I ordered some discus fry on eBay

Hi all,

I ordered 6 checkerboard discus on eBay which arrived 4 days ago. The seller sent 7 which was nice. I acclimated them for 12 hours and they seem happy in their new home. They only started eating today.

My other fish are greedy, so I fed them flake first and then tried to feed the discus. They didn’t touch frozen brine shrimp, mysis, or bloodworm. Fortunately today they ate some frozen red plankton and beef heart discus mix.

The seller couldn’t tell their age and couldn’t give me a shipping date. He could only guarantee they will be 4cm minimum. He said I’ll get an email after they are shipped and not to message him again until they arrived as he is busy and didn’t have time to answer questions!

The next day I got the email stating they were shipped. DHL tracking stated it would be a 48hr delivery, yet they came the next day in the morning. The packaging stated that it was a 24 hour delivery. It was lucky I was home!

They are about 4cm long. How old would you say they were based on their current size? Hopefully I actually received checkerboards.

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Originally Posted by Snug

Hi all,

I ordered 6 checkerboard discus on eBay which arrived 4 days ago. The seller sent 7 which was nice. I acclimated them for 12 hours and they seem happy in their new home. They only started eating today.

My other fish are greedy, so I fed them flake first and then tried to feed the discus. They didn’t touch frozen brine shrimp, mysis, or bloodworm. Fortunately today they ate some frozen red plankton and beef heart discus mix.

The seller couldn’t tell their age and couldn’t give me a shipping date. He could only guarantee they will be 4cm minimum. He said I’ll get an email after they are shipped and not to message him again until they arrived as he is busy and didn’t have time to answer questions!

The next day I got the email stating they were shipped. DHL tracking stated it would be a 48hr delivery, yet they came the next day in the morning. The packaging stated that it was a 24 hour delivery. It was lucky I was home!

They are about 4cm long. How old would you say they were based on their current size? Hopefully I actually received checkerboards.

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Welcome to SimplyDiscus!

4 cm is about 1 1/2 inches..Thats pretty small to go 4 days plus shipping without food. You will want to get them eating asap. Can you post some pics?

Its really a rough start for these fish.

al

Thanks for the welcome,

They're eating now.

Here's a close-up of one. Any idea on age?

Attachment 137999

Its really hard to say the age... but it looks like a Pigeon at least.

Quote:

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The seller couldn’t tell their age and couldn’t give me a shipping date. He could only guarantee they will be 4cm minimum. He said I’ll get an email after they are shipped and not to message him again until they arrived as he is busy and didn’t have time to answer questions!

The next day I got the email stating they were shipped. DHL tracking stated it would be a 48hr delivery, yet they came the next day in the morning. The packaging stated that it was a 24 hour delivery. It was lucky I was home!

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These are all red flags.:( where are you located ?

al

I'm in the UK.

They came very well packaged. They were double boxed with heat packs and showed no signs of stress in their bags.

I prefer to start with fry as I can watch them grow and see their patterns develop.

Are they in a tank of their own? You mention that the other fish were greedy, that's why I asked. If they are with other species at this age you will not have good success with them.

I hope that will not be the case. The other fish are small tetra and zebra danios. The discus swim freely with the other fish. There isn't any bullying.

Also, the other fish don't take to beefheart, so it's always available for the discus.

Hopefully it works out, but sounds like maybe someone who is drop shipping from a 3rd party.

The seller is a hobbyist and breeds them himself. I chose him as the other sellers on eBay showed example pics of discus, but this guy showed actual photos of his stock.

It was a strange transaction, but I'm happy with the outcome.

Sounds like you lucked out. I would not deal with someone who won't answer questions about their product. He must know the age of the fish if he breeds them. That said i hope they work out for you.

Hopefully this ends up being a good story, me personally I won't buy discus from anyone who doesn't answer any questions about the fish I am about to buy from them.

Personally, I would have had a small private tank set up and also live food to offer them. They should have a voracious appetite and their tank should be vacuumed at least daily. It is good to hear that they are eating. Juvies are exciting to watch as they grow and their colors develop.

Good luck with them.