Question about new discus

[X_factor]

I bought a discus last week. It's about 3.5-4 inches long in total length. I'm still learning how to tell which discus to buy and not to buy. Can some of you guys chime in and see if the discus I bought was a good buy or not. It's just for my future reference. I plan to keep the discus and take good care of him regardless. Thanks!

66452

[moon_knight1971]

Looks a little stunted to me because its eyes look large in comparaison to its body. At 3 - 4 inches you should be able to get nice, rounded discus and some of it's true color should be showing by then as well. Good luck!

[johnnathan]

check at there what not to buy (http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?46982-What-not-to-buy)

good Luck ..

[zchauvin]

I see that hes in planted tank and new. Hope your experience goes much better than mine. Bought 15$ stunted fish just to get used to discus then bought a 70$ good looking discus, same size bear in mind. Both died from infections within a week...

[X_factor]

Thanks for the answer. How about this one here? This one is about 3" in total length or very slightly smaller. To my untrained eye, this one looks better than the one in the OP but the one in the OP is much more active when it comes to feeding time. They both eat well though.

66453

[X_factor]

I see that hes in planted tank and new. Hope your experience goes much better than mine. Bought 15$ stunted fish just to get used to discus then bought a 70$ good looking discus, same size bear in mind. Both died from infections within a week...

Sorry to hear that. Were your fish eating normally before they died?

[X_factor]

check at there

good Luck ..

Thanks for the link. I did look there before I posted my pictures but there is no written description of why those fish are not to buy. In my opinion, my fish look better than the ones in that thread. Maybe those fish in that thread show the extreme cases of what's not to buy. I just don't know where to draw the line between what's to buy and not to buy.

[moon_knight1971]

The 2nd one looks stunted as well. At 2 - 3 inches sometimes you can't quite see how they are going to turn out but you should always try and get them as round as possible and the eyes should be porportionate to the body. Both gills should be fully oening, the fish should be alert, no blemishes on its body or fins. If possible, get the seller to feed the fish and the more aggressive they are the better. Or you could just spend a little extra and get some really nice 3.5 - 4 inch fish from one of our sponsors here.

[Skip]

it is not just size of fish that matters.. age & size go hand and hand.. IMHO

[wendy9722]

Thanks for the answer. How about this one here? This one is about 3" in total length or very slightly smaller. To my untrained eye, this one looks better than the one in the OP but the one in the OP is much more active when it comes to feeding time. They both eat well though.

66453

It is a bit stunted to and a football shape but thats ok they are great to learn with. I have a few myself. Once you get a higher quality discus you will see a nice difference. It took me awhile to put 2+2=4

[hedut]

all shape are not bad but both fish eyes big :)

[X_factor]

Well well well, if I had seen the sticky "selecting discus" at the top, my question would have been answered lol.

Anyways, do you guys know what strain is the 2nd discus? I believe the first one is a turquoise (not sure brilliant or red though) but I have no clue what the 2nd one is. By the way, the 2nd one has some peppering so I guess it's some sort of pigeon blood?

[ericatdallas]

Well well well, if I had seen the sticky "selecting discus" at the top, my question would have been answered lol.

Anyways, do you guys know what strain is the 2nd discus? I believe the first one is a turquoise (not sure brilliant or red though) but I have no clue what the 2nd one is. By the way, the 2nd one has some peppering so I guess it's some sort of pigeon blood?

Hard to say since it's colors haven't come out... but I agree with you it's probably a PB.

[Discus-Hans]

They don't look 3.5 ~ 4" to me?

Closer to 2.5" think with some good feeding, water change, BB tank, you still have some change with them, not 6~7" in a year+ but still.............

Hans

[Eddie]

It's definitely set back, thin also. I don't think you'll get much out of it aside from more color. It's a red turquoise, definitely not a pigeon blood.


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[X_factor]

It's definitely set back, thin also. I don't think you'll get much out of it aside from more color. It's a red turquoise, definitely not a pigeon blood.


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Eddie,

The 1st discus is definitely some sort of turq but the discus in question is the 2nd one (post #6). It has some peppering and I read from somewhere that peppering occurs mostly in pigeon blood.

[X_factor]

They don't look 3.5 ~ 4" to me?

Closer to 2.5" think with some good feeding, water change, BB tank, you still have some change with them, not 6~7" in a year+ but still.............

Hans

Hans,

You could be right. I just put a tape measure next to the glass and kind of eyeball the measurement just to get an estimate. By the way, when people talk about length, do they usually talk about the total length or just from the tip of the mouth to the base of the tail (as in right where the tail starts)?

[Eddie]

Eddie,

The 1st discus is definitely some sort of turq but the discus in question is the 2nd one (post #6). It has some peppering and I read from somewhere that peppering occurs mostly in pigeon blood.

Yes, the fish in post #5 is a pigeon. That photo wasn't displaying for me earlier. It is in the same boat as the turquoise, not gonna grow much.


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[Discus-Hans]

Hans,

You could be right. I just put a tape measure next to the glass and kind of eyeball the measurement just to get an estimate. By the way, when people talk about length, do they usually talk about the total length or just from the tip of the mouth to the base of the tail (as in right where the tail starts)?

We do TL = total length

Were did you buy them?

If they are sold as 4" I think you're ripped off,

Hans

[X_factor]

We do TL = total length

Were did you buy them?

If they are sold as 4" I think you're ripped off,

Hans

I bought them from a LFS. They weren't listed as being 4". The LFS just listed both of them as being "medium" sized.

[hedut]

those are small size :), if I were you, I'll return them :) but this just me :)

[Eddie]

those are small size :), if I were you, I'll return them :) but this just me :)

LFS are pretty low-down but I know most of them will not take back fish you already bought from them. At least IME

[X_factor]

those are small size :), if I were you, I'll return them :) but this just me :)

Haha thanks for the advice but I think I'll keep them anyway. They still look great to me since I've never had any discus before.