The lack of quality in lfs

[Jennie]

I paid a visit to the lfs store for frozen brine today, of course they were out, but on my way out, I couldn't resist the urge to check out the fish. In a 5 gallon tank they had 5 2in. sickly looking discus in, with one being wedged up between the heater and the glass. It had white milky patches on its side. Burns from the heater, who knows. Let the fish guy know, but he didn't seem to care. 60 bucks they want and they don't care if the fish is healthy??? Confirms it for me, I will never buy from this lfs. On to the newest store in town, I go. Great white aquatics out of Denver, supposed to specialize in hard to find fish. No discus there??? Guy was adamant about not having them shipped in unless locally grown ( I see opportunity here) because of the water?? Funny, mine are shipped in and fine. I've met quite a few local people in the last 3 months that have and keep discus fish, so why not tap this market? does anyone else have this problem in their city? I might just be rearing discus one day

[yikesjason]

I am in Portland, OR. We have one of the best lfs on the west coast The Wet Spot. But their discus are not much better than you described. I was in there a little over a month ago and there were 3 very large wild tefes for $30 each. They were in a little bit of ruff shape, but not bad. I was in there this week and they were still there. One has a big hole in his head, they have lost a lot of weight, mostly black with cloudy eyes. Sad. I have been to most of the stores in the area and never really seen great discus.

[kaffeene]

I got started recently on discus from a local fish store. Gets the Hans fish. I then saw what local hobbyists discus look like... I will never again by the fish from the lfs. The quality of fish is just staggering in disparity.

[flyman767]

No discus there??? Guy was adamant about not having them shipped in unless locally grown ( I see opportunity here) because of the water?? Funny, mine are shipped in and fine. I've met quite a few local people in the last 3 months that have and keep discus fish, so why not tap this market? does anyone else have this problem in their city? I might just be rearing discus one day

Yep..this is very common at most lfs. Most do not deal in discus for many reasons. Most people shopping at a lfs will not pay $60+ dollars for a fish. In addition, discus require many needs..water changes, warmer temps, susceptible to various diseases, etc.; therefore, it simply a business decision for lfs. The profit margins are too small. Bottom line..it is extremely hard to make money on a 'high maintenance' fish that most hobbyists are not willing to pay big dollars for.

[mathao]

I paid a visit to the lfs store for frozen brine today, of course they were out, but on my way out, I couldn't resist the urge to check out the fish. In a 5 gallon tank they had 5 2in. sickly looking discus in, with one being wedged up between the heater and the glass. It had white milky patches on its side. Burns from the heater, who knows. Let the fish guy know, but he didn't seem to care. 60 bucks they want and they don't care if the fish is healthy??? Confirms it for me, I will never buy from this lfs. On to the newest store in town, I go. Great white aquatics out of Denver, supposed to specialize in hard to find fish. No discus there??? Guy was adamant about not having them shipped in unless locally grown ( I see opportunity here) because of the water?? Funny, mine are shipped in and fine. I've met quite a few local people in the last 3 months that have and keep discus fish, so why not tap this market? does anyone else have this problem in their city? I might just be rearing discus one day

they want local bred cause if they ship in they lose money, it's not water quality, it's about profit to pay bills. and with local they don't have to order a certian amount, they could just buy 4 or 5 from local breeders cheap and sell for more money.

[Discus master]

they want local bred cause if they ship in they lose money, it's not water quality, it's about profit to pay bills. and with local they don't have to order a certian amount, they could just buy 4 or 5 from local breeders cheap and sell for more money.

I can apreciate that to a point because I found a local breeder for my stock so A I did not have to pay for shipping and B I could see and pick out exactly what I wanted plus see how a fish room looked like and opperated plus it gave me the oppertunity to ask a breeder many questions which tought me a lot about discus keeping. In terms of the LFS well thats fine if they do that and get quality stock to sell to their customers plus the water parametrs may be closer to that of the customers as well. The only thing is if they do get them cheaper they should pass those savins onto the customer while still making a profitt I understand its a bussiness but theres a diference between extorshion and making a profit. S I can see it from a few diferent angles and if they are concerned with profitt then they out to get good quality fish and take care of them or learn how to take care of them or higher some one who can and will becuase if that particular LFS would earn a reputation for providing quality discus then more would buy from them which would actually increase their profitts. If I owned and opperated an LFS this is what I would do it makes no sense to do it the other way around because you would not get the repete bussiness like a good breeder would and you would quickly earn a bad rep and with the invention of the internet the word would get out fst either way if you had a good or bad rep. for me I would get from a qulity breeder and earn an awsome rep for an LFS and my bussiness would boom. I equivulate it to say one of our sponser who sells discus having an LFS well they would probally do pretty good don't you think???

[mmorris]

they want local bred cause if they ship in they lose money, it's not water quality, it's about profit to pay bills. and with local they don't have to order a certian amount, they could just buy 4 or 5 from local breeders cheap and sell for more money.

Many lfs buy poor quality discus from the importers for very little money. In order to get my fry up to the size the lfs will buy them for, I would have to charge much more than the importer. Most lfs do not have a vested interest in selling quality discus because 1) they would have to pay more for quality stock 2) they would have to allocate more resources to keep the discus in good condition. As most people buying discus from the lfs have no idea what a nice, healthy discus looks like, they will buy what the lfs offers. An lfs that makes the effort to buy quality and care for them properly will develop a positive reputation. However, he has to consider his catchment area. How far will people drive for quality discus? How many buyers are there is this area? Will the additional selling price compensate for the loss of his lesser-priced, low quality market? I know of one individual who sells his fry to the local lfs because they prefer quality. The lfs around me just want them cheap-too cheap.

[danny2013]

my local fish store has blue cobalt's in 1 gallon tanks each. The fish are 2.5in and look very good but they are 60.00$ each

[Disgirl]

my local fish store has blue cobalt's in 1 gallon tanks each. The fish are 2.5in and look very good but they are 60.00$ each

Is that a 2.5" discus in a 1 gallon tank?? How sad.
Barb

[LizStreithorst]

LFS have to have fish in fish out to make a profit. Most poeple buying from them want live bearers or maybe Angels. Tough fish...People buy them, let them die and come back for more.Discus are a specaility fish. Discus are expensive even for us who buy from an importer or local breeder. We don't need to make a profit off the fish. IMO they should not be stocked by all but the most exceptional fish stores.

[mmorris]

IMO they should not be stocked by all but the most exceptional fish stores.

Agreed.

[Jennie]

the nearest qualified store near me is a 40 minute drive. animal attraction in greeley. Hear good things and bad things. I'm not sure but think he carries whatley or hans discus there.


LFS have to have fish in fish out to make a profit. Most poeple buying from them want live bearers or maybe Angels. Tough fish...People buy them, let them die and come back for more.Discus are a specaility fish. Discus are expensive even for us who buy from an importer or local breeder. We don't need to make a profit off the fish. IMO they should not be stocked by all but the most exceptional fish stores.

[joanr]

the nearest qualified store near me is a 40 minute drive. animal attraction in greeley. Hear good things and bad things. I'm not sure but think he carries whatley or hans discus there.

I'm not sure but there are probably some hobbyist breeders in Colorado to buy from. I live in the Springs and none of the LFS here have any Discus and I hope it stays that way. I had a hard time selling my last group of fry but that was years ago. You might look in the hobbyist/breeders section and see if anyone is selling here in Colorado. If not, you'd be much better off buying from one of the sponsers here than buying from a LFS. There is nothing wrong with the water here, I acclimate my new arrivals just fine without any water issues.

[Jennie]

After my recent experience with a soso breeder(not here on these forums) I ordered 2 from hans and they are nice, round great form and seem healthy. Other than very minimal ammo burn on tail of one, which is easily repaired, they are active and eating. Keeping fingers crossed that I don't kill them, lol. Anyway , once I get more familiar with discus rearing and see how big I get these guys, I'm going to order larger ones from hans, either before winter 10 or in late spring 11.

[joanr]

After my recent experience with a soso breeder(not here on these forums) I ordered 2 from hans and they are nice, round great form and seem healthy. Other than very minimal ammo burn on tail of one, which is easily repaired, they are active and eating. Keeping fingers crossed that I don't kill them, lol. Anyway , once I get more familiar with discus rearing and see how big I get these guys, I'm going to order larger ones from hans, either before winter 10 or in late spring 11.

Way to go, the sponsers here do their best to ship us top quality Discus. Did you buy juvies or adults from Hans?

[Jennie]

not to get off discus but it was 101 in fort collins today. Bet the springs were nice and cool!
I'm not sure but there are probably some hobbyist breeders in Colorado to buy from. I live in the Springs and none of the LFS here have any Discus and I hope it stays that way. I had a hard time selling my last group of fry but that was years ago. You might look in the hobbyist/breeders section and see if anyone is selling here in Colorado. If not, you'd be much better off buying from one of the sponsers here than buying from a LFS. There is nothing wrong with the water here, I acclimate my new arrivals just fine without any water issues.

[KeonTheKing]

Actually Most stores are low quality there is one near my home called underwater depot that keeps about 20 3 inch discus in a 100 gallon with plants. and they are good quality and not overprice just not much variaety :/ the one in my picture i got from there.

[Naexus]

I was at a LFS today that supposedly sells Stendker discus, I saw some of the worst fish I have ever seen there. Probably out of 20 or so fish, 1 looked like it might actually survive. There is no way they had Han's fish there but were definitely trying to sell them as such.

[Jennie]

Actually Most stores are low quality there is one near my home called underwater depot that keeps about 20 3 inch discus in a 100 gallon with plants. and they are good quality and not overprice just not much variaety :/ the one in my picture i got from there.

that's a nice color. What is it called

[Jennie]

Way to go, the sponsers here do their best to ship us top quality Discus. Did you buy juvies or adults from Hans?

I bought 2 3inch juvies. blue pb and silver pb

[joanr]

Im sure you have read this but Discus do best in groups of six or more. If you get more juvies now you could QT them for a month and add them to the tank if all is well. But if you see no agression from either fish to the other you'd be ok with two, just watch out for bullying.

[Jennie]

I already have 5 other juvies. That's why I just bought the 2 from hans.

[joanr]

Oh, didn't realize that, you are ok with quantity then, have fun growing them out!