The Mythical 8" Discus

[CammieTime]

Does the mythical 8" discus really exist? How big do they really get?

[guille2007]

I have a 6.75 " male, I have committed a lot a mistakes during raising him that have been fixed by me along the way helped with a lot of advising of experimented people from here and also from personal friends aswell, the mistakes include no proper WC, no proper foods, sickness several times caused by tubifex feeding where I got him,no a big tank for eight fish(55g),etc. I have that male since he was 3 months old, he is currently 2.25 years. If all of those mistake had not happening, how big would be that male as of today?. Yes,I think that some individuals could reach the eight inches or close. I have heard of more than that.

Guillermo

[John_Nicholson]

When asking the size be sure to specify either standard length or total length. SL is the body only, with TL you include the tail. I have had several really, really large males that were between 6 and 6 3/8 SL (remember no tails). I have never seen a discus bigger then the 6 3/8 SL. I have also never seen any kind of proof of one larger. I have seen hundreds of post talking about them but when press for proof no one ever supplies any. I am not claiming that my discus was the biggest of all time. I am sure there are some larger but not many. Any discus with a SL of 6 inches should be considered a monster.

-john

[YSS]

Then, I have a monster wild brown. He is very close to 6" SL (can't really measure him accurately since I don't want to take him out of the tank to just measure). He hooks up with my monster pigeon boold female close to 5.5" SL from time to time and spawns. They actually just laid eggs last night. Only if I can save them ... They could all be monsters. I should post pics of my monster.

[Don Trinko]

I have a couple that are big enought to eat, In fact bigger than some of the blue gills I have eaten. They are close to 7" TL but definatly not 8" SL.
Don T.

[John_Nicholson]

Don I would love to see a pic of them on a towel with a ruler.

Thanks.

-john

[Peachtree Discus]

I have a couple that are big enought to eat, In fact bigger than some of the blue gills I have eaten. They are close to 7" TL but definatly not 8" SL.

for some reason - i read that wrong twice. 7" TL is about 5 or 5.5" SL. still good sized tho.

[Darrell Ward]

The fish in my avatar is very close to 7" from head to tail. It's about 4 years old now. Far from being 8" however. I know Al has a couple of whoppers. I don't know how big though.

[John_Nicholson]

I did the same thing...LOL. I saw 7 SL when Don really typed 7 TL...Man its hard getting old.

-john

[guille2007]

In my case I meant TL

[Don Trinko]

I think the tail is close 1 to 1 1/4" so SL is probably closer to 5.5 to 6. I'm not going to take them out to measure but anyone who is in the area is welcome to stop by. (pm me for details) Every time I get a ruler near the tank they go nuts so I am going by the size of my hand.
I think a lot is genetics because I have others that were raised under the same conditions and are mor like 4.5 to 5.
I have seen bigger ones at a LFS in toledo. They were not for sale. They were the owners pets.

[DiscusOnly]

I'm not going to take them out to measure but anyone who is in the area is welcome to stop by.

I feel the same way. I thought about measuring mine but having moved them 2 times recently, I don't want to risk stressing them out. I don't see how I could measure them myself. I'll extend the same invitation, anyone can come to by to see and judge for themselves.

Van

[poconogal]

A friend had a WB that was 8", TL. He was a monster. I now have a male Checkerboard Turq that is close to 8 inches, TL. I named him Bruiser.

[John_Nicholson]

Taking a fish out to measure them really does very little harm. I use to switch fish around all of the time and would often measure them without any ill effects. I would lay a towel down on a chair. Lay a ruler down on the towel. Net the fish and gently set it on the towel. I would have someone take a picture and then I would out the fish in the new tank. The I would look at the pic to get the size.


-john

[Don Trinko]

I'm sure you are right John but I don't like netting them or moving them in any way. Another thread had a good idea. They put a peice of tape with inch marking on it on the tank and then wait for the fish to swim by.
I just did that and I stick by my estimate of 7" TL. The smaller one in that tank is abought 6" TL. Are all my fish 6 and 7".... No, Most are more like 4.5 to 5.5. Don T.