Overall size, roundness, vigor, etc.

[Allen Myers]

Just curious as to whether overall size, roundness, vigor, etc. of domestic discus is genetically and/or environmentally influenced?

Also, I have yet to see a wild caught discus that was poorly shaped. Other than the typical nicks, scratches, and other superficial imperfections, all of the wild discus photos I have seen seem to be what most domestic discus keepers are looking for in terms of size and roundness.

Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Allen

[Nightowl]

Allen, overall size and roundness is both genetically and environmentally influenced. I have made some runty fish look good, w/ extra care, and have made a few fish less than what they could have been w/ poorer care over the years(not all at the same time though). I believe vigor is more related to environment; food and water quality.
Interesting what you said about wild discus. Those that I have seen in person always seemed to me to be lacking a bit in shape, with sometimes slightly larger eyes than well raised domestics would have. And also not super round. But , this is just one person's point of view. It seems that there are more quality wild fish around now based on pictures I've seen on this forum. That expression"beauty is in the eye of the beholder" definitely applies in the realm of discus. later, J.T.

[Allen Myers]

J.T.

Thanks for your input on this subject. I would like to see some wild discus close up someday. Years back when I was raising a lot of discus artificially, most other breeders were telling me that I was going to get runts and scrappy looking fish. I disagreed, as I was also raising high quality angelfish at the time.

We compared juveniles that I had raised artificially with parent raised babies from another breeder at the end of two months. The youngsters raised artificially were equal in size and just as round as the parent raised ones. I remember being very meticulous with water quality and feeding however.

Talk to you later.

Allen