This is uniquely discus...

[Lido]

Over the years I have become totally accustomed to things that are uniquely discus. One of the things I appreciate but also makes it very difficult for keepers to get quality fish is the following.

With any species of fish I can walk in a high end tropical fish store and get any corals, rare fish, even order show quality fish from some places. Not discus, nope. At a pet store there is nothing but the discus snicklefritz. You can find inbred, peppered, stunted growth crappy diseased discus. When it comes to the breeders and keepers of the quality fish you must pass a test of moral and scientific aptitude and know the secret club word to even get them to call you back. If they call or email you back they either give you a shaky date/time that is impossible to make like "the third Tuesday of the month at 10:45am text me then it is first come first serve once I text you back the address." It is like getting an invite to a secret rave or joining the free masons. When you finally arrive and there are discus that are well cared for then the guy tells you "these are $275 for the 3 inch red turqs, $500 for the pigeon blood 2.5 inch. Or I accept you selling your soul to me." And I could have order d the same fish online for less than they're asking.

Although I appreciate them being protective of the strains, genealogy and making sure people are qualified to care for their fish, it sucks to try and get fish when you even meet the qualifications.

My problem is I am very weary of ordering online with discus as I have been burnt before and sent crappy discus so I like to pick them up in person. It really leaves me with quite the conundrum.

Does anyone in the Southern California have or sell quality discus at a fair price?

I am located in Garden Grove, CA. I will happily bring samples of my water, pictures of my setup and any other prequalifications you want. I just want good quality, beautiful fish.

-Casey

[Lido]

Sorry for my 20 minute rant. I ❤️ Discus

[Phillydubs]

This imaginary, fictional, ludicrous underworld you have created may play well for a tv series, but I am not at all sure why you feel like this is reality...?

You are here on the world wide interwebs... you found us. Yet had zero luck finding a local discus breeder in your area that would allow your famous story telling self into their fishroom ?? LOL...

I mean, you can google discus for sale california and come up with Kenny... Uncle sams who just had a big event... I think there is even a new spnsor here, golden gate discus or something, these are just off the top of my head...

Go to the sponsor section here, there is a list as long as your story of these famed dragons of the discus world who will grant you access if your money is green, credit card has a chip and you ask nicely... send an email and have fun...

[rickztahone]

As Phil mentioned, you have Kenny (ships) or Uncle Sam's which you could pick them out in person.

In all honesty, I have yet to recommend our sponsors to someone and have them be disappointed after they shipped their discus to them.

I also got some fry from Al Castro which usually has a good batch of discus to sell :)

Check out our SoCal section here:
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/forumdisplay.php?369-Southern-California-Discus-Club-(SCDC)

[Lido]

Rick, I think we got off on the wrong "fin." I wasn't trying to bash anyone or say I have had bad experiences here. I have NEVER had a bad experience on this site. Everyone is very nice.

I just have a few experiences with buying discus from people off Craigslist/local fish stores and thought I would share my experience and make it a fun story.

As far as Uncle Sam I will try to make it to his shop in Canoga Park. Kenny has great looking fish, I suppose I can give shipping another shot.

I'll post pics of LFS's finest by me. I suppose the point of the story is without a 100 mile journey or paying for overnight shipping there aren't a ton of options near me.

Thanks for the leads guys/ladies

[DISCUS STU]

"Yes Virginia there are crappy lowlife Discus rip off artists on the internet" (lol). If Somethings seems phishy (hint) it's because it is. The sponsors here are relatively good ones with well established reputations. I don't blame you for wanting to see your fish in person before placing your faith in a seller that needs to sell the stock they invested in regardless of who gets the "good one" or the "left over". I don't know how many, if any internet retailer is going to keep and not sell the lower end of the "product" they invested in. I regularly visit a local reseller that also does internet retail and I can tell you that within a batch there can be quit a lot of variation in quality.

Try to do some Google searches for the backgrounds of any seller you are unfamiliar with or ask here. Usually someone has some experience they help you with. Good luck.

[Phillydubs]

Also... Ask for pics and video! Any good seller who is confident in their stock will be happy to get you what you request to make a sale...

It is like being there yourself, people can facetime, skype and talk to you and show pics and you get what you see sort of selection. Same with kenny, his posts are what he is getting, you see the fish right there, say hey I want this fish the pic and you get that fish

[Lido]

Thanks Philly. You hit the nail on the head. I would like to buy WYSIWYG discus if I am buying them online. I will hit up Kenny and see if he can do that.

[Phillydubs]

There ya go!! Like I said many if not all will do this for you and I highly reccomend it. I recently dealt with Brain discus n more who bent over backawrds for pics and video for me before I committed. He even went as far as to take the fish I chose put them in their own tank then did another video of just my fish , was rather cool...

Don't get caught up in the "shipping fee's" which I feel like are drastically dropping anyways. I am seeing shipping for $40-50 now where it was double that a few years back. divide that by the amount of fish you get and its pennies to pay then to settle for a cheaper crap fish... catch my drift

[Lido]

Also... Ask for pics and video! Any good seller who is confident in their stock will be happy to get you what you request to make a sale...

It is like being there yourself, people can facetime, skype and talk to you and show pics and you get what you see sort of selection. Same with kenny, his posts are what he is getting, you see the fish right there, say hey I want this fish the pic and you get that fish


That is exactly right. I bred South American Geos and Frontosa for years. I can tell you from the first few weeks which ones are show and which ones are LFS stock.

I guess I'm just being "picky" when I want a group of discus that have good shape, color, eye size, eat well and aren't stunted. I am not looking to win a national championship, but I do want my show tank to be worthy of what I am investing in it.

So if you guys know someone who would allow wysiwyg or where I can pick out my fish from a selection better than 5 fish in the store I am all ears. I'll give a shout to Kenny and Uncle Sam

I feel like I am getting flamed because I am saying that I purchased phishy discus online and got fish that were basically culls for the breeders

[Phillydubs]

Did you look at the sponsors here... All of them will go out of their way to ensure your happiness. If you want to get that and go pick then you have to call or e-mail the local folks and set something up...

You have every right to be picky... you are the customer

[Hart24601]

Really if you order from a quality commercial importer or breeder your chances of being burnt are pretty small, but they do happen. One of my orders from Hans (quite a few 4" fish) a discus had a bad eye and was blind in that one eye, however Hans said that because he ran out of 4" he gave me a 5" fish in that order so we were square. I didn't dispute it and it's fine, but others might have gotten pretty upset by that. And no, I am not posting that because I am upset, there is no dispute, it's just what happened! Little half blind guy is still around! Although he is pretty stunted compared to the others b/c he just can't find food very well.

I ordered from a hobbyist breeder here on SD and sadly both shipments arrived dead. On the reshipment he did not charge for the fish, but both times we split shipping. It was fair but at the end of the day I was out $160 with no discus as shipping overnight each time was super expensive (225 that he refunded, 325 1st payment, 62 second payment to split shipping). It was a no win thing as he was also out half the shipping cost and 30+ dead babies (15 each shipment plus a couple extra). However I am not upset by that, sucked for everyone and I think the resolution was fair.

I will say that I have ordered twice from Tony Tan's guy here in the USA and both times the fish have been amazing. Honestly the best discus I have received and probably the healthiest fish I have ever gotten from any source FW and salt across species.

[Neptune]

Sorry for my 20 minute rant. I ❤️ Discus

You don't own a high end hunting dog do you...

I looked into getting a pointing Griffon some years back...the breeder was about to ask ME to provide a stool and blood sample!:crazy:

[warblad79]

If you're willing to drive up north, I can sell some of my stocks for a cheaper price and the same time you can pick your own fish.

[Phillydubs]

There you go! Can't beat a better offer than what Mr warblad is offering up to you that guy breed some really nice Discus and you would be lucky to get some of those in your tank

[Neptune]

There you go! Can't beat a better offer than what Mr warblad is offering up to you that guy breed some really nice Discus and you would be lucky to get some of those in your tank

Did you edit that? LMAO!

Here is the message that has just been posted:
***************
There you go! Can't beat a better offer than what Mr wore her bladder is offering up to you that guy breed some really nice Discus and you would be lucky to get some of those in your tank
***************

[Phillydubs]

Talk to text got me !!

[Lido]

That is classic,

I don't own a hunting dog, my brother has a lab that he has but 10 grand or so into training it to hunt bird.

I have an English and French bulldog, they only thing they hunt for is table scraps.


I'll see if the wife wants to drive to the Bay Area. That is an awesome offer, thanks.

[alcastro]

iam a breeder in Hawthorne, your more than welcome to stop by, AL