A cull making a major fish catalog front page? Unbelievable.

[scolley]

I don't know how many of you get this catalog...

http://www.colley.org/images/scan0004-28112008a.jpg


When this came in my mail, I was shocked! My wife didn't even know it was a discus, this poor fish looks so bad. I was eating a snack at the kitchen table as my wife flipped though the mail, and she said -


"Hey, here's one of your fish catalogs. Wanna see it?"

"Yeah! Lemme see that... there's a red discus that makes me feel real good about mine."

Looking at the cover she says:

"Well, it's really orange, and it's not a discus."

"OK Honey, I'll agree that it could be called orange. But that IS a discus."

"Ohhh. I see... That's so sad! What happened to it?"


And I'd like to know myself. If gives me the willies just looking at that poor fish.

I'm also just stunned that any decent vendor could EVER put such a horrible example of a fish on their cover. How does THAT happen?

[brewmaster15]

How does THAT happen? Sadly Steve, it happens easily and all the time!:(

-al

[smsimcik]

I got that catalog the other day and had the same reaction you did. I just hope that's not an example of the kind of discus they sell online through their catalog.

Steve

[MSD]

Haha, I got it the other day and thought how horrible to put such a bad fish on the cover, but it is a great example for all newbies how info generally available is not the best. Thats why Simply rocks and I am donating again this season to keep Simply alive and not die like another forum unfortunately has to due to lack of funds. Without Simply this is the kind of info we will get!!!! Al, paypal your way for a great forum and all the hard work you do, thanks again for giving us this forum.

[Wahter]

The sad thing is, to many people, that is a beautiful fish and many of the photos shown in and on Thatfishplace's catalogs are from owners of the fish. So someone out there is proud enough of that fish to have submitted it. And I bet they are now probably going around saying telling everyone.

Someone's also proud of their sick and stressed out blue diamond discus and even posted a video of it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcF880n9tS8

Yikes!



Walter

[scolley]

It's all pretty sad really... that someone would be proud of the BD in that video, that someone probably submitted a photo their malformed fish to ThatPetPlace. Fish suffering, and fish keepers thinking they have something to be proud of. :(

Maybe it's the whole "difficulty of keeping discus" thing that causes this misplaced pride. Being proud that your discus is alive and eating, instead of dead, demonstrating some form of fish keeping prowess.

It does indeed make you happy to have Simply as a resource. I cannot describe the value it has had to me. But it's HIGH! :thumbsup:

Yet I'm still stunned that such a large fish equipment (and livestock) vendor could put something like that on the cover. I'm gonna posit the possibility that the whole catalog production part of the business that knows nothing about fish - just managing manufacturer's copy (text), stock photos, and sitting around a table in the art department to pick the "prettiest" fish shot submitted by customers. I'll wager it's a decent sized business, and to be successful only a small minority of the people actually have to know anything about fish. And those people did not get invited to the table to pick the "pretty" ones.

[Eddie]

Nice goldfish! :)

[terps]

I went there last Friday. They had 8 discus. They looked much worse than the magazine cover. The pigeon bloods were selling for $99.99 each. :) Their blue diamond looked sick and gray with black markings. Their snakeskin had broken bars that crisscrossed. The santarem looked awful. Very poor shape of all the discus, plus they were very, very thin. :( I doubt any of them will make it to 2009.

[Roxanne]

Isn't that how they make their money? Through our (novice fish keepers)ignorance? How many of us would know that was a poor example of a fish if we didn't have SD?


Roxanne:)

[Autumn Wind]

I have to tell you I am very disappointed in my husband...... I showed him the picture saying "If you owned a retail fish store and had to choose a photo for your catalog, is this the best you could come up with?" The response? ............ "that's a pretty fish" Grrrrrrrrrrrrr:mad:
Scolley; apparently your wife pays much better attention than my husband to our hobby. :(
Guess that's why we have Simply :D

Can someone explain to me why the BD in the video looks stressed and sick? I agree it is a very sad example of a discus, football shaped, peppered and maybe stunted but I see a fish that is eating and swimming well (no clamped fins)
what am I missing?

[MSD]

The point! :D

[Roxanne]

I think I know what Autumn Wind means by her question If I may be so bold... to the novice eye, it's a pretty fish. In reality, It's like a mangey looking dog compared to say, my beautiful pedigree rottweiller. A mangey dog might eat as much as my rotti, but will never look as good. Even if it's not 'sick', it's comparable to a mongrel dog, like the fish on the cover shot, anatomically incorrect, small, but like any mongrel dog, it will still eat!

Rox:)

[alpine]

Like Al says , it happens a lot. I have seen it many times. the worst I have had to go through is seeing a Lady and her daughter buying two discus that looks like that around two and a half inches long for over $80.00 a piece and me not being able to say a word because of respect to the owner of the establishment .

Roberto.

[Darren's Discus]

Damm you learn something everyday i really liked that fish !:D:D:D love their slogan "the most trusted name in aquatics"


cheers

[dishpanhands]

They do that so if you would see that fish and still buy one from them. The one they send would look better then that. Less returns that way..lol.

[Roxanne]

..love their slogan "the most trusted name in aquatics"


cheers

I agree. Access to a printer can be a dangerous thing!;)

[architect1]

shame that fish got that way and is the advertising on a fish store.
What bothers me is they only feed them once a day. like the rest of there fish, and they don't take any really good care of them there all stunted runts, and they sell them for a huge amount. I was in the big als in brampton, and there's a scarlet checker bored I think and they where selling it for like 400. and my g/f knows more about the discus then them.

I was watching it because it wasn't perfect shape and it was about 5 ish inches. and she started saying how pretty it was and i wanted to check the prise and confirm it. the guy told me and some how they got talking about sizes and she told him that i had 13 discus and there are some in there that where

this big ( ) she shows with her hands. the guy practically didn't be leave me that they could get about 7" around.

Like these guys are selling fish over price under knowledge, and they say anything to get you to buy it. Now I'm not one with aaa fish but I grew to accept mine, because the fact of the matter is i don't have the big green to buy them. there not as bad as the ones i seen on hear but i got mine to 7" that says something doesn't it. and know what i know now i could get aaa from these fish i have in a couple years.

[ShinShin]

In defense of this company, when I was living about 45 minutes from this place, I used to spend 4-5 hours on a Sunday milling about the 110,000 sq.ft. building. While their discus were never the best, or even that good, they offered auquarists more options on different hard to find species of tropicalfish than anyplace I have ever seen. They had more space for food than alot of lfs's had for their entire store. Anything you could want for freshwater, saltwater, or reef set-ups was found under that one roof. They had about 5 marine biologists on staff who were very helpful about diseases and nutritional needs. Their freshwater fish prices seemed high only because the freshwater fish were 50% off on the weekends. I've spoken with hobbyists from Maine to Ohio to North Carolina there who made 2,3,4 or 5 trips yearly for their fish and supplies. The price was always the best for their products, backed by a 100% guarantee.

I have seen some decent wilds there. I particularly remember some of the largest green discus I've ever seen. This was in the mid 90's, too. Maybe its changed some.

Mat

[MSD]

Mat is right on, I have bought many supply items from them, great prices, fast service, and complete backup if something is wrong.

As for fish, you wouldn't buy a Ferrari from "Al's used car and Trucks". You don't buy specialized fish like discus from a wholesaler. We have to take some responsibility for ourselves, don't we?

[target]

Like Al says , it happens a lot. I have seen it many times. the worst I have had to go through is seeing a Lady and her daughter buying two discus that looks like that around two and a half inches long for over $80.00 a piece and me not being able to say a word because of respect to the owner of the establishment .

Roberto.

I wouldn't have been able to stay quiet. I would have had to say something. I really dislike seeing people waste their money. Better to anger the owner than have the hobby lose a member due to a disappointing purchase IMO.

[DiscusOnly]

Their website catalog of discus for sale isn't that much better and $260 for a fish like that?

It's unfortunately to see discus like that in a fish store, especially one that size but I was never impress with any of the discus that they have.

[VIOLIN33]

SORRY ,TO SAY ITS DONE ALOT LOOK AT ALL THE PUPPY MILLS THAT MAKE ALOT OF MONEY AND HOPFULLY WILL BURN IN HELL. THEY DONT CARE A BIT ABOUT THE HOBBY THE THE ALMIGHTY MONEY..