My experience at Chicago Discus 3/18/14

So today, I had the privilege of meeting Miranda today at Chicago Discus.
The story is...
a friend of mine had to re-home some fish and ended up giving me one of his Discus. This was my first discus, period. I knew that he couldn't just sit in my 75 all by his lonesome, so I knew I had to bump the school up to at least 4, for now. This was a good excuse for an early birthday present as well, since my birthday is the 24th of March. On top of that, our baby boy was born last week, March 10th, so my wife was feeling in an extra good mood.


The moment I stepped in the door, I was absolutely amazed at the whole set up. I've literally never even seen a "Aquarium Store" with such a marvelous and sophisticated set up. Everything was organized, everything was clear, and everything was neat. All of the tanks looked pristine and the water as clear as day. I told Miranda that this was my first experience with Discus and she took the time to explain many things about Discus to me. She made my first time buying Discus, a more than pleasant experience. The best part was, I could see the fascination in her eyes at how passionate she was about these fish. The way she talked about them really did inspire me and showed me what great respect she has for Discus. It made my experience a whole lot better knowing that I was buying from someone who genuinely cares about the community.

I originally went there with the intention of buying 2 or 3 discus, but ended up leaving with a few more than that!
She even took the time to explain a good way to acclimate them into my tank and gave me a free sample of the food that they make there.
Overall, on the drive there, I must admit that this was a bit of a stressful experience. I did not really know what to expect, and I did not want to look stupid or asking any dumb questions in front of a breeder that knows just about everything about these fish. From the moment Miranda greeted me at the gate, it was a warm and caring experience. I walked out of there, not feeling like a customer, but it felt as if I was just initiated into the family of Discus owners; and it couldn't have been a warmer welcome.

I definitely plan on returning. I'm a little sad that I didn't get to meet Josie because I was really looking forward to meeting both Miranda and Josie, but that's okay; the experience was well worth it. I just want to say thank you Miranda for practically holding my hand through the whole Discus buying process. Whether it was explaining how the fry feed, or whether it was helping me pick a fish that you thought looked good, you were very helpful in every way.
I look forward to buying from you again soon.
~Brandon

Well, don't keep us in suspense any longer! What did you walk out of there with??? Sizes, strains?

What type of discus did your friend give you? What type of shape was he in.

The girls at Chicago are great and have great discus. I have 4 beauties in my tank from them and they grow daily. Miranda still answers my silly questions and I purchased these fish 6 months ago!

Right how could I forget!
My friend ended up giving me a roughly 3 inch Blue turq. He's in decent shape but he wasn't really leaving the corner of the tank at all. He kept hiding behind my sponge filter. Now that the other discus are in the tank though, he is now out and about.
I ended up leaving Josie's today with...
1 red turk 4.5"
1 fuji red 3.5"
1 Penang eruption 3"
1 pigeon blood 3"
and 1 leopard 4.5"

pictures pictures pictures!

ok so here are some pictures... now keep in mind, these pictures do not do these fish justice. My crappy Iphone 4S Camera + my shoddy photography skills = not the best pictures.
This is the one I did not get from Josie. Blue Turq
http://i57.tinypic.com/9h0rkn.jpg


Red Turq
http://i62.tinypic.com/24grity.jpg

Fuji Red
http://i57.tinypic.com/5wmesx.jpg

Couldn't get a picture of the pigeon blood. He was just hiding, I'll grab a picture when I can.

Great looking discus, and I'm glad you chose to go with a breeder/sponsor. Now we start counting down until you want to add more tanks to house more fish and to eventually have a fish room, lol. TFS

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rickztahone

Great looking discus, and I'm glad you chose to go with a breeder/sponsor. Now we start counting down until you want to add more tanks to house more fish and to eventually have a fish room, lol. TFS

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Haha I came home and already was trying to talk the wife into a 300 gallon like Josie's. I even took pictures of it while I was there to show her the beauty that could be under our TV in our living room. :D

You know, I was considering craigslist for discus but I just couldn't stomach it. I realized Josie was 4 miles from my house... literally... and I know not many people have the luxury of living that close to such a well-known and legitimate breeder. So from now on, I know where I will be getting all of my Discus from. There really is no reason not to, you know? 4 miles. No shipping, no waiting for the fedex guy, no worrying about DOA's... AND I get to see what I'm buying right in front of me. Luxury? Definitely.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Brandon3000

Haha I came home and already was trying to talk the wife into a 300 gallon like Josie's. I even took pictures of it while I was there to show her the beauty that could be under our TV in our living room. :D

You know, I was considering craigslist for discus but I just couldn't stomach it. I realized Josie was 4 miles from my house... literally... and I know not many people have the luxury of living that close to such a well-known and legitimate breeder. So from now on, I know where I will be getting all of my Discus from. There really is no reason not to, you know? 4 miles. No shipping, no waiting for the fedex guy, no worrying about DOA's... AND I get to see what I'm buying right in front of me. Luxury? Definitely.

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Indeed, that is a luxury that many of us wish we had, but I'm sure our significant others like the fact that most of us DON'T LOL

Nice I like the red turq.:D

This is Miranda here. I had the opportunity to meet with Brandon today at our hatchery. First of all, thank you Brandon for the wonderful review. But I feel that I need to explain the pictures that Brandon posted. Brandon told me that he had a new 75 gallon tank that he obtained from a friend, with one lonely little 3.5" discus in the corner. He wanted to buy 2 or 3 other discus so it wouldn't be so lonely. I explained that he would need more discus than that in the 75 gallon tank because discus are schooling fish. After he bought 3 small discus from us (Turk, Melon, and Pigeon Blood), I offered him a few free fish just to keep them company. I explained that the free fish were "seconds", that we would never sell them, and that I kept them in the back tank because I was fond of them and wasn't ready to cull them. He knew that they were just to provide companionship to the few other discus he had in this big tank. I want to state emphatically that we do not sell "seconds" or any discus with obvious defects like the ones I offered as companions to Brandon.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ChicagoDiscus

This is Miranda here. I had the opportunity to meet with Brandon today at our hatchery. First of all, thank you Brandon for the wonderful review. But I feel that I need to explain the pictures that Brandon posted. Brandon told me that he had a new 75 gallon tank that he obtained from a friend, with one lonely little 3.5" discus in the corner. He wanted to buy 2 or 3 other discus so it wouldn't be so lonely. I explained that he would need more discus than that in the 75 gallon tank because discus are schooling fish. After he bought 3 small discus from us (Turk, Melon, and Pigeon Blood), I offered him a few free fish just to keep them company. I explained that the free fish were "seconds", that we would never sell them, and that I kept them in the back tank because I was fond of them and wasn't ready to cull them. He knew that they were just to provide companionship to the few other discus he had in this big tank. I want to state emphatically that we do not sell "seconds" or any discus with obvious defects like the ones I offered as companions to Brandon.

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Should have made that clearer on my part. Thanks for clearing it up Miranda! Thank you again for the companion fish, it was very nice of you.
Sorry if I caused any fuss, I really didn't mean any harm.
It really was wonderful meeting you today and all of the fish are doing very well. They are beautiful and will grow to be stunning.
Customer Service = A+
Quality of product= A+
definitely have me as a customer for life.

Nice looking fish.

-john