Why are discus priced higher compared to other fish?

[RobC]

Just wondering why are discus priced higher compared to other freshwater fish? It seems like Discus can be found anywhere LFS, online, the sponsors section of the forum ... etc. and being on this forum or a while, hobbiest are able to breed them left and right.

Another side question, I notice people buy the show grades and jumbo discus super quick, even pre-order long before they are made sellable, for a really high price tag, I haven't reached that spending point yet (... until I win the lottery), but if I were to, I'd do it just to say I have a show grade or jumbo that I can appreciate, what are other people's motivation for buying the large priced tagged Discus?

[Pardal]

No other fish, will let you know if you are doing something wrong so quickly . they do require work and attention to basic aquarium husbandry, like daily WC, feeding,temperature etc. Since it takes a lot of WC for about a year at least 365 of them to grow a fry to adult. That is why they demand a price ticket because of the effort behind.
But once you figure out the basis they are really easy and hardy fish.
For the price tag is just a matter of personal preference but once you are going well in to the hobby you will start to see details that you didn't mind or didn't notice when you started . many people save for months and years to get their dream fish , there are not necessarily rich.
Julian.

[tonytheboss1]

:bandana: In general, there's the price Discus sell for & then there's their value or worth. Selling price, like most things, is more subject to supply & demand. Depending on where you are, availability today seems plentiful but not compared to some other FW fish. Now value or worth is where the swing point is. Because it takes a good deal of time, effort, skill & money to grow a Discus to 8"+, the supply will be less thus price will be higher especially for some of the rarer strains. German, Japanese is a mere matter of preference. Willingness to shell out $$$ for 'showclass' specimens is like for anything else, if you got Bentley money, you put one in your driveway, if not, that Chrysler 300 will have to do. lol lol BTW Discus price is cheap compared to Arowana, Koi & Stingrays which are way more expensive & live a lot longer if you've got the room for them. "T"

[Mattgoanna]

As mentioned by "T" there are a lot of fish more expensive than discus and you can actually find quality discus for a reasonable price. What concerns me when it comes to price is that when you buy a stingray, arowana or koi (unlike many discus) you will get what you paid for. There are still discus dealers selling fish for a very high price that are hormoned and don't hold their colour. This is dishonest, would not be tolerated in any other business context and damages the reputation of dealers that re-sell these fish. Curipera, albino Red Cover and other red strains like Rafflesia are the ones to look out for.

[DISCUS STU]

Premium Discus are almost always imported and can command a decent price as full grown fish because they can. One of the other factors is the cost of shipping large full grown fish from Germany or the Far East which is some expensive air freight.

Discus are generally more expensive than comparably sized other types of fish but also require very specific parameters for their housing that not all importers may be up to. They are high maintenance fish that require comparable housing.

There are some very good and affordable Discus sellers here as Itraders on this site and I've purchased a few as juveniles and have some very nice fish to show for it. I believe these fish were $10-$15 each plus the cost of next day shipping which definitely brings up the cost but buying Discus doesn't have to be super expensive and if cared for properly they can last upwards of 10 years though this is optimal and not always usual.

[Clawhammer]

Cost. Discus require more water changes, energy, and higher quality food to raise than most other aquarium fish.

[brewmaster15]

Just wondering why are discus priced higher compared to other freshwater fish? It seems like Discus can be found anywhere LFS, online, the sponsors section of the forum ... etc. and being on this forum or a while, hobbiest are able to breed them left and right. the problem with this question is it really only looks at price.....its not considering quality, shape,size, age, health, pattern, strain, and after you take all these into consideration, now what is the availability? Discus are as expensive as they are because of supply and demand economics, after you consider all the reasons why people keep them.



what are other people's motivation for buying the large priced tagged Discus? some buy them simply because they can! Others buy them because they hope for some really beautiful and stunning fish to show off or because they would want to enter them in shows and possibly win. Others may do so because although a show fish may or may not be a good Breeder, it most likely had genes worth breeding:)

al

[two utes]

If you are comparing them with guppies or goldfish, yes they are expensive, but then there's a whole range of aquarium fish that are much more expensive. Some catfish I've seen here are over the top, and I am sure it all comes down to how hard they are to access, breed or keep.
I for one don't mind paying for what I think we all consider the king of the aquarium.
I think the important thing is that you get what you pay for. If you have a good eye you can pick up very young juveniles from a breeder and raise them to the best that you can. It helps if you can see the parents to give you a bit of an idea on how they can turn out. Its alot of work but you can save a ton of money, and its very satisfying.

I also think that some people don't have the time or the inclination to raise discus but still admire their beauty, and the reason they buy the top end discus that become available.

At the end of the day, one way or another, everybody wants this beautiful fish on display in their tanks.

[DISCUS STU]

Some of this is REALLY crazy like Zebra Plecos starting at $499. I remember buying one forever ago at about $40.

[RobC]

Thanks for all the great info, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the Discus market, seems like Discus prices has been mostly consistent over the years and seeing that they are readily available almost anywhere I go to look that I overlooked the quality that we are paying for. (still seeing really ugly/should of been culled Discus going for $70 - $100 at LFSs - SMH :shocked2:)

I remember back when I was in high school going to the LFS afters school, I looked at buying a Discus, but priced at $20 was way too expensive for me, FF 15 years later, I'm now buying them for $100+ without second guessing.

[DISCUS STU]

Thanks for all the great info, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the Discus market, seems like Discus prices has been mostly consistent over the years and seeing that they are readily available almost anywhere I go to look that I overlooked the quality that we are paying for. (still seeing really ugly/should of been culled Discus going for $70 - $100 at LFSs - SMH :shocked2:)

I remember back when I was in high school going to the LFS afters school, I looked at buying a Discus, but priced at $20 was way too expensive for me, FF 15 years later, I'm now buying them for $100+ without second guessing.

Good luck Rob, it's a great hobby and one that I really love even though there are ups and downs to it.

Be careful as there are completely bogus resellers of C grade crap (sorry) Discus that may have great looking websites but are selling fish using great pictures and delivering garbage fish. Even with many years of experience I went for it and was very disappointed in what I received. These are deliberate scam artists, though by and large most resellers don't engage in this type of fraud.

[tonytheboss1]

C grade crap (sorry) Discus that may have great looking websites but are selling fish using great pictures and delivering garbage fish. Even with many years of experience I went for it and was very disappointed in what I received. These are deliberate scam artists,

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: Truer words have never been spoken. Broke my heart & pocket but lesson learned!! :fried::fried: "T"

[Filip]

Bills paid and time spend by the breeder to raise a good looking , quallity adult discus is in corelation with the price you pay for them , OP .
And about people breeding them left and right , its just like with us humans, its quite easy to make a child , but the harder and expensive part comes when we get to grow them to fine adults :) .