with the second part, even though I wouldnt bring my favorite fish to a show because of the risk, i dont think that a ringer could do any better than a hobbyist. A fish is a fish. If you get good stock to start with and raise them correctly, there is no reason you (as a hobbyist) couldnt compete against them. What magic things could they do to make sure they win? Feed them lots, clean water? Yes, they do have the numbers to work with to get that best looking specimen but any one could grow a show discus and opinions vary on what show quality really is. Maybe the breeder name is a little influence but if you have quality judges, that shouldnt make a difference. I would consider mine pretty good but I have 1 or 2 that I think could have made a run for it at the ACA. I was more in the category of "fear of the unknown" so I didnt consider showing plus...One of them, which is a he, was guarding fry with his wife at the time :D

[Graham]

There's always a ringer, even when we were showing cats...one that better coloured, better conformation, larger sized and so on...no different in the fish world:(

[Graham]

I am actively in volved in my local aquarium club and I do show fish. But not discus or my wild altums. The reason being that these guys are prone to stress during the show and cannot be returned to the original tank without a qt period.
Some other chiclids, guppies, bettas etc are not as prone to stress as discus and can be readily retured to original community tanks.

Moon always QT after a show....the stress, let alone cross contamination...better safe than sorry

[Terrybo]

Years ago, my local aquarium society had a home show. There were a lot of different categories, and the panel of judges went to each competitor's home and judged the fish in their own tanks! No stress for the fish.

It was a lot of fun!

Terry

[Kindredspirit]

Wow!...lots of interesting read!






the more discus in a show means that they are getting recognized and people who have never seen them before or know alot about them start to get interested in them. IMO Which in turns means more in the hobby! ;)


I never thought of it this way ~ shame on me! This is very true:)




NADA's is more geared to the show aspect of fish.


Really? So what you are saying is that NADA basically is about showing our discus in shows, like the ACA? I didn't know that:o That is it's primary function/concern?

Greg, I hope by quoting you here, I did not cut off your meaning in the paragraph...!:p




NADA is more centered on certain area's of the hobby.


Which ones which ones? lol! So if ( which I wouldn't) wanted to put my fish in the next show somewhere, I would contact NADA to set that up?





Owners names are held secert as much as possible from the judges

Interesting concept ~ a lot of biased judges are there, Graham?




Pictures never do justice to a good fish

G


I never knew how true this was ~ now I do since I have been to my first and only ACA!

[Greg Richardson]

Marie.
Really? So what you are saying is that NADA basically is about showing our discus in shows, like the ACA? I didn't know that That is it's primary function/concern? Which ones which ones? lol! So if ( which I wouldn't) wanted to put my fish in the next show somewhere, I would contact NADA to set that up?[/


Here is the mission statement.................


North American Discus Association

We are a collection of discus enthusiasts who are interested in the advancement, improvement, and promotion of discus fish. Our goal is to educate the general public, encourage new members, provide information on the discus, and promote discus at fish shows.

Shows are part but not all of the NADA mission.
Shows are one way to bring people into the hobby.
Give the hobby exposure.
A lot of people have never seen discus except maybe at the LFS. Depending on the store they have no idea of what the potential is.

NADA has an Events section that lists the current up coming shows.
There is also a list in that last post of the local clubs to prepare for the future in regards to showing fish.

NADA has no need to duplicate all of what SD, DAAH and others are doing. Of course sometimes area's of discussion will overlap.

SD, DAAH, and others are fulfilling the complete discus forum roll very well doing what they do.

This allows NADA to focus on certain area's more in depth thanks to the rest of the Discus community.

[Graham]

Interesting concept ~ a lot of biased judges are there, Graham?


Not that there are biased judges but the ZNA, the Japanese koi assoc and then the AKCA, the Assoc Koi Clubs of America tried when they wrote the show rules to take away and possible baised. Each major show has at least 4 judges, sometimes more if it's very large show.

One of those judges is a head judge and has final say. For the top 10 places they all have to agree...makes for interesting discussions among themseleves and good listening if you're following them around.

The fish are also judged for that day, not what they looked like yesterday or what they might look like next week..

G

[Discus_KC]

I have, will again, and love it !! I'm not afraid of anyone who shows. It's a great motivator to see if the hard work you put into a fish is recognized.

To me, buying a fish to show from somebody else who raised the fish to adulthood isn't any work. Does that show your fish raising skills?? Or did you just buy a trophy ??

Raising one from a wiggler to showing size is a accomplishment for me.

I hear of lots of people breeding fish. Those spawns are the pool of show fish in the making. If you do your work, there is no reason you can't beat out any of the competition.

Jack

[Clyde]

I am far to new to the hobby to consider it now, but in the future if I believed I had an exceptional fish I think it might be fun.

Marie I have a question about the use of the word infamous in your original post.

"What if the show was for "discus pet owners only" and not incl sellers, breeders or infamous ones such as Kelvin, Kenny, Hans....?"

is that in-famous, as in more then famous like the infamous EL Guapo?

Mark

[Discus-Hans]

I think the SHOW idea gets a little out of controle.

Why do we show Discus or other fish (although WHY do we it)

Okay 1 reason is to promote our business, off course.

Second is to SHOW the people some nice fish, do they care were they came from or who growed it?? NO, they just want to see some nice Discus/fish.

Do we do it for the money?? NO I pay for every Discus I put in a show and till now all money we won (some clubs pay cash prices) we always donated the price money back to the club.

You know what gives me the kick in showing Discus?? When you've breakfast, lunch or dinner and you hear people at an other table: "Man, did you see those Discus??" "Did you see how he puts them in the tanks" (Drop & Plop) I didn't know Discus were that easy.

That gives me a kick, take away that idea Discus are not easy.

We normal don't have the problem of Q them after a show 99% of our show Discus are sold after the show.

Do I like shows YES do I show Discus YES.

Oepssss I'm a Discus Pimp was I alowed to reply lol

Hans

[SuAsati]

Hey Guys ~ I had a lengthy discussion last night and the question was put to me ~ "Marie would you ever enter your discus in a show if the show was local?"

I said no. And of course it was asked why....here is what I said:

I said for one, mine would never win and two, I am not interested in competition ~

Marie ~ http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/16/16_4_10.gif


Juan Hoywei ones said, to compete isnot so you better, but more to see what weakness is yours. without competes, you not know what you need improves.

[Darren's Discus]

Would i show my fish ? yes some i would. I think discus shows are great,they let the general public see how beautiful these fish are ! most people only get to see discus in lfs and most are poor specimens and not great representatives of this wonderful hobby.I know the great feeling i get when i take people into my fishroom and they say wow never seen them that big before or look at their wonderful colours ! just imagine if no one ever showed their fish ? Lucky we have places like simply to show our fish to other hobbyist,For what is the point of having something so beautiful if you do not share it with others ! jmo

cheers

[t_j]

I wouldn't I'm just in it for the peer joy of keeping them for myself.

[t_j]

I think the SHOW idea gets a little out of controle.

Why do we show Discus or other fish (although WHY do we it)

Okay 1 reason is to promote our business, off course.

Second is to SHOW the people some nice fish, do they care were they came from or who growed it?? NO, they just want to see some nice Discus/fish.

Do we do it for the money?? NO I pay for every Discus I put in a show and till now all money we won (some clubs pay cash prices) we always donated the price money back to the club.

You know what gives me the kick in showing Discus?? When you've breakfast, lunch or dinner and you hear people at an other table: "Man, did you see those Discus??" "Did you see how he puts them in the tanks" (Drop & Plop) I didn't know Discus were that easy.

That gives me a kick, take away that idea Discus are not easy.

We normal don't have the problem of Q them after a show 99% of our show Discus are sold after the show.

Do I like shows YES do I show Discus YES.

Oepssss I'm a Discus Pimp was I alowed to reply lol

Hans


Hans, I don't think you have enough awards I think you need to go out and win a few more then MAYBE you'll have enough:D:D

[CliffsDiscus]

Yes, been there and done that in the past at the last ACA Convention at San Jose that was
during the 90's. No prizes or trophy, just a general display of healthy Discus to the general public
of the different color types, this was put on by San Francisco Aquarium Society's Discus Study Group.

Cliff

[Kindredspirit]

Yes, been there and done that in the past at the last ACA Convention at San Jose that was
during the 90's. No prizes or trophy, just a general display of healthy Discus to the general public
of the different color types, this was put on by San Francisco Aquarium Society's Discus Study Group.

Cliff

Cliff, you had discus at the ACA? Please don't tell me that....and we missed it?:(

I am just not understanding what you meant, right? lol!

[CliffsDiscus]

Marie,
Yes, this was more than 10 years ago in San Jose.

Cliff

[Kindredspirit]

Oh....good! Thought so:)