color of tail?

[Bobina3]

Hi there. My boyfriend has been raising Discus fish for quite a while now. He recently traded his larger fish for more small ones. And the guy who traded him said that his fish had thier color running into thier tail and that was bad. that it had to be clear tails. I cannot find any information on this anywhere! He hasnt heard of this before so i was wondering if anyone else had any info on it.

Thanks!
Chrisitina

[Ryan]

Christina,

After reading the forum over the years, I've seen a lot of people say that the tail (caudal fin) and pectoral fins (near the gills) should be clear. If they are heavily colored, most suspect the fish have been treated with hormones to enhance the color. There are some exceptions. For instance, some pigeon-based discus have dark or black tails. I've seen wilds whose tails looked orange/brown.

Do you have any pictures of the fish?

Ryan

[trebor69]

I think that hard core discus purists want the perfectly clear tail

I think that a large portion of the discus out there have at least a hint of color in their tail....starting at the base and fading quickly as you go toward the end.

Alof of discus out there have a diet that contains commercial foods which have color enhancing ingredients which may affect tail clarity.

Unless the color in the tail is extreme/bad who cares....only the picky people fret over it. Unless your entering a contest where they want you to meet certain standards who cares.

If youre selling fish you may command a higher price with 'perfect clear tails'