any strains to avoid for a beginner?

[clark12]

on all aspects is one strain harder to keep? health or aggression issues? fish will come from kenny so quality is not an issue. I'm just talking generally more problematic. what about pigeon bloods?

[DatDiscusDude]

Do you plan to breed ? The only issue is crossing lines like PB with something else.

Some will say albinos can be a touch harder and grow slower...

Discus are discus and you are getting from a great source so just get them good clean water and pick colors you like.

Some will also tell you wilds are harder to keep. But since you are going with Kenny I assume that won't be an issue for you.

[warblad79]

Some say Golden and albino gene are weak. I try to stay away from those personally.

[discuspaul]

Any PB's or pigeon-based are avoided by those who don't care for any peppering.
Whatever else you like, go for it.

For beginners, it's not any strains that should be avoided, but rather sizes - stay away from small young fish, unless that's specifically what you want grow out , and are prepared to keep them bare-bottom, feed several times daily, and do large daily wcs.

[Belkar]

What Paul said. If you get nice healthy adult fish the strain does not matter much. I have in my short experience kept just about anything I could get my hands on from stendker to wilds. And are now raising my own fry. 10 out of 10 times I would recomend getting adults unless you really want to grow them out yourself.
And I can testify that it is ALOT of work. And even then you are not guaranteed a god result if you are unlucky with the quality of the fisk. My fry is 4.5 months now. It was a small batch, and my first so I have not done any culling. The biggest is more than 5 times the size of the smallest. And I feed them and vacume the tank every 2 hours from 06:30 to 23:00 every day. Change about 300 - 400% water a day. So it is not lack of care that keeps the little ones from growing.

[clark12]

Any PB's or pigeon-based are avoided by those who don't care for any peppering.
Whatever else you like, go for it.

For beginners, it's not any strains that should be avoided, but rather sizes - stay away from small young fish, unless that's specifically what you want grow out , and are prepared to keep them bare-bottom, feed several times daily, and do large daily wcs.

thats the only major thing I've found was peppering in the pb. i really like some of them so that won't hold me back from getting them. as for young fish I'm getting 6- 3'' fish, some say get at least 4'' but then i won't be learning how to raise a smaller fish. my qt tank is 29 gal bb and i plan on doing 80-90% every day until they go in the bigger tank. in your opinion how long can i keep 6 fish starting at 3'' in that 29g? i don't know how fast they grow. i am disciplined when it comes to maintenance so routine wcs are fine.

[clark12]

Do you plan to breed ? The only issue is crossing lines like PB with something else.

Some will say albinos can be a touch harder and grow slower...

Discus are discus and you are getting from a great source so just get them good clean water and pick colors you like.

Some will also tell you wilds are harder to keep. But since you are going with Kenny I assume that won't be an issue for you.

no i don't plan on breeding and they won't be wilds. really my biggest concern is aggression. I've had some cichlids that didn't even like me to look at them let alone another fish that my daughter picked out and loves dearly. not going down that road again!

[clark12]

how about DR. Teohs Heckel Cross from kenny? love this fish! he said its not wild anyone have one

[Mattgoanna]

107653107654Dr Teoh Heckel cross. Male on top, female paired with Alenquer on bottom

[PAR23]

in your opinion how long can i keep 6 fish starting at 3'' in that 29g?

That's a pretty tight fit.....I would get them out as soon as you are done with their QT.

[warblad79]

how about DR. Teohs Heckel Cross from kenny? love this fish! he said its not wild anyone have one

I have 4 of them, This is the first batch Kenny brought in the US. One thing I notice, they grow very slow and I'm not quite sure if they would reach 6"+ considering 80%-100% WC per day and 4x-6x times feeding. Some of my other fish out pace them when it comes to growth rate. But other than that they seems to be healthy

[clark12]

107653107654Dr Teoh Heckel cross. Male on top, female paired with Alenquer on bottom

those are beautiful fish. the alenquer is one of the other fish i want and now maybe more than the heckel. is that an alenquer or alenquer cross. still new to these guys

[Mattgoanna]

It is a domestic. These are my Alenquer cross

[Ryan925]

It is a domestic. These are my Alenquer cross

Great looking fish. I have an alenquer cross from Kenny that I'm growing out now

[Lido]

I would stay away from wilds as a beginner. All domestics are created equally, from there have at it. I have to be honest, these fish aren't hard to take care of. What is difficult is when you screw up or change something. They don't like it. They don't like when you introduce sick fish in their system. They don't like it when you put new bacteria in their system. They don't like it when you change water every day then don't change it for a week....

The trick to these fish is "no tricks" do exactly the same thing every day, keep exactly the same water parameters. These are the OCD fish. If you turn the lights on at 7:00AM monday - friday and like to sleep in on weekends.. you'll notice they act weird on weekends.. it's because they didn't get their 7 am meal! lol

[adrian31@outlook.com]

I would stay away from wilds as a beginner. All domestics are created equally, from there have at it. I have to be honest, these fish aren't hard to take care of. What is difficult is when you screw up or change something. They don't like it. They don't like when you introduce sick fish in their system. They don't like it when you put new bacteria in their system. They don't like it when you change water every day then don't change it for a week....

The trick to these fish is "no tricks" do exactly the same thing every day, keep exactly the same water parameters. These are the OCD fish. If you turn the lights on at 7:00AM monday - friday and like to sleep in on weekends.. you'll notice they act weird on weekends.. it's because they didn't get their 7 am meal! lol

All this is true and good advice.

[clark12]

I would stay away from wilds as a beginner. All domestics are created equally, from there have at it. I have to be honest, these fish aren't hard to take care of. What is difficult is when you screw up or change something. They don't like it. They don't like when you introduce sick fish in their system. They don't like it when you put new bacteria in their system. They don't like it when you change water every day then don't change it for a week....

The trick to these fish is "no tricks" do exactly the same thing every day, keep exactly the same water parameters. These are the OCD fish. If you turn the lights on at 7:00AM monday - friday and like to sleep in on weekends.. you'll notice they act weird on weekends.. it's because they didn't get their 7 am meal! lol

Lido that sounds like great advice. OCD fish... that's funny. I can do this. I get a bit OCD about my tanks so this should be fine. Might even get 2 pigeon bloods regardless of peppering just because of the nice ones I've seen. Can't wait to finally order fish. My fishless cycle will hopefully be done in a couple weeks

[Jenene]

So I am not saying you need to avoid this strain because I am a beginner as well but I would just not want you to wonder why no one told you if you did order one. The albinos tend to have poor eye site. I had no idea and noticed my Albino Platinum seemed to have to feel around for his food and found out later- all albinos in nature have poorer vision. I recently learned from Kenny (he is an awesome educator) albinos are a bit higher priced because they are harder to breed and many need to be culled for abnormalities. Any fish that makes it to Kenny is phenomenal though. All I need to do is make sure a little food gets to the floor of the tank so he can feel his way around to it. He is a bit slower growing but is really growing well and has an awesome personality. Well worth the stunning contrast he adds to my tank. Just a heads up but no need to avoid them. If you want a standout, these sure are.

[Ryan925]

Lido that sounds like great advice. OCD fish... that's funny. I can do this. I get a bit OCD about my tanks so this should be fine. Might even get 2 pigeon bloods regardless of peppering just because of the nice ones I've seen. Can't wait to finally order fish. My fishless cycle will hopefully be done in a couple weeks

Not all pigeon bloods will pepper. Key is stay away from dark backgrounds or tank bottoms. From what I understand selective breeding has really minimized peppering. I have a checkerboard, a golden checkerboard and a rafflesia from Kenny and they have very very little peppering and they had to deal with black gravel for awhile. High quality fish should give you less chance of peppering107695107696

[Jack L]

buy from good source of a domestic strain you like,

if you will do the WC, i'd tell you get smalls, they are fun to watch develop

[Jack L]

All this is true and good advice.

agreed, and i'd just add that they don't seem to do well in a community setup.

[adrian31@outlook.com]

Not all pigeon bloods will pepper. Key is stay away from dark backgrounds or tank bottoms. From what I understand selective breeding has really minimized peppering. I have a checkerboard, a golden checkerboard and a rafflesia from Kenny and they have very very little peppering and they had to deal with black gravel for awhile. High quality fish should give you less chance of peppering107695107696

From a normal distance they'd look completely clean. Very nice. I ordered 3 Rafflesia from Gabe at Wattley's Discus, will get them next week.

[Ryan925]

From a normal distance they'd look completely clean. Very nice. I ordered 3 Rafflesia from Gabe at Wattley's Discus, will get them next week.

Nice. I love the rafflesias. I'd love to see a whole tank of them.

[clark12]

So I am not saying you need to avoid this strain because I am a beginner as well but I would just not want you to wonder why no one told you if you did order one. The albinos tend to have poor eye site. I had no idea and noticed my Albino Platinum seemed to have to feel around for his food and found out later- all albinos in nature have poorer vision. I recently learned from Kenny (he is an awesome educator) albinos are a bit higher priced because they are harder to breed and many need to be culled for abnormalities. Any fish that makes it to Kenny is phenomenal though. All I need to do is make sure a little food gets to the floor of the tank so he can feel his way around to it. He is a bit slower growing but is really growing well and has an awesome personality. Well worth the stunning contrast he adds to my tank. Just a heads up but no need to avoid them. If you want a standout, these sure are.

never been big on albino's but you said it... contrast. i will probably get something in the white category. i will have to see what kenny has available when i order

[clark12]

thank you everyone for your input. all info is appreciated and the pics are awesome

[Jenene]

never been big on albino's but you said it... contrast. i will probably get something in the white category. i will have to see what kenny has available when i order

Kenny's White Butterflies from Forrest are pretty. he usually has something interesting in white. I am so jealous I love the thrill- the options are amazing. I think he had 52 strains last month.

[Is maith loim discus]

I'm new to discus keeping and i don't know how to post and I've no friends on this web forum. I've 9 pretty discus and I've two marlboro discus that look perfect. My mom insisted on a pigeon blood and it had slight peppering(she loves the hobby too). None of the others have it and i am afraid the two marlboro might get it. Do all discus get it and how can you get rid of it?

[Ryan925]

I'm new to discus keeping and i don't know how to post and I've no friends on this web forum. I've 9 pretty discus and I've two marlboro discus that look perfect. My mom insisted on a pigeon blood and it had slight peppering(she loves the hobby too). None of the others have it and i am afraid the two marlboro might get it. Do all discus get it and how can you get rid of it?

Peppering is not something that discus "get" or contract like an illness. It's simply pigmentation, trying to blend in with their environment. Only PB strains will show peppering. Low quality fish will show much more. With PB strains you typically want to stay away from dark bottoms as that will cause them to show the peppering

[Is maith loim discus]

Thanks Ryan925 and dont worry about it! auto-correct drives me insane! So will my marlboro try to blend in with my sand? The sand is a red colour one marlboro is a peach colour and the other is a light pink/yellow colour. They're appearance is perfect i'm just afraid of them peppering when blending in.

[Ryan925]

Thanks Ryan925 and dont worry about it! auto-correct drives me insane! So will my marlboro try to blend in with my sand? The sand is a red colour one marlboro is a peach colour and the other is a light pink/yellow colour. They're appearance is perfect i'm just afraid of them peppering when blending in.

Lighter color substrate will cause your discus to brighten their colors in general. It's not just the pb pepper issue. When I went from black to white substrate all of my fish were noticeably brighter not just the pbs. I don't think red would be an issue. I think it's more an issue with the black substrates.

[pattyxlynn]

Are there links to the people you all are talking about that you get the discus from? I heard Kenny mentioned, and a few others. I'm just getting ready to set up my 90 gal and it will cycle for a couple of months before I add fish, but I do like to look ahead of time. It's going to be a tough decision narrowing the selection down! I would like to go with adults right off the bat.

TIA!

Patty

[Filip]

Hi Patty and welcome to our community.

There is a sponsor section here on this forum with many discus sellers . Here is a link to it :

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/forumdisplay.php?42-SimplyDiscus-Sponsors

They all ship discus across USA so you don't need to narrow down your choice by location .

I just want to add that all the sponsors are carefully chosed and vetted by the forum owner and as many others that have posted their positive experiences before , you can't go wrong by choosing to buy your discus from any sponsor here .
Good luck with your new journey and keep us informed on whatever you decide .

[pattyxlynn]

Thanks Filip! I'm off to go see what is what. :)