Originally Posted by
Willie
Just want to clarify what has been said here.
1. Cliff did not say these fish are bulldog discus, just that bulldogs also have a notch/beak when young. Whether anyone likes or dislikes bulldogs has no bearing on these fish.
2. I was concerned with the notchy appearance based on the first set of pictures, but the second set of pictures show that they're not nearly as bad as I was led to believe. I also said that the notchy appearance will greatly improve with lots of big water changes and high protein foods.
If you want discus with spectacular shape, perfect foreheads and round fronts, buy turquoise strains. If you go to a NADA or other discus competition, the toughest category is always the turquoise class. They're much bigger, better coloration and perfectly shaped. As you move toward Blue Diamonds, Brilliants (Flachens), etc., getting perfect foreheads are going to be less frequent. In newer strains, the shapes will be even less ideal. A turquoise strain with this forehead would not be in my fish room.
But the latest reds, e.g. 3R's, Rafflesias, etc., never had great shape. They were bred with uniform red coloration as the primary criterion. As you move into the pigeon blood categories, the shape is just not going to be there. These turn out to be a very new variety and I don't expect great size, shape, or likely fertility from them.
In the end, these are not culls. They seem healthy, they have good color and they just don't have a perfect discus shape. They are a world apart from the diseased, stunted, clamped discus often seen on this website from no-name sources. If you want glowing red discus that achieve huge size (6"+), with perfect foreheads, you're probably looking at > $500 each.
Willie