German and Asian

[captainandy]

Here’s an analogy. Asian bred discus have been exposed to a virus (like Covid) and have developed immunity for generations. German bred haven’t been exposed so some will not fare well with mixing

[Vinni Smith]

Here’s an analogy. Asian bred discus have been exposed to a virus (like Covid) and have developed immunity for generations. German bred haven’t been exposed so some will not fare well with mixing

I have to say NONE of my german bred have fared well.

[farebox]

Buy American, Japan and Germany both lost the war! Just some humor, LOL. A few years ago I mixed some Kenny and Hans discus together and over a period of time all expired, white poo, hunger strikes, even with meds applied to the tank. Now I have 10-Hans in my 125-gallon and 5- Chicago Discus in a 40-gallon breeder I just recently set up. Plan not to mix these guys together.

[Iminit]

Vinnie I hear you. But did you get yours from Hans or a pet store?

My feeling on cross contamination is part marketing and part no qt. I believe all discus hold certain diseases. When stressed as in added to an existing tank without qt these diseases start to show. If not removed these diseases will pass to healthy fish. Most times when removed the stress fish will heal and the rest will not get infected. It’s when left in tank till noticeable sick that everything goes bad. And as a seller why not use this to your advantage and say don’t mix just buy mine?

[seanyuki]

After 6 weeks quarantine new German arrivals and added an Asian Discus hero discus from the existing to the quarantine tank and after one week these symptoms shows up due to their different immune system.

rapid and heavy breathing*.
turning dark and with clamped fins.
excessive mucus and slime coat.
scratching and rubbing against aquarium objects; they may also start darting .
severe fin rot and white patches.


Best way to treat cross contamination.

[dspeers]

I wonder if there is a current consensus about what prophylactic meds are best to use to minimize risk if you want to mix asian and german. There is Al's protocol which some follow and some don't and then the idea of using formalin was mentioned. Any thoughts from the Gurus? Will say that if I had a bunch of both I think after quarantine I would pick two hero fish in a third tank and see what happens.

[dspeers]

Vinni, just curious, where did you get your German fish.

[jeep]

I've never had an issue mixing Asian and German discus, but knowing what to look for and then making the decision to introduce them to each other is more important than simply following directions. I've had some Asian discus that were never even introduced to my other Asian discus. It's not the nationality that is most important, it's the source...

[danotaylor]

Friends if y'all wanna rehash this debate go right ahead but notice the OP has not posted since the initial posting except to say sorry and remove an inappropriate image. The whole thread was intended to be a joke centered around said inappropriate image, and so with the image and original last paragraph removed, the OP really has little interest in the genuine question left behind or the answers that have followed. Time spent posting here would be wasted in my opinion.
Be well y'all!

[Vinni Smith]

Vinni, just curious, where did you get your German fish.

Lfs here in Nashville called Aquatic Critter. Very high end store. They keep the discus in a huge tank in the back. Very proud of them and it is labeled Stendker.

I know the owner of this store and they really care about their fish.

I am not saying German fish are bad. Those fish are gorgeous. I am saying they have not done well for me at all. Mixing the problem? I don't know. 3-5 months to show up and happen?

All I know is the fish I have gotten from Miranda (Chicago Discus) and lfs (Sun Pets) have done fantastic for me. They are exactly the kind of fish I want to keep.

BTW, Danotaylor. It does not really matter to me if the OP was a troll. This has been an interesting thread as far as I am concerned. I just like getting together with you all and spitting back and forth. The troll actually brought up a good subject.

I am going to bed now.

V

[danotaylor]

No worries Vinni, it's just all been discussed multiple times before and you can find all the opinions voiced using the search engine. I just didn't want the genuine folks here wasting their precious time since I felt that the OP's intention was bogus and never to discuss the topic or merits laid out in this thread. I've been wrong before...
Either way, no harm no foul

[pablos]

Daniel,
My intention was to get an opinion from experts regarding that topic, which has been shared by quite a few folks. I really appreciate that are people who are sharing they expertises of their passion. That’s really great!

I was not intended to offend someone by posting an image, which might not be appropriate. It sounds like not funny joke, so I removed it. Sorry about that.

[danotaylor]

Ok pablos, if you say so. Happy dayz everyone

[pablos]

Yeah. I bought recently those small cute puppies from Stendker and I was surprised about statement in their manual. Honestly I’m still confused how much it’s marketing and how a real issue.

6EF70AFA-9B32-4F80-809A-F352FA8952BD.jpeg

[danotaylor]

Wisdom says to always QT new fish not matter what source they come from. Even with careful QT'ing there can be problems. I have experienced this myself, but got through it with the help of Brian & Pat on this forum. CaptainAndy's analogy in this thread is a perfect example of how cross contamination can occur in 2 otherwise healthy populations. It's just not possible to know what your discus are immune or susceptible too. Mixing sources increases the risk for sure, but it can be done, you just have to be prepared. It's a good idea to have metro, salt, and a broad spectrum antibiotic like furan or furan 2 on hand when attempting to merge fish. The time it takes to ship meds can spell disaster if things don't go according to plan.