Expensive Discus

[dismantle me]

The other day i went to one of the several fish shopping centers I find myself goning to a lot and saw a tank with a few 3 inch discus. So I thought to myself "They would make a lovely addition to my fish tank," then, I saw the price. $30! For a 3 inch fish. Is it a rip off or are discus just expensive?

[kikuchiyo]

Discus are often called the king of freshwater fish. They grow large (the ones you saw were very young), visually impressive, and they require somewhat specalized conditions to raise (they don't like any toxins, so some discus owners do two water changes a day and they like it warm, 85 at least - though discus owners I know say they're easy to take care of after that) and they are very shy. They are also parental cichlids who pair up and take care of young. Add to that the number of rare color morphs and they can get super expensive. Larger fish, rarer colors equal a higher price.

Be very happy you didn't buy them on a whim.

If you check aquabid, I would think 30 is low end. It takes a bit of work to grow those small ones into the really big impressive fish (usually done in a BBA to keep the gunk to minimum).

http://home.online.no/~grolfsne/bilder/discus%20gruppe.jpg

[Watcher74]

Right, Discus are not a good idea to pick for "additions". This is a fish that you build a tank around. Usually as a species only tank.

Not the sort of fish you throw into a community tank.

[chkltcow]

$30 is way cheap. Yesterday I hit 2 pet stores while I was out... Petsmart being one of them. PS had decent sized ones for $49 and the LFS I hit had them at $65 or $100 for the pair they had. One pet store I saw even had them at $99 each.

[125gJoe]

We got ours online since there were no decent Discus to be found at any fish store in this area (central Florida).

$30 per Discus is a good price for a nice looking fish....

http://pic10.picturetrail.com/VOL332/715239/1597696/46472364.jpg
http://pic10.picturetrail.com/VOL332/715239/1597696/46472389.jpg
http://pic10.picturetrail.com/VOL332/715239/1597696/46472181.jpg

[PumaWard]

$30 is cheap...

Most online breeders charge $30-45 for a 3 inch fish depending on the strain... then you're looking at a $60 shipping fee: minimum, usually it's more in the $75-80 range.

However, they are better, healthier fish than most LFS's have. Most LFS's get culls from asia, and the fish are often stunted or color injected.

[anonapersona]

I am growing out discus now. I feed 4x/day, twice is a hand made beef and seafood mix with expensive vitamins added. I clean the bottom of the tank 2x/day and change water daily. I can't go on vacation and I can't leave the house for too long unless someone else will feed them. It is a lot of work.

To anyone in Houston, I will be selling some young discus, red turquoise, in about a month when they reach 3" and have more color. Some have good splashes of blue now, but I want to see them all coloring well before I let any go. PM me if you want to see them when it is time.

[PumaWard]

Anonapersona,

Do you have any pictures of your young red turqs. I have a young discus who seems to have striations coming out (not many though) and I am trying to figure out what strain he is.

[anonapersona]

I don't have any photos yet, I'm still waiting to see exactly what they are as well.

For red turks, they have gotten color rather soon, perhaps the high krill content food (NLS growth) has something to do with that.

Some (25%) are silver with black stress bars and both blue and green starting in the fins. Some (50%) have turned golden with black bars, some others (25%) are golden with blue speckles all over-- lines on top and spots on bottom. One of the biggest has a high body and is deep tobacco brown with blue speckles and a deep deep burgundy starting in the fins. I am amazed at the variety.

The parents are both red turks and one has a faint heckel bar. Most of the fish have broken or y stress bars here and there. The prior generation is unknown.

I wonder if some will be a throwback to the grandparent colors, and what that might be. I do not know if the ones going blue with green might be something other than red turks. I wonder if there is some wild brown in the parentage, for the golden and brown color is a surprise to me (maybe that is normal but no one has mentioned that!)

For now, the colors are faint and I am terrible at taking photos of fish, can't seem to get the camera to snap when the fish is in the right spot.

I am a novice at this, so I read and study and wonder a lot!

There are photo sections at SimplyDiscus and DAAH that might help you discover a style/strain for your fish.

[MyShrimpDied]

The discus at my LFS are $75 a pop.

~ MyShrimpDied

[superjohnny]

There's a store near me called thriving discus (www.thrivingdiscus.com I believe) and they have some truly amazing discus. They have 1 pair of very large adult discus for sale for $450 I believe. Beaverton is lucky to have a shop like this. I really wish I was into these fish, but I just can't seem to get myself to do it. You really need to invest $4-500 on a good tank, pumps, RO/DI unit, filters etc to do it right. Not for me right now unfortunately. And the daily waterchanges, constant feedings, specialized food etc etc etc.

[N8DOGG]

3" discus for $30 is about what I see for 2" ones by me so its a good price if you can provide there own tank and keep the quality of the wat great. I'd like to get some but I don't have the money or time .........i may in a while ........
N8

[125gJoe]

'Daily' water changes are not needed....

[anonapersona]

Originally posted by superjohnny
There's a store near me called thriving discus (www.thrivingdiscus.com I believe) and they have some truly amazing discus. They have 1 pair of very large adult discus for sale for $450 I believe. Beaverton is lucky to have a shop like this. I really wish I was into these fish, but I just can't seem to get myself to do it. You really need to invest $4-500 on a good tank, pumps, RO/DI unit, filters etc to do it right. Not for me right now unfortunately. And the daily waterchanges, constant feedings, specialized food etc etc etc.

Nonsense! 10 to 15 gallons per fish, enough water storage to age water for good water changes of 25% or more. You don't need RO unless you want to breed or your water is not fit to drink, and that is a whole 'nother thing! Cheap air driven sponge filters are fine. Heaters are critical.

But, the hand made food and daily water changes are a real thing for juveniles, all that will slow down for adults.

You can buy juveniles for $10 to $20 in small sizes, shipping is $75 though unless you can pick up from a breeder.

What state are you in? I can help you find a local breeder, or go to the discus forums to see who is local to you.

If you are interested in discus, hang out at the discus forums and get a feel for what is involved. I took the plunge when I could see a good 5 months available to raise babies from $5 size to $50 adults.

[dismantle me]

I dont have much money right now. I am going to save up until I have more money to get Discus.

[125gJoe]

Originally posted by dismantle me
.... ... I am going to save up until I have more money to get Discus. Great!

Do some research on these fish. They do need a little more care than some others - especially clean water and warm water. A large aquarium is best for them.

SimplyDiscus.com may help you with more info on Discus...

[NikkO]

$30 is a lot better than one of my lfs, who sells them for $50. But for $35 on Aquabid, I was able to get 4 turq dragons that were 2". I just won the auction, so I'll be picking them up soon.:D Also, I am currently bidding $54 on the same size discus, but different types and 6 of them. Hopefully after a year or two(maybe less), I will be able to breed them for money :). If you were to buy them on aquabid, try going for the nearest seller so that you can save on shipping.

[delmore]

You don't need ro water to keep discus.
Heater, sponge filter, and yer good to go.
You don't even need gravel -- and to grow out fish are much better off without it.

The most significant cost is your time!

To do it right, you'll be doing 50% water changes 4 to seven days a week.

[Aquatick]

My suggestion is to read through as much info as possible and come up with what you think is needed and not needed. Somethings work for some people and not for others. You could do a sponge filter setup, but that would look like *** and destroy the purpose of putting them on display. Yes, some breeders do that....but they are breedng them.... Make sure you can keep them alive before you move on to the breeding part. ;)

[PumaWard]

My suggestion is to read through as much info as possible and come up with what you think is needed and not needed.

I agree to an extent. Some things are a matter of life or death of the fish, others are truly preference. Be wary of the source... many sites spew false info on discus care and discourage many from even thinking about them.

I agree, that sponge filters are ugly, and I would only use one in a breeder/grow out tank. Other wise, less obvious filters that are suitable (I don't believe that UGF filters are appropriate for discus... but I'm not sure where I read it or if it is true). I like HOB filters, but others work just as well or better.

[125gJoe]

I agree to an extent. Some things are a matter of life or death of the fish, others are truly preference......I like HOB filters, but others work just as well or better.For me, the only filtration to use is a closed system like canister filters provide. If I didn't have live plants I'd most likely go with a combination of HOB and canister.. HTH