$150 Discus! Worth it? You decide (Pics from LFS)

[ericatdallas]

It could be worse... a few months ago they charged more for worse.

This was less than 3 inches. When we were taking these, a lot of the employees hovered around us :P I won't point out where this is publicly, but if you live in OH, you can PM me and I'll let you know.

http://www.lamspot.com/lfs_ugly/IMG_20110623_202620.jpg

http://www.lamspot.com/lfs_ugly/IMG_20110623_202853.jpg

I have more, but I have to get it off my phone.

[Hsunami]

thats 150? ROFL!!!!!!! you should print out some discus pictures from kenny or hans then toss it around the LFS LOL and watch them walk in the store asking for this fish and when they show it they can totally tell the difference. LOL

[ericatdallas]

thats 150? ROFL!!!!!!! you should print out some discus pictures from kenny or hans then toss it around the LFS LOL and watch them walk in the store asking for this fish and when they show it they can totally tell the difference. LOL

Or Mike Beals... this store is not far from Central Ohio Discus and I got a fish twice that size and much more attractive/unique for the same price. Or you could buy 4 fish that aren't stunted from Mike that are the same size and you'll have the opportunity to stunt them yourself :P

[Darrell Ward]

I wouldn't take it for free! It should have been culled long before it stunted.

[Hsunami]

not sure why LFS always order discus and when priced its priced way over what they are really worth. I mean if you are going to sell a 150 dollar fish at least give it extra care and make it look like a 150 dollar fish. LFS expect to get 150 dollars for the price of 5 dollar care that they provide for all their fish. If they actually looked at the big picture they are only wasting money but oh well its all them on wasting money.

[bigfish77]

There is a LFS near my home that over charges alot for discus. I thought they might be in my neck of the woods. I am an Ohio boy as well, but 150 is alot.

[Keith Perkins]

That's the best laugh I've had all day, thanks.

[bigfish77]

Funny as it may be, those might actually be Stendeker stock which is in poor condition.

[hedut]

I wouldn't take it for free! It should have been culled long before it stunted.

+1 I wont get it either :) is not worthed. if I was you I'll go to Mike B, high quality and decent price :)

[ericatdallas]

That's the best laugh I've had all day, thanks.

Yeah, I thought people here would get a kick out of it. I didn't take pics the last time I was there and I kept bugging my wife to go back there with me so we could take pics. We forgot the camera but we at least had cell phones. These were from here phone and mine is a pain to pull pics off of so I'll mess with that later.

We took a lot of pics, but they're blurry due to the fact it was a cell phone camera.


Funny as it may be, those might actually be Stendeker stock which is in poor condition.

Maybe... but fortunately this store is not a Discus Hans dealer (according to the list on his website). Of course, they did have some larger discus that you can tell were well cared for at one time but were obviously stressed (clamped fins, darkening of colors, skittish). I imagine part of the problem with a LFS is all those people disturbing them. I overheard one of the employees talking to another employee too... saying, "I hate opening in the mornings. There's always so many dead fish in ...all... of the tanks".

[Larry Bugg]

Well guess what.....someone is buying these fish. They don't know any better and aren't aware of what could be available to them. This is one of the reasons organizations like NADA and our regional groups are so important. It is our job to educate new hobbist about the discus we love. So get involved on a local, regional or NADA level. Grow the hobby and it only benefits us all in the long run.

[discolicious]

Good grief! I hope that people today, with such easy access to information, are smart enough to google search before buying.

[Larry Bugg]

And what do they get when they google discus. Somethingphishy

[Sean Buehrle]

LOL

I would have to talk to the manager, my first question would be, this is a joke right?
Second would be, this is a joke right?


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[WMD]

those discus are pretty f****d, i wouldnt buy them.

[Northwoods Discus]

People buying pets are some of the most gullible people and the sellers know it! Even educated people fall apart at the site of a sickly puppy in the Wally Mart parking lot. Same with fish. Impulse buy, the Ahh factor. Or I want to save the poor thing.
Bill

[Jhhnn]

If nothing else, I'd give your LFS a clue that they've been blued, screwed and tattooed by their supplier.

That fish is pitiful at any price.

[strawberryblonde]

People buying pets are some of the most gullible people and the sellers know it! Even educated people fall apart at the site of a sickly puppy in the Wally Mart parking lot. Same with fish. Impulse buy, the Ahh factor. Or I want to save the poor thing.
Bill


So true! Thing is, if you've never heard of Discus before, and you've never seen one up close and personal, the stuff they sell in a LFS as Discus can take your breath away! And then you gasp at the price and the employee says "Yep, these are imported from Brazil and really hard to get, very rare" so you figure he must be telling the truth since you've never seen one in any other LFS and PetSmart sure doesn't sell them.

Next thing you know, you're buying just one, or maybe 2 if you can afford it (most can't) and taking it home to admire the gorgeous colors, the pretty high fins and the graceful fluid movements. And if you're really lucky you stumble onto this forum when your new prize gets sick in the first couple weeks...and then you learn what Discus are supposed to look like and wonder how you could have screwed up so badly by bringing home your sickly, misshapen fish.

[coralreefer68]

Funny as it may be, those might actually be Stendeker stock which is in poor condition.

Bigfish...you are right, that looks like a stunted 2nd cousin to one that I got from Hans several months ago, 3" Red PB for under $50. WOW....what a rip-off! Mine is now closer to 4-4 1/2" and while it has some peppering on the nose (PB trait??), it is healthy and getting FAT and Sassy!

John

[bigfish77]

In my city they do stock stendkers, but its not the supplier but the LFS that makes them turn into crap...
You figure $50 discus with 300% mark-up is $150, so its about right. I love my stendkers especially the Red pigeons.

[Skip]

Amazonia Aquariums here in Austin.. have 4" Red PB.. for $257!!! i told myself.. thats retarded.. Nobody would buy that!!

Well, i was just told NOBODY showed up and actually bought!!! make that 2 discus he bought!! those fish have been in that tank for about 3 months!! oops!!

[DerekFF]

kinda makes me sick to my stomach

[ericatdallas]

The markup is worse than 300% because you have to think that the sponsors aren't the source and they markup the discus from their suppliers to make money. The funny thing is, Malaysians and Singaporeans (sp?) are probably laughing at us for buying Discus at such ridiculous prices as are the local fisherman in the Amazon saying, "Hah, we used to throw these away because they taste bad!" (I read this on a blog somewhere that when the guy went to the Amazon river that's what the locals told him).

However, for the local LFS, they too have to pay shipping. So if they buy 3-4 Discus, you still have to add $20-25 per fish then it's more like a 100% markup.

LFS also usually have a 1-2 week guarantee that if you buy it from them it'll live until that time. So in a way you're buying insurance.

It's risky and costly for them to stock Discus. I don't disagree they should probably care for them better but then the cost of a Discus goes up even more at the LFS.

For this particular LFS, I'm not sure why they weren't able to maintain their Discus tank. They have the size, resources, and manpower to do it (I saw like 10 people standing around talking to each other).

[Cambik]

For this particular LFS, I'm not sure why they weren't able to maintain their Discus tank. They have the size, resources, and manpower to do it (I saw like 10 people standing around talking to each other).

And there lies the problem...Lazyness