What not to buy

[Imperialdiscus]

Could be worse.

You could have actually BOUGHT supposedly quality Discus from someone who was supposed to be a reputable dealer and find you got crap when it arrives.

I spent 150.00+ each on several discus from a supposedly reputable breeder. I got one fish that had deformed ventral fins, another fish that was bent meaning if you looked at it straight on, instead of upright, it was curved at an angle, one had badly deformed fins and the list goes on.

When I called him about it, I was told the pictures on his website were like looking at girls in Playboy magazine. The pictures represented the best around. I was then told what I got was like the average girl on the street.

He finished up with What I got for 150.00 was what they were worth. If I wanted good quality it would cost more.

Needless to say, I have never bought from them again. And strangely he's still in business.

[karl wagner]

When I first clicked on this thread, I thought it was going to be about equipment that is not needed. I couldn't have been more surprised.

[TINNGGG]

(your forum noticed I haven't posted in ages so I thought I'd post now)

Last week I was in a pet store and noticed they'd gotten a couple of discus in. The nice thing was they'd put them in the 40 plant display (meaning they were on their own filtration system rather than a central). I eyeballed them but one was a pidgeon blood and well, y'all may shoot me but I really prefer the ones with striations. I visited there today. They still had the discus but they'd added a new shipment of angels to them. Their distributor of angels doesn't always have good stock (at one time, they didn't even guarantee angels due to the problems). Needless to say, the discus weren't happy, and the angels weren't much better.

[t2000kw]

Well what *I* expected to read when I saw this thread was explanations of what was wrong with what I was looking at--now I know this is normal development of a theme where all of you know what you're talking about, but other than the photo with the caption about pinched forehead I, as a newbie considerer of the discus species, cannot see what is *wrong* with these fish--and I've been in the aquarist's hobby 30 years and have 10 planted tanks and a fifteen year old fancy goldie to my credit, so I'm not a *complete* ignoramus on the subject of tropical and other pet fish.

So could someone please explain? Could someone please either redirect me to what I need to be reading to educate myself, or repost these photos and detail what I'm looking at, point out what is *wrong* with these fish? That you are all seeing something clearly that I cannot see at all ic completely freaking me out!!! Are they not supposed to be dark? What's wrong with big eyes? What's with the red eyes? My lfs has (what I judged were beautiful) blue discus that are almost black and I've been ADMIRING them . . . what the heck is hex and what else don't I know?!

*GASP!*

Melis--Don's mate <making the 'clueless' face and hating every minute of it>

[Imperialdiscus]

your best bet is to buy Andrew Soh's "Discus: The Naked Truth" book to start with. It goes into reasonable detail as to what is and is not a quality fish where discus are concerned.

Then look at lots of pictures of show winning fish to see what physical traits they display.

and finally, look at the "Discus University" forum here. There are a couple of decent posts regarding things like eye size, and probably others.

[t2000kw]

Been checking into Discus U. Catching up and catching on...thanks.

Melis

[Marinemom]

Its very sad to see fish in such bad shape. Is some of this genetic or is this a result of just not taking the proper care of them. Some of them look like they are half starved. What a shame!

Marinemom

[ahmad]

Thank you for the pictures.

They are very good example of what not to buy

Ahmad

[fishmama]

A picture is worth a thousand words!

[ponderingky]

Great info for those of us new to the hobby. Would you do a post (if you haven't already) on "What to buy" - I am getting ready to make a major purchase of my first stock and it would be great to see what you consider "good buys".

Thanks

[rppr21]

i felt very bad for them!.....feel sorry.

[Dolphin Dip]

Great info for those of us new to the hobby. Would you do a post (if you haven't already) on "What to buy" - I am getting ready to make a major purchase of my first stock and it would be great to see what you consider "good buys".

Thanks

look at the avatars of the admins and university members.
...but seriously, do it.

a read through discus university would give you a good idea of what an ideal fish looks like.

[jesset]

That's horrible. I love my discus like people love dogs. The owners should put them in a display tank and get them back to health.

[Darrell Ward]

I also got taken by "a reputable breeder". This guy supposed to be a top breeder, but the fish he sent me were skinny and pinched. 3 were dead, as the water had leaked from their bags. One of the 5" fish was head down in one inch of water trying to breathe. Most of the water had leaked from it's bag. 3 months later, all of the fish have survived, even the one that only had it's face under water. They all have grown some and become fat. I wonder though if they will ever reach their potential after being starved like that. It's obvious these fish had not been eating properly. After I started feeding them good food several times daily, they fattened right up. I want to buy some more fish for a 240 gal. tank that I'm converting to discus, but I'm leery about ordering fish after this experience. Anyone know of any breeders in NC still in business?

[RyanH]

Buy some quality fish from one of our sponsors. The seller doesn't need to be located in your area. Just have them shipped.