Jack Wattley Marlboro Red Pandas caught my eye... Opinions plz

[DYDave82]

Hey there Disco heads. So I'm going really slow with my fish selection as they are pricey and I want to choose wisely. Everything Kenny has is so nice and I am strongly leaning towards his fish. That said -- I am tempted by these legendary Wattley strains from Gabe in Miami. Specifically, the Wattley Marlboro Red Pandas with highback Elvis fro's. Neat looking fish, so different. I understand Gabe is more of an importer and also doesn't participate on this forum. That seems so antithetical to being The Wattley discus -- right? (Also considering Hans and Tony Tan.) I understand there's no hard and fast rules on selection but I want yall's thoughts. Please. Tanx. :o

[two utes]

Hi David.
Its good that you are taking your time and choosing your discus wisely. In my opinion choose the one that you like the best regardless of price. At the end of the day you are the one that is doing all the maintenance on them, and the one that will be enjoying them. Does it really matter what anyone thinks on what you should put in your tank?

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi David, I would suggest checking out the shipment pictures of the SimplyDiscus sponsors to really nail down what you would like strain wise. Then research your vendor of interest.
Pat

[DYDave82]

Hi David, I would suggest checking out the shipment pictures of the SimplyDiscus sponsors to really nail down what you would like strain wise. Then research your vendor of interest.
Pat

I don't mean for this to be a loaded question in terms of creating a soap box for potentially disparaging comments about breeders and importers. Maybe just -- you've all been in my shoes once: what seller did you choose and why?

[Second Hand Pat]

I don't mean for this to be a loaded question in terms of creating a soap box for potentially disparaging comments about breeders and importers. Maybe just -- you've all been in my shoes once: what seller did you choose and why?

Sorry, I was only trying to be helpful.
Pat

[Phillydubs]

David,

What Pat said is about the truest answer you can get. Find what strain you really want and then see who offers it what sizes etc and you can't go wrong. Any sponsor will handle your needs and then some.

That being said if you are asking for feedback or opinions on Gabe and wattley and all that then you would have to ask directly those who have bought from him or see if there are any reviews here as you are right I don't ever see him here

[Phillydubs]

If you want my opinion on that red panda. I think it looks like a reffelisa or something like that.

If you like that look I highly suggest you take a look at kennys last few shipments of red eagles.

I think the RE blow those away

[DYDave82]

Yeah those RE's are very very nice. I like Kenny's golden melon throwbacks too. How does the Discus world generally regard highbacks? I know there's a judging system -- is that system universal or regionally specific? I think I read that good discus should be 'round'.

[Pices]

I chose Kenny due to his fair prices, variety, and customer service. I was very pleased!

[Hart24601]

The Tony Tan fish I have might just be the nicest fish I have ever gotten overall - even outside of discus.

[LizStreithorst]

Round is preferred on the score card but a high body, if not too extreme is very attractive and not faulted unless is comes to nit picking between two otherwise equal fish.

[LizStreithorst]

I should mention that I bought Discus from Gabe a million years ago when I was new. The fish he sent were healthy. (I was too stupid back then to believe that QT was necessary). I mixed them in with my Asian fish. Even way back then I could tell that the quality that I got from other importers was far better that the quality than Gabe.

"And that's all I have to say about that." (Forrest Gump)

[DYDave82]

The Tony Tan fish I have might just be the nicest fish I have ever gotten overall - even outside of discus.

Btw -- Your fish journal was so helpful Hart! Honestly your fish journal was an inspiration to stick with my discus aspirations at a time when I was pretty close to being persuaded out of trying. Way to hang in there with the hobby. ����

[DYDave82]

Thanks so much for the honest advice Liz. That is exactly what I need

[DISCUS STU]

I've purchased many fish from Gabe over the years and am a satisfied customer.

I saw the fish you're writing about at his place in Miami when I was there in September and they were truly impressive and quit large. Gabe also has a very good selection of Wild Discus as well as Altum Angels that are healthy, hardy, and affordable.

If you contact Gabe he will send pictures to your phone, as he was doing for a customer in Canada when I was there last.

[DYDave82]

Nice! So there are some Wattley faithful still

[Hart24601]

Btw -- Your fish journal was so helpful Hart! Honestly your fish journal was an inspiration to stick with my discus aspirations at a time when I was pretty close to being persuaded out of trying. Way to hang in there with the hobby. ����

Wow. Thank you! Made my day that it helped someone! Maybe even my week!

[DYDave82]

Man - I started this thing just like you. Bad *** tank -- a lot of success with marine and FW. I thought -- yes - this guy is just like me. Solid aquarist foundations and this discus thang will be just another success. Seemed like you did it all right. And despite that -- it went wrong. But you didn't give up - you didn't disappear. Your commentary was so relatable. Glad it made your day. When I was looking at those pics of them RRR champs swimming and growing after all that. I knew I had to try. Cheers bro��

[Willie]

Dave;

There's a real practical reason to buy fish from Simply Sponsors. They all understand that low quality fish will get posted on this site and reflect poorly on their business. That's not why they ship high quality fish, but it's a good reason why they think twice about shipping less quality ones.

I've been in the hobby for 15+ years and have purchased discus from many importers. I've visited Gabe in his warehouse and have purchased discus from him. That said, I've only purchased discus from Simply Sponsors for the past 10 years.

Good luck with your decision, Willie

[DISCUS STU]

While I'm all for supporting the sponsors on Simply Discus my experience with Wattley Discus has been a good one and over many transactions. Again I've seen the fish in question and they are beautiful.

[DYDave82]

Thanks again everyone for your guidance on this. I called Gabe and traded pics with him and I have to say -- these fish look stunning and he was a real class act. I mean good ol' fashion:o customer service. So I pulled the trigger on some Wattley High back Pandas : one of their specialty strains. I wil tank journal it up along with pics all coming this week so we'll all have the opportunity to see some of Gabe's fish grow. I have a lot of tanks and have every aspiration to hand pick tank 2 from Kenny's stock. But I'm gonna wait till I feel super comfortable with keeping these highbacks healthy and fat first. Now that the fish are on the way (set to arrive next Wednesday) -- I'm giddy. Lol -- I haven't been this excited about the hobby in a long long time.

[Phillydubs]

Very cool David... At the end of the day you need to go with your gut and trust your eye and judgement!

How many are you getting? Care to share the preview pics here that you were sent so we can see those compared to when they arrive and so on and so forth down the line?

[DYDave82]

I'm getting 8. 4 Marlboro Red Pandas and 4 turq's. I'm having trouble figuring out how to attach pics from my phone. Gonna try the pc at home tonight