How to choose a nice discus ? Options

[tranquility]

Wad do u guys look for ? For a newbie like me usually go for those with bright colours and smoothing to the eyes. Some discus are kinda pale looking, will they turn out to be vibrant or depends on the genes ?

[hanleong]

I am not great expert.. but I try to tell what I know

1) discus body shape... you should select those which are round bodies, high fin which scretch out open

2) full body pattern .. those with full body pattern are have higher value

3) overall healthy.. they should look very alert, the eyes are clear, they should not look darken and listless.. if they swim to you when you approach the tank, that will be good

4) make sure the tail is transparent... tails which looks red are more properly fed with hormones.. I personally would avoid them

5) try to make selection from a group of them.. within a batch some fish will eat more and grow bigger and therefore more beautiful when they grow up.. others may remain small (we call them stunned) and cannot grow... so buy from a tank where there are many fish of the same group and choose the bigger ones..don't buy a fish if that is the only one in the tank.

these are my personal experience and by no means of a great expert. do correct me if I am wrong anywhere

Hths

cheeers

[boiboi]

1.) Body shape, must be round in shape with no deform. Some ppl prefer hi fin or hi body fish so that is up to individual preference.
2.) Fin, no deform. Torn of soft fin is still acceptable cause can trim and cure but torn of hard fin will not be acceptable cause is permanent damage.
3.) Pattern, nice marking or colour but subject to personal preference also.
4.) Eye, clear and look normal. Not too big and not too small. Eye too big might be a stunt fish.
5.) Behaviour of fish, must be active and not stun looking.

After all is still up to personal preference mah...
Simon ;D ;D

[the_oracle]

It all depends on individual..
If you like bright colours, then go for it.
But if you're particular about body shape, then choose the one that looks round.

[Sindhu_Lim]

Hi,
they say "Love is Blind". As long as you kennah shiok ok lah. Sometimes there's not much to choose from and also money wise. What to do if we gila Discus.

There's only 1 LFS in Phuket that sells Discus, so whatever I see shiok-I buy. Bangkok is too far away and Penang is close by but still cost more to fly (with the trouble down South) compared to Singapore. Consider yourselves fortunate to have so many LFS in SG and farms too that DCS members can visit -not leaving out home visits to home breeders. Phew the list is long. I am drooling man

[piero]

Hi HL can I ask something. If I were to choose all the big ones from a tank. Is it possible that I end up with all males?

[Sindhu_Lim]

Hi piero,
it's been said many times that it's hard to tell the gender but if you do buy around 6, you'll definitely have some females unless you're really unlucky.

Usually the really big mature ones, you'll be able to tell with their fins as the male will have very prominent long sharp fins., Hope this helps.

Sindhu

[piero]

Yah I know that gender is hard to tell and it is advised in many books to choose 2 big, 2 medium and 2 small fishes when buying from the same tank. my worry is that if I choose all the big ones then all male how? And if I choose 2 small ones, what if they are actually stunted fishes...? And I think matured female also have long sharp fins for some of my fishes, hard to tell unless they spawn...

[Sindhu_Lim]

well, you learn as you go. Just sit in front of the tank and just watch the fishes. Take your time and the one you like -buy. You gave to be calm though and not get excited. Have to take a gamble once in a while.

BEst of luck.

[chongtk]

which part is the thick fin

[Terence Chia]

which part is the thick fin

What do you mean by hard fin?? Do you mean the rays??

[Mike Sun]

It is good to see an old thread .....from 2004! coming up for discussion! The topic is still as relevant today.... so please put in your imputs!

[Terence Chia]

Discus is a never ending learning cycle. Same goes for the threads here, they maybe posted ages ago, but still as relevant till today.

[PH_Chin]

Most importantly we need to look at the proportion of the eyes compared to the body size, regardless of nice colour or nice patters and so on.

If the eyes are big, it is a stunted fishes and there is no point for us to buy it unless we want to put it to other use like in a planted tank for example.

[abhi9]

Hello,

For a newbie who want to buy 2" juveinil Discus what should be criteria to buy goo Discus ?

From above mentioned advice following points are selected. Please let me know from the Guru's any other valid points.

Like :

1) Body shape, must be round in shape with no deform.

2) No deform fin.

3) Overall healthy.. they should look very alert, the eyes are clear, they should not look darken and listless..
if they swim to you when you approach the tank, that will be good

4) Make sure the tail is transparent... tails which looks red are more properly fed with hormones.

5) Ttry to make selection from a group of them.. so buy from a tank where there are many fish of the same group and
choose the bigger ones..don't buy a fish if that is the only one in the tank.

Note : About pattern in 2" size discus I think very difficult to select until they fed with hormones.


Thanks in advance

Abhi