The Mythical 8" Discus

[Al M.]

I have netted hundreds of fish over the years and never had any problems....

Someone posted that you can net them put your hand under the net use A tape measure with the other and it does take about 5 seconds...

dosen't anyone move fish from tank to tank anymore... its A nice easy time to measure them, VERY VERY EASY TO DO WITH NO HARM TO THE FISH....

The only way that I might not do it is if the fish was part of A pair, I would be alittle afraid of scewing up their spawnig cycle.... and thats probably being a bit paironoid........

[Don Trinko]

I have moved fish from tank to tank. Some just lay in the net and others flop like crazy. BD's have small scales and they are sometimes damaged netting. I have seen other threads on this site where people were warned not to net but to use their hands or coax the fish to swimming into a container under water to transfer fish .
The bottom line is: You do what you want with your fish but mine do not get netted unless I consider it neccisary. The tape on the glass worked to my satisfaction. Don T.

[Porkchop]

Can we get back to the topic and maybe have some more pictures posted? I really like the last Discus in the last picture. I would like to see some big guys!!!

Anthony

[FLGirl1977]

I'm sorry... I guess I'm lost... what does any of this have to do with 8'' discus?? lol....

Do I net? I try not to, but sometimes it's just not possible to do it without netting them.

Are they shook up a little? I guess... do they recover right away? You betcha!

So does anyone actually have a measured (pictured) 8'' discus?? (I guess that's the million dollar question)

[DiscusOnly]

So does anyone actually have a measured (pictured) 8'' discus?? (I guess that's the million dollar question)

That's actually 2 separate questions. I am not going to try to nick pick on wordings but reading and participating in these post, measuring the discus is not sufficient! You need to take a picture of it and that may/may not be enough evidence.

As stated before, taking pictures of the measurement is where I am having a difficutly time with. I don't disagree with the suggestion that you can net the fish and then have the hand under to take the measurement. I have a 8" x 10" net that would do the job. My issue is being able to take a picture during the whole process. This is where I disagree with laying the fish on a towel is the same as netting.

I know that in order to satisfy the skeptic, one would have to:

1. Make sure that the measuring tools is certified (someone is going to claim that the ruler is tampered with)
2. Take a picture of the discus while doing the measurements.

There is even the whole debate of SL vs TL and let's visit the title of this topic again. 8" Discus

Whether it's 6 3/8" SL or 8" TL. Do we accept that they exist? A discus that size WILL have a tail that is way over 1" long making it in the 8" range. 8" Discus TL (as Hans had said it before, he count the tail because he never sell his fish without the tail). IS NOT A MYTH.

It is a MYTH that some/alot of folks claim to have discus that size and I guess we can direct them to the instructions here on how to measure them to PROVE IT.

I guess I consider myself as one of those that CAN'T PROVE IT. I have only measured 5.5"-6.0" TL discus in my other tanks but it's night and day between those and the giant. As stated before.. come see it yourself.

[John_Nicholson]

AS stated earlier I have had several male discus that were between 6 and 6 3/8 inches standard length. I will see if I can find any of the old pictures. My pics would be old, before I had a digital camera so I will have to scan if I can even find them.

-john

[Peachtree Discus]

if i ask for pics of a SL 4" or 5" discus then you will see lots of pictures popping up. you will likely see the rules/tape on the glass but it will be fairly obvious that the fish are 4" or 5". simply stated: you hear the claims and you see those pictures all the time.

if i ask for a picture of a SL 8" discus you will not see many (if any) and the pictures that are posted will not be obvious that the fish is 8". simply stated: you hear the claims but you don't ever see the pictures.

[Roxanne]

I saw a pic somewhere of Hans fish, a jumbo next to an ordinary size discus, and it was OBVIOUSLY HUGE, can't find the pic now but these comes close...

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=65325

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=65329

No ruler needed.....

[Rod]

This is my only attempt at photo measuring larger discus, he is just a shade over 19cm tl. I did not enjoy the experience at all as big discus are not easy to handle, and damage to the discus is a real possibility. This strain, the males regularly get this size or even larger so i don't think 8"tl is a myth at all. But 8" sl would be about 25cm tl and although possible, it is a very rare animal indeed.

The pigeon is possibly the largest discus i have seen, i took this photo at a discus show here in Oz. He might be very close to the mythical 8"sl discus, he certainly made every other discus in the show look small.

[mikel]

Dudes, I dont know what the fuss is about. Clearly, if I have a large specimen, I would worry about damaging it, especially if I have to catch it, and take it out in a net and lay it on a towel for a picture next to a ruler (which by the way, should be clearly marked). Simply catch the fish under water, use both hands as a net around it, and quickly lift it out of the water into a waiting large dark bucket or large dark rectangle plastic container....with maybe 2 inches of water. From there, all you need to do is to take a clear and easy to read ruler, with added marker line for 5 inches, 6 inches and 7 inches, and sink it in the bucket or rectangle container with the discus on its side with minimal water. Voila, take your picture of a zoom-in close shot and there is your proof, or non-proof...whatever. We all see this done by sponsors who tries to show us what each of the batch look like...does not hurt the fish and you can have a friend or spouse take the picture as you hold the ruler next to the discus lying flat under shallow water. No one gets hurt. Proof is always necessary, otherwise, it's no go. mike

[Roxanne]

.. he is just a shade over 19cm tl. I did not enjoy the experience at all as big discus are not easy to handle, and damage to the discus is a real possibility. This strain, the males regularly get this size or even larger so i don't think 8"tl is a myth at all. But 8" sl would be about 25cm tl and although possible, it is a very rare animal indeed.

The pigeon is possibly the largest discus i have seen, i took this photo at a discus show here in Oz. He might be very close to the mythical 8"sl discus, he certainly made every other discus in the show look small.

beautiful.....wouldn't expect anything less from you Rod...why do you think I call the two big boofheads I got from you "Rod Lewis Specials"?

BTW. did he stay on the towel, or jump around and stuff?

[DiscusDude85]

Thats a big dog! Hard to say Francis....Objects in the mirror are larger than they appear.

It would be easy to over and underestimate. Huge fish though

Eddie

OMG that is serious!. Ive never seen one that big. And i thought my discus were of a decent size. wow




Joe

[cyang]

OMG that is serious!. Ive never seen one that big.

Joe

That is what she said.

[DiscusDude85]

That is what she said.

Haha lol left that one open for some interpritation.




Joe

[Graham]

This is funny....The fish in the net won't stress it...it's the chasing it around the tank with a guppy net for ten minutes that does the damage. When a fish is chased it can go into flight or fight mode. If its flight then all kinds of physiological changes take place. The 1st response is an adrenaline surge, which ups the heart beat, blood vessels dilate in the gills affecting osmoregulation, and shrink in parts of the body, and so on...catch the fish easily or not al all...don't chase it with a crappy net

Need to catch a fish use the largest net possible for the tank..... herd the fish that you want into one end and then drop a divider in. Now you've got him in a small space....anticipate what he's going to do. This is very easy in a BB glass box full of water. I can catch anyone on my koi in 5000 gallons within 20 seconds....they don't get chased

Laying a fish, any fish, on a wet towel removes very little, if any mucus. I've seen koi and large cichlids lay there for minutes, up to an hour or more and they were every bit as slimy going back in, as they were coming out. They were knocked out at the time.

Every koi show we handle/manhandle, bowl and measure fish up to about 28''; it all takes about 4 minutes and they are no worse for the wear. Try handling a fish that worth $25k and it's not yours that's stress