largest discus

[neo9]

how large can u grow a discus in a bare bottom tank with daily water changes and frequent feeding of beef heart, tetra bits and blood worms (5-6 times a day)??

how big can you get ur discus to grow in a bare bottom tank? :o

[GulfCoastDiscus]

Hi Neo,
I believe it must have the genetic first then with proper care you will get that 8" discus that everybody envies.

Dan

[neo9]

have u ever grown a discus to 8" dan ?
i think i have a pretty good discus with a long ancestral history, the guy i got it off has been into discus for about 20 years ;D
at wat age to discus stop growing?

neo

[GulfCoastDiscus]

I have in the past. I have several now but it came from someone else. I think it's easier when you have less stock as you can focus on the individual fish. Aside from making sure they never get sick.

Dan

8" Tomato Red x 5" Red Passion

[Cosmo]

I've had quite a few Discus make it to the full 8in (and maybe some a little more) over the years... they're awesome at that size, well, they're awesome at any size come to think of it.. :)

Different fish stop growing at different ages.. depends on several factors... genetics, nutrition, water quality, tank conditions etc. Probably 2 - 3 years on average if I'd have to guess - but that is purely a guess.

The male RT I have now grew to just under 8 inches in a year and a half..

Jim

[neo9]

thx for the info jim and dan
i'm going to grow some 8" discus
:P
neo

[Truelies]

Just thought of adding this info.

Do you know that discus can live upto 12 yrs.


Truelies

[zenman]

I beg to differ every single huge discus Ive seen was in my opionion less attractive ie lacked color, dull looking, its been a personal observation that Discus between 4-6 inches have more vivid brighter colors. Are fish like humans the older we get we start to loose our coloring (turning gray hypopigmentation) well except for the Gipper God rest his sole. Is color size or age realted? Example Ive noticed this Turk has lost his brilliance in the past few months he is about 1 y/o, 7" and counting the PB is 6" and much older yet more brilliantly colored. Zen

[simply_fishlover]

I have seen the wild discus from a petstore that is 9''+ in size. They are quite ugly in general. Bar and dusts all the over their body. Their colors are light greenist blue.

[zenman]

There is always one in the bunch and sometimes 2. I would have to agree with Discus King every single wild or giant Discus Ive ever seen was unattractive. I like new fresh colored Discus mostly of the Asian descent, heck I will even go out on the limb to say I even like Hormoned fish :o. It cant be all that bad after all the governor of Califorina was on them and even worse you ingest them every time you eat most any type of meat bought in the super market. Just remeber every claim you steak every bit you take you'll be ingestin them. :P Zen

[Cosmo]

my male RT is rapidly approaching the 8in mark and his colors are still incredibly brilliant :) almost luminescent ;D

[zenman]

How old is he? Zen

[jeep]

Just curious, are you guys measuring with or without the tail???

[zenman]

I know the proper way is w/o tail but I aways count the tail its still part of the fish isnt it?. Zen

[GulfCoastDiscus]

This Tomato Red is 8" without the tail.

Dan

[srt]

Depends on the type of fish-
Angel fish: without the tail.
Goldfish: without the tail.
Betta: without the tail.

Arowanas: with the tail.
Discus: with the tail.

This is just the way I measure it though.

[Cosmo]

Zen,
He's a little under two years old best estimate.. Jeep, saying he was approaching 8in was using the incorrect method of nose to tip of tale instead of base of tail.. the past year he's gone from being the smallest in the tank to the largest so approaching was the operative word :-[ Give him another 6 months or so and he'll be there at the rate he's going

Have had Discus in the past though that hit 8in measured correctly, and don't remember them getting ugly ??? These guys were between 6 and 8 years old too.. but.. none of them were wild strains... could that be the difference?

and I thought Discus life span was 8 yrs not 12 ? Is there a definative answer?

Jim

[jeep]

With or without tail... no biggie. It's just that some use it and some don't. Just wanted some clarification because I've seen some people claim some really big discus that turn out to be not so big in person... especially since a discus is supposed to be disk-like in shape and the tail distracts from the overall shape

I know it's part of the fish ;) ;D but I always like the measurement W/O tail best... makes it look bigger in person ;D

Idea :idea: Why don't we start a poll to standardize expectations? Majority rules and everybody abides ???

[dalelad]

heya guys, i've seen some really huge discus at 9-10 inches in diameter, measurement without tail, and thickness of about 1.5-2 inches.

no kidding!!

anyone knows how large the diameter of a trombone bell flare is? yea.. THAT HUGE!

[fish_maniac]

Idea Why don't we start a poll to standardize expectations? Majority rules and everybody abides


I agreed, May be that could be the first task for the newer formed NADA ? How about that? I think we should have some standard rule so that there is less confusion on the size.

Kam

[neo9]

i was just wondering how do u ppl measure ur fish?
cause i find it really hard to obtain an accurate reading. well wat i do is place a ruler against the tank and wait for the fish to swim by :)
the glass sometimes makes the fish seem larger/smaller ???
wat method do u ppl use to measure ur ginourmous discus? ;D

[Toronto]

I've seen large discus from a breeder measured at least 8" without a tail. They were fed differently apart from a normal diet with some additive. He didn't tell me. But most of them have trouble fertilizing eggs due to their huge chest muscle. It was a cobalt blue like Barb's. The gene orginally came from Wayne discus reflection 'D'.
T.

[zenman]

Neo9 i measure my fish at feeding time by marking the tank with a marker then mearsuring the dots, if I go any where near the tank with a net, tape measure or anything of the sort that all know what time it is . Zen

[Dkarc@Aol.com]

I have heard stories of giant discus that are 10" from Vietnam :o. Jeff told me about them one time and that basically confirmed all the other stories. So I guess a 10" discus a feasable, but practical due to the special way it is raised i guess. Also, as for the issue of measuring the discus....I say measure without the tail. it is apart of the fish, but body size is what most are measuring by these days anyhow.

-Ryan

[John_Nicholson]

I have owned and seen alot of big discus and I have never seen one with 8 inched of body. About the biggest is 6 1/2 inches. If anyone has a bigger one then I want to see it. Put a nice fluffy bath towel down on the table. Place a wooden ruler on it and net the fish and take a pic.

I bet $10 nobody can produce an unalter pic of one.

-john

[jaydoc]

John, as I remember, Cary Strong showed a pic of a big cobalt laid out next to a ruler like you stated that measured nearly 9 inches, including tail. He talked like this was an exceptional fish, not the norm. This would support your theory about the 8 inch body thing. I'll bet some of these guys are using the same ruler they used when they told their wives they were 9". ;)

Cary the lesser

[John_Nicholson]

Cary that is my point. Though the years I have had local people call looking for fish. In the discussion they would always talk about how they had these monster 9+ inch fish in the past. They would then come to the house and nearly fall over when they would see some of my fish. They would go on and on about how big they were. They would nearly die when I would say well that fish is about 6 to 61/2 inches....LOL ( not measuring the tail. just the body)

-john

[GulfCoastDiscus]

I have 5 Tomato Reds in my garage that I bought from Jeff Young. Jeff got them from Orient and Jeff himself measured the fishes before I got them and most were 7.5+" and one that is definitely 8" wo the tail.

Dan

[Webzilla]

I was told that there is an unwritten rule that if you claim to have a 9 incher you had to post a pic! ;D

[John_Nicholson]

I need pics..........................

-john

[GulfCoastDiscus]

I would fish one of them out and measure but of the five. 2 have frys on their back, 2 have eggs on the cone and one is getting ready to spawn with the female.

Lionel is coming by either Sunday or Monday after his Army Reserve training and he will confirm the status of each.


Dan

[Webzilla]

Hey Dan - I know you have incredible size fish. I have been told by several people some of your fish are 1/2" short of the lockness monster! :)

Webz....

[John_Nicholson]

Dan I am not trying to bust your chops I am just saying that it is very hard to really judge the size of a fish in a tank. Until you put a tape measure on it you just don't really know. Since 2 of the fish have fry on their backs I hope we are not more then 2 weeks away from seeing pics of these monsters with a ruler.

-john

[GulfCoastDiscus]

No Prob. I'll try to take a pic with Lionel present.
Here one of them. The female is 5.5" and he dwarf her.

Dan

[Webzilla]

Dan,

When you gonna hook me up with some of them fry? Need a good price - promise good home.

Webz.....

[John_Nicholson]

Nice fish but I still bet that it will not make 8 inches of body.

-john

[FischAutoTechGarten]

I have some of John Nicholson's stock. I can vouch for their impressive size. Everyone who sees them are shocked..they can't believe they are so big. At 1 1/2 yrs old the largest is now about 5.75" SL, maybe 7" TL. (I'll take him out and lay him on a ruler tonight.) Bear in mind he spent the first 6 months of his life with 22 other fish in a huge 120gal tank w/ 33 to 50% daily water changes and feeding of CBW 3 to 4 times daily. Even though I'm an amateur, I'd say I gave them about the best start you could. I don't expect them to get too much bigger. They are just starting to get those pretty dorsal fin tail streamers.

To get fish any bigger than that surely must take fantastic care and feeding above and beyond what most of us are capable or willing to do.

My .02

[John_Nicholson]

Pete you sound like you did a good job with those fry. They are about the size of their father. There are lots of things that help to determine the size of the fish. To make it simply genetics and enviroment. A good example of this are the fish that Pete got from me. They were shipped to him which can be stressful on them but they did fine. Around the same time I hand delivered some fry from the same parents and from the same tank/spawn. That individual killed part of the group and then went around telling everyone that I was selling a weak strain of snakeskin that was no good......

-john

[jeep]

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=21509

;) ;) ;) ;) ;)

[FischAutoTechGarten]

Should also mentioned that I culled very heavily. I'm down to just 6 of them. Sold the rest (dirt cheap) or simply gave them away as gifts. The 6 have been raised in 2 29 gallon tanks. Sometimes I've had to house all 6 together when I'm introducing new cardinals or ottos for growout (future planted tank..yeah eventually I will actually restart it). Personally, they all put on respectable growth when they were housed in the 29 all together with massive water changes and flake food. Now I'm down to about 25 to 50% changes every 2 or 3 days or so.

Should also mention these have never been sick or medicated. So even though I'm inexperienced and not as exacting in my fishkeeping as some, I doubt that I could have done too much more to increase their size substantially. Now go back 10 years and I raised a whole lot of 4" SL runted Discus!, so I guess I'm much improved.

Therefore, I look at reports of 8"SL or 10" TL with a little skepticism. a 7 1/2" TL Discus is one huge fish.

another .02 from someone with very limited experience.

[Terrybo]

Dan's Tomato Reds are HUGE! I can't wait until he gets a chance to take a picture of one alongside a ruler.

Dan -when are you going to have Tomato Red X Red Dragon fry available?

Terry

[GulfCoastDiscus]

I'll have some soon Terry.
I am reducing my adult stock. I have to make a list first. I'm planning on selling some pairs along with singles. I planned to focus on a few strain and let the others go.

I had a long talk with Brew the other day and I feel that I'm losing my priorities. Need to keep the hobby in check.

dan

IM me if you're interested.

[John_Nicholson]

Terry I am not saying that they are not huge. I am saying that most people who see a 6 inch (body) fish will go on and on about how big they are. 7 inches of body would make them the Shaq's of the discus world.

-john

[Terrybo]

John - That is why I'd love to see them against a ruler. I have never seen any discus bigger than those Tomato Reds, but I'm not all that good at estimating size without actually measuring. Once we see a picture next to a ruler we will know exactly how big a discus can get.

Terry

[Howie_W]

Dan has beautiful looking nice and healthy fish at any size. :)




Howie

[Denny]

I am going to call BS on that 8" fish with or without the tail. An 8" fish without the tail would be 10" with the tail. ;)

Now let me name a few objecs that are readily available in any house that you can compare it to to get some perspective: ;D

A sheet of paper is 8 1/2x 11 inches. A fish 8" without the tail when laid on a piece of white paper from your printer or fax would have 1" of nose and 1" of tail sticking past the page if placed on it in the portrait position. If you placed it centered on the paper in the landscape position, there would be 1/2" of white paper showing past the nose and tail. ;)

I measured our dinner plates and they range from 9.5 to 10.5 inches. Your discus should fill out that plate. Hold a dinner plate to the tank and see how the fish measures up.in a 29g tank, an 8" body size fish would have 1" of room on the nose and tail sides of the tank if it was centered in the tank and looking straight at you. ;)

A compact disc is 4.75 inches in diameter. I see plenty of adult discus that are not alot bigger than that that are called 6 inch fish. a CD makes a great reference when taped to your tank. 8)

I don't mean to sound too harsh, but I see too many people obverstating their discus size, even if it is an honestly optimistic mistake. ;)

I was no easier on the guys I used to hang out with when they talked about the horsepower of their muscle cars and their quarter mile times. ;D

[strawman]

I draw black circles on all my tanks using black mmagic marker. It helps to monitor the growth of my fish without placing objects in front of the tanks.

[FischAutoTechGarten]

I keep a CD taped to my 29gal tanks for that reason. something to compare size at a glance.

[Ax]

Just to check are we talking any Discus?
Because in nature Brown Discus can reach 10-12", but Green Discus 6-7"
this s from the wild, and also brown is not that popular.
In aquarium with mainly Blue and Green (I couldn't find size for Blue) is some what different. And Genetics will play a roll.

[RyanH]

I would very much like to see a picture of a 12" Discus. preferable next to something that shows its comparable size, like a pop can or something. :o

[RyanGSP]

Im with you on that one a twelve inch discus would be a massive fish. If they do realy get that big why arent breeders trying to breed big fish into their lines? You would think that this is what they would want to do to out compete everyone else. Have the biggest most colourful and healthy fish. Just my 2 cents

[Ax]

I am not claiming to have seen the 12” fish I was just looking through some of my books and in Nature Encyclopedia Vol. on Fish USSR 1980 was an information that I posted,
From what it said it put Blue and Green discus in the same group and put there size at 12-15 cm (6-7”) the way I understand, and Brown they put at 22cm with some up to 25-29cm (10 – 12”) I do not know if its with or without tail. And most fish in aquariums grows smaller from what I know.
What my question was is that with Green and Blue being export of wild how would the fish grow to 8-9” without genetic predisposition to it or selective breeding (right now is toward the color correct me if I am wrong) ?
So no claims just curios.
Sorry I should be more accurate in my questions on post.
Thanks.

[RyanH]

Hey Ax,

I wasn't trying to give you a hard time. After having recently acquired some wild browns, I was genuinely curious if you had access to pictures of the size fish that the author of your source claimed is attainable. I'm honestly skeptical of his claims but if you do ever come across any pictures of fish that size I would love to see them.

thanks!
-Ryan

[Ax]

No problem, I was just sharing something written by the scientist of what they claim to have seen in nature, I do trust Encyclopedia (even so it’s from the Soviet era) and they do say that in aquarium fish grows smaller (than again from 80’s and now are some big steps in aquarium keeping). My self the biggest Discus I have seen was around 7” and it was associated with a 5” clay pot in the tank. What I was wondering is if there some people from Brazil or Peru on the forum maybe they can confirm this info. Better yet put up some pics. :)

[the_oracle]

Just to share with you guys out there. This is my Pigeon Snake. He's 7" with tail. Almost 2 years old. Fed him BH twice daily other than BW and tetrabits and 90% daily WC.

[Denny]

That is a nice fish

[the_oracle]

He's nice but seems to be stuck to this size though. Can't get him to grow bigger........
BTW, tanx, Denny.
8)

[Sean Buehrle]

i seen a web pidgeon that was easily as big as a paper plate
with its fins sticking up, it was in marios tanks, he sold it on aquabid about 6 months ago.

[FischAutoTechGarten]

Here's a pic I took in August. I think I posted it on another forum in a similar thread back then.

[FischAutoTechGarten]

wrong species posing for measurement. here it is:
This is my largest. Took this photo right after he passed away in mid November. The 2nd largest (about 1/8" smaller if that) passed away a few days ago as well (I used ot have his picture here when it was the old Simply). At first glance, most folks think he and his twin are much bigger than his 6 3/4 TL size. But in fact, he's not really all that big at all.

[jeep]

He's nice but seems to be stuck to this size though. Can't get him to grow bigger........


You need a discus stretcher ;)

[the_oracle]

Ya...... indeed.......
8)

[RyanGSP]

Ya ax not trying to give you a hard time. No hard Feelings? I think that if someone might try to aquire some browns (wild) and raise them in a small pool (from walmart or somewhere cheap) and raise them inside for a while placing dead leaves in the bottom trying to replicate their natural home. If someone did this it would be cool to see if there were actual 12 inch giants.

[Ax]

No worries, :)
My English is my problem. :( So I am the one to apologize. :-[
I do like your Idea about the pool; mind you Canada is not the greatest place to try this over winter. ;D
So for now I am just dreaming to go scuba diving in Amazon. My wife told me “it’s not happening any time soon.”

[krandrus]

Beyond that scuba diving in the amazon would not be the experience it sounds. Visibility in those rivers is 0, there are floating and stuck snags all over the place. It is not an ideal environment for scuba.

[Ax]

Oh well, there goes my dream.