Are those stripes permanent?

[Yassmeena]

I went to an LFS today, and saw some beautiful discus juvies (~ 3.5").

Some of them had stripes, and when the owner showed me pcitures of what they will look like as adults, they were stripeless.

Do the stripes present in juvies fade, disappear, become more pronounced, stay the same as it grows to an adult?

[Rod]

The stripes come and go depending on the mood, condition, strain type (some do have less pronounced stripes....or even none at all) and i'm sure many other factors. Some people call them stress bars because they show the stripes most prominantly when they are sick, but the discus can show the bars even when in perfect condition. Females quite often display them during the spawning act, particularly stripe 1 & stripe 5 thru 9. Below are a few pics to show what i mean, 1st one is a breeding female turquoise discus, she almost never shows bars except these very faint ones when spawning. The 2nd one is an older but still very healthy turquoise. As he has aged he has shown the stripes more often. The 3rd pic shows a brown discus type but with all the stripes removed by selective breeding. These ones never show stripes even when spawning or stressed.

HTH

Rod:)

[Yassmeena]

The stripes come and go depending on the mood, condition, strain type (some do have less pronounced stripes....or even none at all) and i'm sure many other factors. Some people call them stress bars because they show the stripes most prominantly when they are sick, but the discus can show the bars even when in perfect condition. Females quite often display them during the spawning act, particularly stripe 1 & stripe 5 thru 9. Below are a few pics to show what i mean, 1st one is a breeding female turquoise discus, she almost never shows bars except these very faint ones when spawning. The 2nd one is an older but still very healthy turquoise. As he has aged he has shown the stripes more often. The 3rd pic shows a brown discus type but with all the stripes removed by selective breeding. These ones never show stripes even when spawning or stressed.

HTH

Rod:)

Interesting... so are striped in juvies a sign of sickness or stress?

[Rod]

Yes and no, as i said the stripes come and go.
Instead of looking at the stripes it would be better to look into the eyes of the discus and the skin and fins. Healthy young discus have clear bright eyes, and the skin and fins are clear and shows no signs of greyness to it. Also young healthy discus show a strong desire to almost continuously feed, so if they aren't rushing to the top of the tank for a feed when you approach then something is wrong and i would avoid buying them.

Rod:)

[Yassmeena]

Yes and no, as i said the stripes come and go.
Instead of looking at the stripes it would be better to look into the eyes of the discus and the skin and fins. Healthy young discus have clear bright eyes, and the skin and fins are clear and shows no signs of greyness to it. Also young healthy discus show a strong desire to almost continuously feed, so if they aren't rushing to the top of the tank for a feed when you approach then something is wrong and i would avoid buying them.

Rod:)

Nice - I saw my discus feeding by chance at the LFS where I will buy them... it was a hungry feasting!