What not to buy

[n0kjf]

So, for those of us who cannot afford "show" discus, where can we buy reasonable quality discus on a poor man's budget?

Thanks,
Lew Heifner

[John_Nicholson]

I got news for you....almost no one is buying show fish. A real show fish starts at $1000.00 if you have a relationship with the breeder and goes up dramatically from there. Buying cheap discus will cost you much more in the end. Buy quality fish and make your life easy. There are several sponsors here that all charge very fair prices. Sometimes you are lucky to have a local hobbyist breeder but if you have to have them shipped in then make damned sure you are buying quality. Buying "cheap" fish is normally very expensive in the end.

-john

[Skip]

So, for those of us who cannot afford "show" discus, where can we buy reasonable quality discus on a poor man's budget?

Thanks,
Lew Heifner

buy from our sponsors.... those fish have never been in a show.. the next NADA .. is in 2016! so from now till then.. there are lots of NON Show fish

[Discus Hawk]

Very sad to see discus in that type of shape and in with other fish they should NOT be in with.

[Skip]

Very sad to see discus in that type of shape and in with other fish they should NOT be in with.

thats why we need to be educated buyers

[boonseong]

So, for those of us who cannot afford "show" discus, where can we buy reasonable quality discus on a poor man's budget?

Thanks,
Lew Heifner

To be honest, cost of the fish is not super high. It's the food, water, electric, medication that gets to be expensive. Fish can be bought from our sponsors for as low as $20 each + the cost of shipping. Food on the other hand is $20-$30 for a few ozs of FDBD or if you are willing to make your own beefheart, then the price drops.

[emu1sive]

Thank goodness for this site

[navarro1950]

Thanks Walter, I've never seen discus that looked like those. Is it not allowed to state the name of the LFS that's selling sick fish of any kind or can we say their name? Maybe if they get bad press they might straighten up.

[DISCUS STU]

Thanks Walter, I've never seen discus that looked like those. Is it not allowed to state the name of the LFS that's selling sick fish of any kind or can we say their name? Maybe if they get bad press they might straighten up.

Regardless of this being a late response, this type of sickly, stunted fish is very common and is more common when it comes to lps/lfs's than it is uncommon.

I've seen and see fish like this all the time, especially at Petco's which is a chain that serves many pet owners as a responsible member of the dog, cat, etc. community but really shouldn't be selling anything more than gouramis, guppies, but NOT Discus. The numbers of stores that sell fish like this are too numerous to mention.

It's really a shame to see sickly, struggling, and basically dying fish that never had a chance to begin with.

[Quintin]

I agree.disgacefull.

[Goldenmelondiscus]

There are two lfs in town and one store knows what they are doing and other store has discus because the first store has them. The first store I saw them in was the poor quality discus and I was really close to buying from them, but when I asked about Discus they had no clue about them. Upon further research I found that the discus on the second store to be very poor quality. I would think that if you are a LFS owner that you would want to know your product, so you can keep your overhead low. I rarely buy fish at Petsmart or Petco because I'm not sure they're well taken care of.

[rickztahone]

There are two lfs in town and one store knows what they are doing and other store has discus because the first store has them. The first store I saw them in was the poor quality discus and I was really close to buying from them, but when I asked about Discus they had no clue about them. Upon further research I found that the discus on the second store to be very poor quality. I would think that if you are a LFS owner that you would want to know your product, so you can keep your overhead low. I rarely buy fish at Petsmart or Petco because I'm not sure they're well taken care of.

Avoid all LFS's for discus purchase. Support LFS by buying equipment if they are competitively priced. I posted a reply to your other thread. Buy from a sponsor here and buy with confidence.

[discushobbies]

This sticky should also show the defects of discus, many LFS sell these defects, and also some breeders don't know about this. I was sold defective fish by a breeder.

[BobB]

It is truly sickening what is sold in some LFS, they buy cheap castoffs and sell them at a premium price!

[juliaroberts2403]

Really great discussion. This is very useful.