Stress bars

[Liones5]

Hello,

I have yet to purchase my first batch of discus, and I am trying to find a good internet source.

I like the striped/spotted forms of discus, like 'red turquoise' and 'brilliant blue' - the nomenclature is rather confusing to me and seems very subjective, so I have been deciding on my favorites based on the photographs on the dealer's sites. Some of the stripey fish in these pictures have black bars on the body, some do not, even when the strain name is identical. I like the look of the fish without bars better.

Are the bar-less fish of higher quality? Or do these bars appear/dissapear like Angelfish bars, and perhaps the process of photographing the fish made them appear? If I buy fish shown as not having bars in the photos, might they have bars in real life?

Also, besides on dealer sites, is there any site out there with strain names and pictures that explains the differences? (I come from the Angelfish world, where there are fewer strains and relatively standardized naming - discus are a little overwhelming in that respect)

Thanks for clearing this up for me.

-Andrea

[Don Trinko]

Some varieties of discus do not have stress bars. ( blue diamond and most Pigeon blood plus others) The bars will vary in intensity depending on the fishes mood, health, position in the pecking order, and other factors. Some people consider them undesirable. I like the "old Style" discus that have the bars. Do a lot of looking and reading before you buy. If you can find a local breeder/dealer you can go and see a variety of fish. Most local pet shops do not stock discus and it would be best to buy from someone who does stock them. Look at the pictures on the web so that you know what a quality discus should look like. Don T.

[cobaltblue]

I agree with Don. In addition, the pigeon bloods often will have "peppering" instead of the stress bars. And imo the "peppering" is not attractive at all, but to each their own. If you choose PB discus, get the from a reliable source that has clean fish.

[White Worm]

Hello,

I have yet to purchase my first batch of discus, and I am trying to find a good internet source.

I like the striped/spotted forms of discus, like 'red turquoise' and 'brilliant blue' - the nomenclature is rather confusing to me and seems very subjective, so I have been deciding on my favorites based on the photographs on the dealer's sites. Some of the stripey fish in these pictures have black bars on the body, some do not, even when the strain name is identical. I like the look of the fish without bars better.

Are the bar-less fish of higher quality? Or do these bars appear/dissapear like Angelfish bars, and perhaps the process of photographing the fish made them appear? If I buy fish shown as not having bars in the photos, might they have bars in real life?

Also, besides on dealer sites, is there any site out there with strain names and pictures that explains the differences? (I come from the Angelfish world, where there are fewer strains and relatively standardized naming - discus are a little overwhelming in that respect)

Thanks for clearing this up for me.

-Andrea

Kennys discus here in the sponsors section is a good place to start.
Breeders will call their fish many different names so take the name game with a grain of salt.
Last thing you want to do is go by a picture on a web site. Try for actual pictures of fish for sale and then use that fancy picture as a vague idea of how they might look. You may get one that is similar and you may get one that you would think is no way related but the two came from the same batch.

[Harriett]

Hello,

I have yet to purchase my first batch of discus, and I am trying to find a good internet source.

I like the striped/spotted forms of discus, like 'red turquoise' and 'brilliant blue' - the nomenclature is rather confusing to me and seems very subjective, so I have been deciding on my favorites based on the photographs on the dealer's sites. Some of the stripey fish in these pictures have black bars on the body, some do not, even when the strain name is identical. I like the look of the fish without bars better.

Are the bar-less fish of higher quality? Or do these bars appear/dissapear like Angelfish bars, and perhaps the process of photographing the fish made them appear? If I buy fish shown as not having bars in the photos, might they have bars in real life?

Also, besides on dealer sites, is there any site out there with strain names and pictures that explains the differences? (I come from the Angelfish world, where there are fewer strains and relatively standardized naming - discus are a little overwhelming in that respect)

Thanks for clearing this up for me.

-Andrea

THe bars you are referring to on the turq strains come with the territory. THey are visible all the time in babies and smaller juvies and then fade as the fish grows. There can be some evidence of them like the eye bar, even when the discus is content, but very often you only see the patterns of red and blue--again, when they are content. THey are called stress bars because they come out quite dominently either when the discus is stressed, excited, sick, or in a tank which has dark background or substrate [hardwired to blend in for safety to the environment], etc. They are vestiges of the discus genetics...take a look at many of the wild strains and you'll see the ancestry.
Some discus strains have had the bars successfully bred out.
BEst regards
Harriett