2 of a Kind

[dantheman]

Hey guys, I have my 125 tank set up and cycling with 2 sponge filters being seeded in another of my tanks. I am going to be headed about about 3 hours away in a month to pick up my discus from a hans dealer. I was curious what you think is better, going with 8 different strains or 2 from 4 strains. I guess I am asking what is more pleasing to the eye?

[BOBT00LS]

Hello Dan. In my opinion, I think 2 of 4 strains would be more pleasing to the eye but if you have intentions of breeding, I think 4 of 2 strains would be better. 4 of 2 strains gives you a beter chance of a pure strain pairing.

Bob

[Valik]

All replies to this of course are going to be purely subjective opinions of course but if it was me I don't really like a tank of all different strains I like at least a couple of the same strain. Like Bob said if planning on breeding I would either get strains that go well together as a cross or get more of a less number of strains. Personally I would get either 3 of 4 strains or 4 of 3 strains. Your tank can easily hold 12 fish plus if you don't want to end up with that many fish you can either grow out and sell off the ones you don't like as much or you are covered if one or two don't make it.

Matt

[casw]

In my opinion, my discus pick on their own strain the most. Fish will pick on the fish that resemble them the most. If I were to buy my discus again, I would pick 3 to 4 of each strain for the reasons given by the above posters and to spread out the aggression that the same strains seem to have with each other. Of course the most dominant fish will still pick on the other guys.

[dpt8]

All of one strain or two strains together that if they pair off they'll compliment one another, just as others have said. Also what may determine what you buy is what the store has available to sell.. Do they have a lot of each strain. They may only have a few and then not all strains. Do you plan on having driftwood eventually?? What does the background on your tank look like. ?? Is it dark or light colored?? Is your tank BB or gravel/substrate?? Those conditions may make some strains like the pigeon bloods and fire reds pepper more outstanding.

[dantheman]

I have been pouring over 1000s of pictures as I aim for my final decisions. I agree with the consensus about 4 of a strain.

Do they have a lot of each strain?
The store usually keeps 8+ of about 6 strains.

The tank is BB, with a custom resin bottom that looks like sand. It is a darker brown sand so I was already heading away from pigeon strains.
Thank you all for your opinions