Spotted Face Leopard Snakeskin

[ezeke1]

Hi Guys,
I'm getting ready to put in an order for these 4.5" babies, but I would like some input on their quality (roundness, color, etc) and potential. Since this particular strain is rare and pricey, I want to make sure their price is justified.


First baby
http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/8448/70529spotface014qr1.th.jpg (http://img240.imageshack.us/my.php?image=70529spotface014qr1.jpg)

Second baby
http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/5518/70529spotface4mh5.th.jpg (http://img116.imageshack.us/my.php?image=70529spotface4mh5.jpg)

[April]

i dont know...check around. check with kenny of international discus he gets some beautiful leopard snakeskins. about 90 bucks or so...i had them..they are gorgeous. high fin..beautiful shape. go to international discus in the sponsor section and look at the tony tan fish. look at his latest tonytan order. hes a great guy to deal with..and he too is in california. everyone who has got them have been very happy.
how much are those guys? bear in mind...if your new to discus..you need to get a group of 6 for them to feel comfortable and secure..and you need to get all your fish from one place..one time..unless your going to quarantine for 6 weeks..in all different tanks. theres lots of different pathogens and immunities from different breeders.
not sure whats so rare about them.

[April]

have a look at these guys. they have spots all the way to their noses..
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=24026&d=1177229893

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=24036&d=1177230163
theres more too..and they are as red as those..jsut dont show it in the pics. i had some . very impressive.

[ezeke1]

i dont know...check around. check with kenny of international discus he gets some beautiful leopard snakeskins. about 90 bucks or so...i had them..they are gorgeous. high fin..beautiful shape. go to international discus in the sponsor section and look at the tony tan fish. look at his latest tonytan order. hes a great guy to deal with..and he too is in california. everyone who has got them have been very happy.
how much are those guys? bear in mind...if your new to discus..you need to get a group of 6 for them to feel comfortable and secure..and you need to get all your fish from one place..one time..unless your going to quarantine for 6 weeks..in all different tanks. theres lots of different pathogens and immunities from different breeders.
not sure whats so rare about them.

If I buy these guys, they will be introduced to my new 65gal bb tank. I currently have 5 (2.5" to 4") discus in my planted tank and a couple of them are from this same breeder.

These babies go for $250/each so they're very pricey. I really like the color and the multitude of spots on their bodies. I'm just not sold on their shape. Regarding their 'rareness" - I'm not sure either. The breeder imports them from asia so maybe he's referring to how attainable the breed is? :confused:

[Greg Richardson]

David. Fully spotted is imo why the extra cost.
Lot of spotteds out there to buy.
Most though don't have the definition those do of the spots or shape at that age.
And if they are fully spotteds the definition of spots are lacking on face and body.

Hard to guess how shape will turn out at that age. I think they are headed in the right direction. I had some about that size that in the next inch of growth sure started to look better. If you look around at what people have to sell you'll see round spotteds are not the norm.

You could always ask Tony if he'd cut you a deal. You have bought from him before so he will probably put that into consideration.

KC Discus also has Spotted domestics. He will send pictures. I'd send him that link and let him know what you are looking for with that picture.

[Beth]

my opinion.......

not worth the money....... like I said.... That's just my opinion;)

[Dkarc@Aol.com]

Good looking fish, but im very weary of any spotted fish that has bright colors, at any size.

-Ryan

[kaceyo]

I gotta agree. Thats too much for those fish. Talk to Ryan of Orlando Discus. He's bringing in some comparable fish. Lee Koon Yen's Spider Face Ruby LSS's.
Would be well worth your time to check them out.

Kacey

[Tropical Haven]

$250.00 is a lot of money for a discus especially since it isn't full grown for that price. I would save your money and go with something similar for a lot less money.

[fishmama]

I highly suspect hormoned...they are amazing...but maybe too much so. I have purchased young german rams that were superbly colored, only to have them fade as they matured...should be the opposite. Those fish look gorgeous, but not all that glitters is gold!

Here is a young spotted at about 4" or so...not as fully spotted but, non-hormoned.

hth
Lisa

[Apistomaster]

I highly suspect hormoned...they are amazing...but maybe too much so. I have purchased young german rams that were superbly colored, only to have them fade as they matured...should be the opposite. Those fish look gorgeous, but not all that glitters is gold!

Here is a young spotted at about 4" or so...not as fully spotted but, non-hormoned.

hth
Lisa

I could not agree more with what Lisa wrote. And discus treated with hormones tend to have problems, later on when they spawn, you may find nothing but batch after batch of infertile eggs.
I recommend not walking away but running from young discus with colors too good to be true.
Even if they are not "juiced" $250 each is still too much for any domestic discus.
One is almost as likely to get a show quality fish from juveniles that originally cost only $30.00 as from some that cost much more because of the variations among a given hatch of most domestic discus. Latest colors of the month are also tend to be the least genetically fixed strains.

[April]

i got beautiful high body red spotted leopards that were 6 inches or more..for less. and..they started laying eggs after a week to ten days after i received them. top quality..with certificates from the breeder.
i agree on the bright colour..hormoned..and alot of them end up with liver damage and live a short life.
especially if you are fairly new at discus..why spend so much. they're like a highbred race horse.