Very sensitive

[h317]

It can be a very sensitive topic so moderator standby ...

I learned that I should be cautioned if I saw vivid colour juveniles as they may be homone injected (fed?).

With photo-editing software so abundantly available (and so easy to use) nowadays, how much do you trust pictures on the breeders website?

[Dennis_Hardenburge]

Most of the pictures you see on web sites are of the breeders absolute best fish, no two fish are identicale.
And yes there are a few not so honest people out there.
But there are also a lot of very reputable breeders, and importers.
Like ever thing else in life there is the good the bad and the ugly.
Most reputable breeders will send you a picture of the actual fish they have for sale, and I would certainly ask for an actual photo before I would buy sight unseen.
If you have the oppertunity to go to the breeders and pick out your fish in person, this is the best way to go as you will get what catches your eyes.
Other wise deal with a reputable person and be specific at telling them what you want.
Dennis

[roger]

I would agree with Dennis here.

Most pictures that a breeder puts up on the website are his very best fish under the very best light looking their very best.

Most of the breeders that I have dealt with that shipped fish have sent me pix of the fish that I would be getting, or the tank that they are pulling fish out of. Its an awful lot of work to doctor pics of that type.

So if you stick with a reputable dealer the chances of getting a "juiced" fish are probably nill. That I can think of, I only worry about that when Im getting fish from an importer, since despite his reputation he really cant tell how his fish are raised untill he gets them.

This is all of course just IMO

Peace,
Roger

Hi h317,

When going to a breeders to pick out your discus. look for clear tails and pectoral fins. If they are any color then clear.
the discus has been color fed or hormoned.


When You go to a breeders some times all you need to do is check the tanks. If any hormoning has been done the rim of the tank just above the water line will carry a thick pickish substance. useing hormones is very expensive to use on fish so suspect a very VERY crowded tank. hormone's in most cases is added to the water not food. If the breeder is only color feeding then you will see his favorite color around the rim of the tank. Theses colors will consist of!
RED
BLUE
YELLOW
PINK

However looking at the discus is best some will clean the rims before you come!

HTH you get the real deal on color!
Cary Gld!

[Ralph]

It is a fine line between common business practises and immoral behavior and it's a great topic for discussion, as long as no names are dropped, it shouldn't be a reason for argument.

Showing their very best fish as an example is acceptable to me, I wouldn't expect otherwise. But it is a source of disappointment for most buyers when the purchased fish doesn't show the same quality when it grows out.
Using Photoshop is fraud as far as I am concerned if it is used to make the fish look better than it actually is. If it used to overcome photography limitations, then it is OK with me.
Feeding their fish color enhancing food is OK (some "strains" only exist with special feeding). Anything with hypodermics is unacceptable.

I can't say that these opinions are based on anything more philosophic than just a gut feeling and some general impressions on business ethics.

Roger, I agree with what Cary has said, but respectfully disagree with your assumption about importers. In almost all cases--they will have knowledge of the hormoning. The exporters that typically hormone , do so on inferior quality fish and two separate price listings will be provided. As Cary said, Hormones are expensive and it shows on these lists. Of course only a known importer would see these lists.

An exporter hormoning without the knowledge of the importer would be comitting discus suicide. It would not work for long as at the very least, the fish would revert back to it's original coloration. The worst case scenario is that the fish develops major problems due to kidney or liver disease from overdosing with the hormones. The importer would receive alot of negative feedback from his customers and would not engage in further transactions.

There is a major difference between color enhancing and hormoning. Nearly all foods are color enhancers such as Color Bits and color flakes as well as carotenoids.

Ralph, Hypodermics are used with injected dyes . Example: Fruit cocktail tetras and Painted glass fish and the raspberry parrot cichlids. As far as I know, hyperdermics have not been used on discus as a dye. With quality fish, there is no need to hormone. HTH, Joe :-\

[brewmaster15]

Hi h317,

This link may interest you...

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=8;action=display;threadid=1292

hth,
al

[bottle-blonde]

hey cary,

just wondering if you could clarify something. i think i must be confused about colour-enhancing foods. i've been giving my discus both red and blue sera "discus color" pellets and my fish have perfectly clear fins. do you mean people actually feed their fish dye and that's what causes their fins to change colours?

cheers!
erin

A freind of mine hormone fed his fish without knowing it. He was given a bag of beefheart to feed his very dirty PB by a wholesaler 2 weeks before delivery. I think it was normally done by the wholesaler in his holding tank a couple of weeks before shipping. He had no time to condition them due to Christmas rush. He had to bag them indivdually in my friend's house and shipped out the same evening. The Black dust disappeared completely in 2 weeks and the normally amber eyes turned bright red. Body colored up so nicely. They ate continuously until they couldn't swim. If you look at it in the business point of view. My friend gain $700 from something he was gonna cull. For the wholesaler, He's making a killing by sending his customer clean MR from whereever he claimed and the store can sell them as Super Marlboro Red. Everybody is happy including the buyer.they can enjoy them in his tank for a few months. Unfortunately LFS likes them full of color and their customers prefer buying them than a non-color discus.
Jimmy.

Jimmy,
Are You sure it was not a steriod Hormone Mix?

Sorry I should Clear That up! there is a hormone thats used in feed but I believe it to have a higher amounts of steriod's in it making it worth the use in cost with basically with the same results.

Takercare,
Cary Gld!