Discus from lfs?

[bossanova]

You won’t wanna hear this, but discus are an expensive fish. If you’re on a super tight budget right now, just wait or get something else. The minimum I would advise you get is 5 fish in a 55 gallon tank.

[peewee1]

You won’t wanna hear this, but discus are an expensive fish. If you’re on a super tight budget right now, just wait or get something else. The minimum I would advise you get is 5 fish in a 55 gallon tank.

I did not want to hear this. There is nothing more refreshing than to begin a new day with what is becoming an old virus to a less than encouraging message from you to a hopeful teen. I would suggest that you reread the entire thread. It is one full of hope and encouragement, especially the offer from ChicagoDiscus. News flash! I have and now do raise 5 discus in as small as a 30 gallon tank. Yes, six could be a stretch but a 40 gallon for Taco will be okay for his desired 6. Someone on this forum will be sure, probably not you, that someone gets to him those 6 fish and within his budget. Right now we all can use a Christmas in June.

[bluelagoon]

It is possible that the LFS is buying from a local breeder. What Taco would be doing is taking the fish from the breeder/supplier and taking direct delivery before the LFS cycles the fish through its system. I think the danger is the introduction of the fish into its system and not from the breeder/wholesaler. Why would the lfs buy its stock from a bad source? Taco would probably get a better price per fish if he bought direct from the breeder and not have to pay the lfs markup. Mac's has 2in fish at on average of $40 each with shipping included. But Mac is in Washington State. The lfs 2 for $35 fits Taco's budget, no shipping costs, and if the lfs breeder/supplier is reputable and if Taco buys the fish still in the delivery process rather than allowing them to be placed in the lfs tanks then he should be okay. My question to you is, why would the lfs be buying bad fish for whomever they are buying them from? I think the problems begin when those fish are introduced into the lfs tank system. And remember that Herman Chan at Fairy Lake for years sold great fish, some to many of us including me, and I will remind that Fairy Late is indeed a lfs.

I think it mostly depends on the LPS. Some might specialize in discus and receive the best of the stock and most do not. From what I've come across they have a very few decent discus, mostly culls and peppered PB. The good ones you'll see on here from some sponsors and other specialized discus shops. You might get "lucky" and find some decent ones. These may come from local breeders where they are not raised on antibiotics, which I think make healthier discus. I would rather get discus from some of the folks that raise discus on here before I would attempt to go to a lps that don't specialize in discus or don't understand the importance of care for these fish at such a young age when that is their most important journey. Most of their discus come from fish farms and the time it takes to get them from the farm to your tank, they could go without foods for days to weeks, especially if they are held in a not so discus friendly LPS where they are treated like guppys. All being said I did get a few decent discus at a LPS before they got dumped their tanks, but they were the only ones I've seen around since then in our local stores. I was glad that I just happened at that lps that day when they arrived and say how nice their shape was. They did not come from a farm.

[Iminit]

Well it seems like taco will do well with Chicago discus (a very nice offer). But there are good lfs discus but you just have to find them. Know your store and the buyer also needs to take care of them. Lfs discus are where 90% get there first discus. If bought early enough they can be good fish. If bought from a shop that at least knows what there doing with discus can work too. First if the shop has discus in a tank with other fish forget it! If they are in there own tank the chances are much better. If so ask what they are feeding and if they will feed for you. If feeding Any type of live worms your chances of sick fish are worse. But with medicating you may be able to save them. If feeding freeze dried chances are much better you’ll get good fish. My first 5 are store bought. All are doing well and now living with Hans and Uncle Sams discus . So it can be done .

[captainandy]

Another source of inexpensive discus is craigslist. At least you can see them and meet the hobbiest.

[Second Hand Pat]

Hey, my Chicago friend... give me a call and I will set you up with some discus. ... Miranda 312-622-0055

Hi Miranda, this is so generous you You may want to pm Taco? They do not seem to be getting around much on the forum.
Pat

[captainandy]

You won’t wanna hear this, but discus are an expensive fish. If you’re on a super tight budget right now, just wait or get something else. The minimum I would advise you get is 5 fish in a 55 gallon tank.

I couldnt agree more. The notion of maintining discus by a teenager with that kind of budget is silly and bound to fail. When I was a teenager I had a couple of oscars in a second hand 55 and they gave me years of joy

[peewee1]

I couldnt agree more. The notion of maintining discus by a teenager with that kind of budget is silly and bound to fail. When I was a teenager I had a couple of oscars in a second hand 55 and they gave me years of joy

The both of you seem not to give a teenager much credit. So many teens have achieved at their young ages more than I suspect the both of you have in your combined lifetimes. How are you to assume who Taco is and what Taco is capable of doing?

Last December, nearly 2,000 people showed up for a protest outside U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May’s home, led by 18-year-old Amika George. Her goal: convince policymakers to end “period poverty,” as she calls it, by funding the distribution of menstrual products to girls and women who can’t afford them. “It really upset me,” she tells TIME of learning that many girls in the U.K. were routinely missing school during their periods because they couldn’t afford to buy menstrual products. “The government knew this was happening on their watch, but they were refusing to find a solution.” She launched the #FreePeriods campaign as a response, gathering nearly 200,000 signatures on her petition to help eradicate period poverty; the movement eventually garnered the support of over a dozen U.K. policymakers, galvanizing the government to allocate funds to the issue for the first time. But George, who was honored with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Goalkeepers Campaign Award this fall, says she is just getting started. “We can’t trust our policymakers to take action on issues that seem so obvious to us,” she says. “If we want to see change, it falls on us to create that change.”

Eighteen year old Kavya Kopparapu, now a freshman at Harvard University, was reading a story about the late Sen. John McCain, who was battling the aggressive brain cancer known as glioblastoma. What stuck with Kopparapu was the part of the story that mentioned that in the past 30 years, the survival rate for the disease has barely budged. “I thought, Why is that?” she says. “We have so much innovation that it didn’t make sense that we hadn’t gotten better.” So she set out to change things, developing a deep-learning computer system that can scan slides of tissue from brain cancer patients looking for differences in density, color, texture and cellular alignment that are unique to that particular person’s case. The goal: to develop targeted therapies that are also unique to the person. Her system has been awarded a provisional patent, and this year, she hopes to begin clinical tests in collaboration with a neuropathologist at Georgetown University. In addition, she is the founder of the non-profit Girls Computing League, which works this year to bring computing opportunities to girls in the northern Virginia and Washington, DC area.

[Second Hand Pat]

Teenagers can be incredibly creative so let's not sale Taco short. We need to encourage kids to be fish keepers otherwise fish keeping becomes a thing of the past.
Pat

[LizStreithorst]

It just bothers me that he made this post and has not been back since. He was looking for help, we offered him help and he's gone. It seems rude.

[bossanova]

Well, I thought actually telling the truth would help. My story is that I tried Discus in my early 20s, failed because I had no $ or experience, and got discouraged. It’s common.

Now in my 40s, I finally did it right, based on good information I got here and Hans’ stock.

Nothing wrong with keeping some Africans or Apistos for a little while and working towards discus.

[Vinni Smith]

Teenagers can be incredibly creative so let's not sale Taco short. We need to encourage kids to be fish keepers otherwise fish keeping becomes a thing of the past.
Pat

SO true Pat. Happens with a lot of hobbies. We used to race pigeons. Talk about a think of the past!

[Chicago Discus]

Well, it's been about 2 weeks now since our friend Taco posted his concerns. I would have been glad to give him some small discus for him to learn how to keep discus. I also sent him a PM, but no reply. You can lead a horse to water, etc. etc. I try to encourage young budding aquarists any chance I get. I have donated fish to teachers who keep discus in their classrooms, and I always pay special attention to the visitors who bring their children with them to visit our shop. It is important to keep the hobby going! I am sure all the sponsors here on Simply Discus have done the same.

[Second Hand Pat]

Well, it's been about 2 weeks now since our friend Taco posted his concerns. I would have been glad to give him some small discus for him to learn how to keep discus. I also sent him a PM, but no reply. You can lead a horse to water, etc. etc. I try to encourage young budding aquarists any chance I get. I have donated fish to teachers who keep discus in their classrooms, and I always pay special attention to the visitors who bring their children with them to visit our shop. It is important to keep the hobby going! I am sure all the sponsors here on Simply Discus have done the same.

Thanks for trying Miranda and very generous of you. Perhaps Taco ran into a hiccip with his/her parents.
Pat

[LizStreithorst]

Now I feel bad about pointing you to this thread. He sure did blow a great chance.