Please Help with Color Type

[Vinni Smith]

I bought these fish from Macs Discus long ago.
about 8-10 months ago.
$35 each at 2"
Never again.

He said, they are beautiful Ruby Red.
You will LOVE them!

Please let me know what you think they are...

The first fish is now about 3 1/2" and the second one is still about 3"

Macs2.jpg

Macs1.jpg

[ref0716]

Second fish looks like my red melons, but not as red and with lotsa peppering. First one pretty and seems clean, but no idea what to call it. HTH
Richard

[rickztahone]

Hello Vinni. I have been out of the loop for a while and have no idea who "Macs Discus" are. Either way, it looks like the 2nd one is a heavily peppered pigeon which is typically more prominently peppered depending on the environment.

I still think they are lovely and the 1st looks healthy although the 2nd looks a little thin IMO.

[peewee1]

The first one is a bee you tee. That would be intense yellow.

[Vinni Smith]

Hello Vinni. I have been out of the loop for a while and have no idea who "Macs Discus" are. Either way, it looks like the 2nd one is a heavily peppered pigeon which is typically more prominently peppered depending on the environment.

I still think they are lovely and the 1st looks healthy although the 2nd looks a little thin IMO.

Yes indeed. The 2nd one is too thin. However, it is much fatter than it was. I was prepared to lose it because it quit eating completely. I moved it out to the shop in to a tank with lots of other kinds of fish and it snapped to of it. Has come a long way the past month.

The fish from Macs Discus are the only fish I have that are peppering that way. Check out this PB Checkerboard that came in the same batch. I got 3. One died, one is stunted and this one is so-so. This is in a tank with a light grey bottom and grey background in a nicely lit acrylic tank, by a window. PH 6.5 and 95% WC every other day. A little peppering does not bother me at all. Like the one in the background. But, this fish is just hard to look at. I think it may be stunted as well? Not sure.

Peppered PB.jpg

[rickztahone]

yes, this last one also looks to be stunted but still nice.

[Vinni Smith]

I'll tell you this.
no more small fish for us.
5" from now on.
You know what you are getting and in the long run you are $$$ ahead.
I will probably give these junkers to someone locally on Facebook.
V

[Iminit]

Yeah Macs isn’t what He used to be. In the 80s and 90s he was big and kept some beautiful discus. But like all the other American breeders they just can’t keep up with the importers. So they too import. The problem is they become like your local pet shop. They can’t move the fish as fast as the more established importers. So their fish sit and get stunted before they’re even bought.
How are your new discus doing? Have they grown? I bought 2 from Uncle Sams last year and they look great but haven't grown as much as the Hans discus. Just wondering if when buying bigger discus if we can expect growth? Or there done because they’ve grown already before shipping. Could the whole act of shipping stunt them? Before we get them they are Already shipped twice.
For me I do like to get smaller fish and enjoy growing them out. But it’s hit or miss. When I bought the last group. I spoke to Hans about how my first set were not all what I ordered. He told me that at 2” it’s very hard to see how the fish will grow out at that size. But All in all I’m still happy. My new group I bought bigger than the Hans discus at 4” but smaller than the US fish. Hoping these guys grow to the Hans size .

[two utes]

I'll tell you this.
no more small fish for us.
5" from now on.
You know what you are getting and in the long run you are $$$ ahead.
I will probably give these junkers to someone locally on Facebook.
V

There's nothing at all wrong with buying small fish as long as you are willing to put in the hard yards with feeding and water changes, and most importantly that you know that they came from a good source. Ive always wanted to see the parents of any juveniles that i have purchased, knowing that the juveniles have the same potential or in some cases better since you have control on how they are raised.

If you haven't got the capability of doing that, larger fish may be the go, but at 5" there is still lots of potential for good growth providing the commitment to do so is there.