How to buy Discus

[chipster55]

Hi all. I'm finally ready to order Discus I have a 125 gal established hi tech planted tank. I'm think I'm going to order from Hans Discus. I will have a 55 and a 30 gal available also.there are no fish in the 125 right now. I'm going to buy 10 3 inch fish. I am using Co2 to maintain ph at 6.8. I have a ph controller with C02 set-up. My tap is 7.8. I have a 250 gallon water storage tank heated to 83. As you can tell I would like to breed when I get them to pair off. Would buying different breeds of Discus be a problem. I want to get 5 Marlboro Reds and 5 Blue Pigeons. How would this affect breeding and pairing. I haven't decided whether to put them all in the 55 BB tank or just put them in 125. I have dividers for the 125. Right now the 125 has a wet dry but I'm adding a cascade to go with it. I'm sure ill have more questions as I get answers. Also my storage tank water will be at least 24-48 hrs old before water changes. I believe that takes care of chlorine but what about chloramides sp. I also have a pump connected for continuous bubbles in storage tank. Is that necessary? Would 4inch Discus be better than 3 inch. Thanks for reading

[Poco]

You are all set for Discus. I would get 4-5inch instead of 3inch (if your budget allows go for even bigger ones). Hans has superb stock and a great reputation, you have chosen well. QT your fish once you get them in the 55 and then transfer them to 125 display tank.

Air in the storage tank is important so keep it going.

[chipster55]

Is a QT necessary when going into an established tank? Thanks for your re-assurance

[chipster55]

with no other fish in tank

[Poco]

I would QT them. i am not saying any sponsor will sell you sick fish but if there is a problem it will be easier manage in a smaller bare bottom tank instead of a planted display tank. JMO

[Eddie]

Sounds like you are getting a little ahead of yourself. Have you ever kept discus before? Juggling a high tech planted tank and young discus is no easy feat but it can be done. I'd recommend getting them at 4.5" minimum for the planted tank. As far as crossing a marlboro and blue pigeon, it wouldn't be an awful mix but you wouldn't have a large number of one set strain. You couldn't sell them as any particular strain if you were to plan on selling them.

[chipster55]

i have not had discus but have been reading up on them for over a year. I decided to try the planted tanks first and have 4 succesful planted tanks now. I've had planted tanks over two years now and feel comfortable with them. I do realize Discus and planted tanks can be challenging but if you understand the water chemistry of your tanks Discus can be sucessfully introduced. I am ready to start with Discus now and just needed some ideas on getting started with the resources I have. One question answered was what size. I'm fortunate enough to be able to look at 4 inch fish as options but to put ten of them would be to many for my 55 (or will soon be). I'm guessing for a qt period they would be fine for 2-3 weeks, I also am going to buy some BN and Sterbia cat's for the 125. I would take suggestions on the best way to get these all into the 125 via qt or another means, realizing the 125 has been established for 2 years now. Thank's

[chipster55]

I would QT them. i am not saying any sponsor will sell you sick fish but if there is a problem it will be easier manage in a smaller bare bottom tank instead of a planted display tank. JMO

Thanks, makes sense

[chipster55]

Sounds like you are getting a little ahead of yourself. Have you ever kept discus before? Juggling a high tech planted tank and young discus is no easy feat but it can be done. I'd recommend getting them at 4.5" minimum for the planted tank. As far as crossing a marlboro and blue pigeon, it wouldn't be an awful mix but you wouldn't have a large number of one set strain. You couldn't sell them as any particular strain if you were to plan on selling them.

I'm wanting to buy 4 inch now. What classifies a young discus, size? And I think I will stick with one strain..Thanks for the answer

[Eddie]

I'm wanting to buy 4 inch now. What classifies a young discus, size? And I think I will stick with one strain..Thanks for the answer

4 inch isn't too bad for a planted tank, 4.5" would be better though. The size of discus is not a good indicator of age. Some fish can be fully grown and be only 2 inches and some fish can be 4 inches and be 6 months old. Its all about who's raising them. If you are getting some from Hans (Stendkers) that are 4 inches, they have LONG time to keep growing! Given ideal conditions, some members have grown Stendkers out to 8-9 inches.

[SMB2]

You are getting advice from strong sources above. I have only limited experience but growing out three inch fish in your planted tank will be very difficult. You could grow them out in your 55 thus getting to know the fish, QT them and introduce them as they grow. You could also QT larger fish in two batches/orders from Hans. (BTW having been to his warehouse, you have chosen well.)
Placing ten large fish in your tank all at once may surprise you by the fact that you may have a "second cycle" from the bioload. It sounds like you are well equipped for large water changes but the balance with CO2 may be tricky.

[DiscusDrew]

I just want to state that "simply discus" is not an oxymoron. Sorry but Eddie has the actual topic covered so I wont chime in, but Simply Discus truly is the best way to put it. People who overcomplicate things are the ones who end up learning the hard lessons.... This appears an appropriate thread to say that in. So I guess you can derive that I disagree, regardless of size, with you starting your discus experience in a planted tank, especially with regulated CO2/Ph. Basics basics basics, they have never steared my "padawans" wrong lol.

Not stating it cant be done, but if I were you, I agree, start larger, but I also think hey.... why not take it slow??? Get some discus, keep the 55 BB and spend time with them. See if you have problems, learn how to solve problems, learn how to keep discus basically. THEN look at getting more and turning your planted tank to a discus show tank. Discus people can be so impatient lol.

And fyi, while nobody on here who is a sponsor will sell you sick fish.... not one person will sell you "pathogen free" fish either.... because that.... well that does not exist. We will as a whole provide great quality, healthy stock, with solid immune systems that have kept all pathogens at bay. Its up to you what happens from there, even the best can be hurt. Hans has incredible stock, hence I have chosen to solely breed his fish, but you still need to know what your doing. And some stuff can only be learned "hands on".

[Eddie]

Not stating it cant be done, but if I were you, I agree, start larger, but I also think hey.... why not take it slow??? Get some discus, keep the 55 BB and spend time with them. See if you have problems, learn how to solve problems, learn how to keep discus basically. THEN look at getting more and turning your planted tank to a discus show tank. Discus people can be so impatient lol.


Excellent advice!

[chipster55]

you all have provided me with the exact answers I needed. Thanks for al the answers..The 55 with about 5 discus sounds great as I have not experienced any of the illness they could get. Discus Drew- Do you sell Discus"s? The reason I was looking at Hans is I knew his reputation from various sources. I would have no problem buying from someone on this forum if they have the stock I'm looking for. If anyone is interested please pm me and we can talk. Thanks again for all your advice..I also need some sterbies and BN pretty quick for the 125.

[DiscusDrew]

My friend yes, I sell discus. Drewbusdiscus, but my focus is breeding and younger fish my friend. On this I will encourage you to stick with Hans, I'm not in this business to make a sale, and neither is my friend Hans, we are here to provide quality fish and do something we both I know love with everything we have. Hans will be able to provide you good stock, and in the sizes you need in order to start out and have good success. I sell mostly 3" or smaller fish, some a bit larger but not often. Our businesses compliment each other well. My end is not for the faint of heart, and in my sizes it would not be where I would start. Get some orders from Hans, larger fish, sub adults to learn with. When you think you want to start breeding, then we can talk and you can experience raising healthy fry from me and see how it goes for you. So you learn and know what to expect when you begin breeding. Until then, I have no problem referring you to the man that got me this far in the hobby to get you started. And if you have any questions or issues, I'm here to help.

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[darcy]

Excellent advice above. I'd rather take that advice then posting in the disease section in a couple or 3 months! I like the K.I.S.S method.
Keep It Simple Stupid! I have to thank a long time member for helping me out when I started and I took that advice to heart and the sky was the limit.

[chipster55]

My friend yes, I sell discus. Drewbusdiscus, but my focus is breeding and younger fish my friend. On this I will encourage you to stick with Hans, I'm not in this business to make a sale, and neither is my friend Hans, we are here to provide quality fish and do something we both I know love with everything we have. Hans will be able to provide you good stock, and in the sizes you need in order to start out and have good success. I sell mostly 3" or smaller fish, some a bit larger but not often. Our businesses compliment each other well. My end is not for the faint of heart, and in my sizes it would not be where I would start. Get some orders from Hans, larger fish, sub adults to learn with. When you think you want to start breeding, then we can talk and you can experience raising healthy fry from me and see how it goes for you. So you learn and know what to expect when you begin breeding. Until then, I have no problem referring you to the man that got me this far in the hobby to get you started. And if you have any questions or issues, I'm here to help.

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Thank-you for your candor. I'm glad I asked the questions. I went to Hans site. If you could put me in touch with him that would be great. Everything everyone said here makes 100% sense and I'm appreciative to you all. Probably saved my Discus career before it started.

[DiscusDrew]

Well I'm not going to give you his phone number, that is for him to decide, and God knows I take up too much time on his phone to share with you anyway lol lol. But anyway contact him by email, that is how most of us work best, fastest, and it allows us to stay organized. His email is discus-hans@comcast.net

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[Elliots]

I drove 175 mi to Hans. You are too far away to drive. Hans lists his fish as 3, 4, 5, or 6 inch. If you want 4 1/2" fish Hans can probably accommodate you. I bought 5" fish for my planted tank. If you look at Hans' prices you will see a big price jump from 5" to 6" in all his varieties so I picked 5". My fish were all at least 5" but most were bigger. No 6" fish though.
I highly recommend buying all your fish in one shipment. That helps on the shipping price.

[chipster55]

Well I'm not going to give you his phone number, that is for him to decide, and God knows I take up too much time on his phone to share with you anyway lol lol. But anyway contact him by email, that is how most of us work best, fastest, and it allows us to stay organized. His email is discus-hans@comcast.net

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Thanks. Didn't expect phone number but I will email him.

[chipster55]

I drove 175 mi to Hans. You are too far away to drive. Hans lists his fish as 3, 4, 5, or 6 inch. If you want 4 1/2" fish Hans can probably accommodate you. I bought 5" fish for my planted tank. If you look at Hans' prices you will see a big price jump from 5" to 6" in all his varieties so I picked 5". My fish were all at least 5" but most were bigger. No 6" fish though.
I highly recommend buying all your fish in one shipment. That helps on the shipping price.

Thank-you. I'm probably going with 4inch in 55 but I think I'll go with 5-7 looking for a pair or two. I've got a 10, 30 in addition to the 55 available.

[chipster55]

Why is there such a big price jump from a 4 inch to a 5 inch discus as opposed to 3-4 inch. Is there something about Discus when they reach 5 inches? Thanks

[matt56]

It comes down to the time it takes and resources to grow discus. The larger the fish the more time it takes and more resources, raising the cost. It takes months and months to get one to 6 inches so if you think about it, all the time and effort going into raising that one fish justifies the price :). I see you also live in missouri, what city you in?

[Elliots]

I thought the bigger jump was from 5" to 6". I agree it is probably due to the time and amount of food needed to grow that extra inch.

[chipster55]

It comes down to the time it takes and resources to grow discus. The larger the fish the more time it takes and more resources, raising the cost. It takes months and months to get one to 6 inches so if you think about it, all the time and effort going into raising that one fish justifies the price :). I see you also live in missouri, what city you in?

Sedalia

[chipster55]

I understand the costs of raising them but it seems like price goes up a greater pct. from 4-5 as opposed to other sizes. I indeed agree that people should be compensated for their time as I own a business myself. Didn't realize it took that much more effort to go from 4-5 inches.

[chipster55]

And yes their is a bigger jump from 5-6. I meant to include that size in original post

[100fuegos]

Once they get to 4 inch they will slow down their growing. It takes a lot more time to get them from 4 to five inches than from 3 to 4. That may be very well the reason.

[matt56]

Well it would be a bit of a trip but there is a stendker distrubutor in st charles. http://richiesfishroom.com/ . I got my alanquers from rich, he ordered them then i picked em up. You could drive there and just look to get some ideas on what you want.

[chipster55]

Well it would be a bit of a trip but there is a stendker distrubutor in st charles. http://richiesfishroom.com/ . I got my alanquers from rich, he ordered them then i picked em up. You could drive there and just look to get some ideas on what you want.

Yes thank-you. I came across him somewhere on this website. Not many Discus Breeders in the Midwest. There was a guy in KC but don't know if he's still breeding. I'll stop by his place when I'm up that way. At least he's on the west side of St Louis.

[DiscusDrew]

All reasons you need to start raising discus basic before trying to complicate it :). Prices jump rapidly, as a breeder I can tell you the cost of producing even a 2.5" discus is substantial if it is done correctly, let alone a 6"+ fish. Large fish take an awful lot of time and those of us that do this right, spend thousands just on food, let alone the tank space requirement, etc.

On the shipping thing.... I would agree if this was not your first time on the block, but in this case I think you need to get over the extra shipping cost.... Think about it, you order 14 fish to try and save $100 bucks in shipping instead of just 7 or so.... Then you have ONE bad accident and you lost not only 7 fish but 14.... Is it really not worth just getting the extra shipment? Is that $100 somehow worth more than those extra fish you lost? Hopefully you get my point. As an experienced discus keeper, yes, every shipment I receive is full, but that's also because I know I won't lose the fish. Something to think about.

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[DiscusDrew]

On a side note I think I'm going to lose my mind if one more person complains about shipping cost lol. I think everyone needs to go through the process of getting approved to ship live fish from FedEx, you would be astounded, then go try and see how much it would cost YOU to ship just a regular package priority overnight. Then go talk to box manufacturers and try to see how much it costs to have good cooler boxes made, then order yourself bags, black bag liners, heat packs. Then get yourself an oxygen tank and see how much that runs you, oh and don't forget the regulator and hoses.... Is it sinking in yet?

I lose money every single time I ship a package, even with my discount which by the way takes quite the process to get, but I do it because I love it and to provide a service for people. There isn't one of us making money off of shipping you guys your fish....

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[matt56]

Completely agree with drew. Dont get all them at once just to save on shipping, get the 6-7 and if you decide you want more later you can always buy more larger ones later on and just QT for the big tank. Besides from some recent post of peoples tanks on here i have to say im starting to agree with less is more. They really do look great with a small group compared to a big tank.

[chipster55]

Ok I'm now ready to purchase. Here is my setup. I have a 40, 55, & 120 al BB. Two small ones are cycled and just starting cycle of 120 which will be seeded with bacteria from other filters. I have 8 tanks total. I'm going to go with The bare bottom route for now. How many 4 inchers can I add to 55 and not worry about increased fish load affecting water quality. Also I'm wanting to get some paired up to breed. What ideas do you have as far as what tanks to use and when to use them. I was thinking of the 55 to pair off, 40 to attempt breeding and 120 for down the road when (if I'm successful) for the juries when they get 2 inches or so? Thanks

[dynhd1]

I just (4 weeks ago ) ordered 8 -4" fish from Hans and put them in my high tech planted tank , I cycled my tank for 4 months with the tank mates. Rummy's, neon's , gold nuggets,and rams. THEY ARE FISH! Order and Plop and drop, I have kept Discus in the past and started with a planted tank. The PLANTS are the hard part the fish are EASY! You are already familiar with water care that is the important part. All of my fish have gained about 3/8's of an inch and I have had a pair "get it on and lay eggs" !

[Trier20]

I see your thinking of PB strains. If you have a dark colored substrate in your planted tank I would shy away from them as they will become heavily peppered and look terrible. That's the only advice I have as all the rest has seemed to be covered. Good luck!

[mmorris]

There isn't one of us making money off of shipping you guys your fish....

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I once paid a sponsor $30+ more for shipping than what it would have cost me to ship the same fish to him. I'm sure he had to pay Fedex less than I would have had to pay. Those who ship frequently get a discount I don't get, and other hobbyists have posted that they never saw this discount passed on to them. I suspect he almost doubled the shipping price. I'm sure there are exceptions. If I wanted the fish, I had to agree to the shipping. The package was a half hour late, and so I knew I would get my shipping money back. The sponsor told me Fedex would only give me half the money back. I contacted fedex and was told they have no partial reimbursement. It's full reimbursement if the package is late. I told the sponsor I thought he was pulling something, and he refunded my full shipping amount. It was around $130. Just because they are sponsors does not mean they are always going to be on the up-and-up. People won't, generally, post negative feedback because they are a sponsor.

[Oscarsx]

Well said +1
Sponsors are in this for the money...

- oz

[adrjudge]

I don't breed my discus. Having said that I have bought the large discus from Hans 6-7 inches. He sells them as breeding pairs. And they are always breeding. I think if you buy small fish, it will take a long time for them to mature to the point they breed. Further, I would prefer 2 of the same type as my breeders, e.g. blue pigeons, checkerboards (Hans has gorgeous ones) etc.

Finally, it seems like you are going to very great lengths when it might be necessary. I use tap water with some stuff to take out the chlorine, I don't worry about the ph and I use heater to keep my 100 gallon at around 85.

Beyond that, I don't know what you need for breeding. If you are buying from Hans, why not call or e-mail him. He is a great guy and he will answer your questions better than anyone who might respond.