Easy points on types of discus to choose..^^

[Conrad Chia]

for me , Discus r made up this way.
1.) base ( the base colour of the discus )
2.) base + pattern
3.) base + pattern+ spots
^^

Base colour= most discus hv brown or red base colour.
than theres the yellow and the fixed strain white.
A blue diamond is really a full pattern discus.
if u scratch the body of the BD u will see the brown base colour below.

base+pattern= snakes,turqoise,cobalt,checkerboard ect.

base+pattern+spots= think u guys knows what this type are^^
spotted snake,spotted green,golden spotted snake leopard ect.

so.... which one is harder to attain perfection???

[luenny]

Hard to say which is harder to attain perfection. I give some examples:

- Solid discus : Want base color only and base color to be even and nice color. What if base color is not even or nice? Would the not even base color be seen as a flaw in pattern or spotted discus? I don't think so. Also, for solid color discus, the appearence of pattern or spots would be considered a flaw wouldn't it?

- Pattern and Spots : Want to have full pattern or spots on the body. If the pattern/spots does not cover the whole body, then it is not perfect. But if you have a full pattern discus and the base color is brown and it is not even (i.e. some part is red some parts brown), you probably would not care that much because most of it is covered by the pattern/spots.

On top of all these, there's body shape to consider. Some strains of discus are known to have better body shape or grow faster. So I guess, it's not so easy to answer the question of which one is harder to attain perfection.

[mikel]

"if u scratch the body of the BD u will see the brown base colour below."......

ouch!@!!!!! that would hurt....:o))))mike

[Rod]

Solid color would have to be the most difficult to achieve in my view, anything but perfection and the flaw stands out for all too see.

Rod

[brewmaster15]

I can appreciate the importance of color and pattern in the evaluation of "perfect" discus...but I think that shape is foremost for me. It is after all what a Discus was named for:) I think we should strive for shape first...then color and pattern.... A beautifully spotted discus is still a football if its shape is elongated and not round.

that said... I think its much harder these days when it comes to shape with the increased acceptance of non "traditional" shapes such as bulldogs, standing eggs, Hifins, etc.

Much depends on what people think a "perfect" discus should be...and beauty can be in the eye of the beholder..

hth,
al

[Apistomaster]

Hi Al,
I couldn't agree more with you. I am traditional enough to view the aberrations from the classic discus form as backward steps in discus and the sad thing is that inevitably these "defective genes" will tend to infiltrate into the general discus populations being bred that still conform to the classic discus form. Thank goodness for the wild stock. They preserve the essence of what a discus should be.

[Darren's Discus]

I Agree with Larry and Al,
It does'nt matter how brilliant the colour if the shape is off ! I would rather a big beautifully shaped discus any day over colour.


cheers

[alpine]

" Much depends on what people think a "perfect" discus should be...and beauty can be in the eye of the beholder.. "



Al, there is a Standart...there should be a Standart... " Beauty is in the eye of the beholder " can not apply !
Dick Au used that phrase in his presentation and I share my views with him after the lecture .
I assume all shows have judges that follow standarts when they make decisions for placements. It would be interesting for NADA to make standarts for North American Discus shows .

roberto.

[kaceyo]

Thats just the problem. There is no standard. The current trends have much more influence on what breeders are producing than any specific unchanging idea as to how a perfect discus should shaped.
While I do like the hi-bodied discus (not so much the hi-fin) there should always be a core discus population with the classic shape(s) of the Turqs, RT's, Browns etc to work with, and I think there is. I don't see that over polluting the gene pool with, say, Hi body traits will ever be a problem since that core of classicly shaped fish will always be available.

Kacey