Discus Basics >
Discus 103: Buying Discus by Willie Loh

The first time I ever kept discus was in the 1960's in New York City.  I found a fish store in Brooklyn that advertised young brown discus.  Getting there was a 90-minute subway ride and a whole new world for a boy from Queens.  The fish cost an astronomical $20.00 a piece and lasted about three month in my tank.  This is the last of a series of three articles on raising and breeding discus.  The article will focus on buying discus. 

Buying Discus

In the past decade, discus have become widely available.  Beside the local fish store, there are many other sources available to the aquarists.  Many hobbyists and hatcheries have their own website.  Fish clubs have regular auctions where discus are available.  Today, international fish farms have websites featuring their proprietary strains. 

As a frequent business traveler, I have the opportunity to visit fish stores around the country.  The quality of discus is mixed and reflects the knowledge of the individual fish storeowner.  Discus require warm water and frequent feedings, conditions that most fish stores cannot provide.  High quality discus will occasionally appear in fish stores and certain knowledgeable storeowners do an excellent job.   

There are also a number of discus hatcheries and importers that advertise on the Internet.  Wide ranges of prices are available.  Some will sell 1" - 1½" fish for $25, while others sell similar size fish for $80 - $95.  I have visited many of them in the U.S. and most have high quality fish.  The price they charge for discus is usually an accurate reflection of quality.  I prefer sites that specify that the pictures are of their own fish and particularly like sites that show fish spawning.  These breeders rely primarily on their trade reputation for sales.  Aquarists should always check with fellow surfers before ordering from websites they do not know personally.   

For the beginner, and for most aquarists, a local breeder is the best source.  You can visit a local breeder, see the fish room/hatchery, inspect the parents and ask advice.  The tap water quality is well known and the local breeder will be a source of continuing advice.  Not only can you ascertain the quality of the fish and the cleanliness of the room, but you can also get a great deal of advice for free.  Some breeders will even exchange sponges with you for cycling and provide you with starter food for the discus.   

The past 20 years have seen a tremendous proliferation of new strains, mostly developed in Asia.  For years, the Red Turquoise and Cobalt types formed the basis of commercial discus.  The highest quality fish came from Europe, with the best-known breeders centered in Germany.  Asian breeders have come to dominate the trade with new strains, including the Pigeon Blood, the Blue Diamond, the Marlboro Red and the various Snakeskin types. 

From these distinctly new color forms, an even wilder profusion of intermediate forms have been developed.  These include Red Diamonds, Golden Sunrise, White Dragons, Red Pandas, etc.  Very recently, crossing wild caught Red Spotted Greens with more colorful commercial types has produced the magnificent Leopard discus.  There are no set rules for naming discus strains, so it’s important to see the fish before buying.  For example, Blue Diamonds have no patterns on the body, not even on the gill plate.   While spots characterize Red Diamonds.  White Butterflies are actually very light blue Pigeon Bloods.   

The Asians have become successful by taking advantage of their environment.  In Malaysia, for example, the weather allows discus to be grown outdoors in concrete tanks.  Tap water is not chlorinated so 200% - 300% daily water changes are easy to accomplish.  Live food is also readily available.  Thus, a single generation for an Asian breeder can be as short as 10 months.  He/she can grow out 100 fish from each cross and select the best one for the next set of crosses.  In contrast, the typical German breeder is working out of a 3-bedroom apartment, relying on 100% R/O to reduce pesticide contamination.  Today, all the major hatcheries source their breeding material from Asia.  Most Asian breeders, in turn, source their breeding material from Malaysia. 

Unlike the older Turquoise and Cobalt types, the newer strains do not breed true at first.  The early Blue Diamond discus produced a proliferation of blue types – of which only a percentage were true Blue Diamonds.  Newer generation Blue Diamonds, in contrast, produce 100% true Blue Diamonds.  Due to multiple generations of line breeding, the new strains are often smaller than established varieties.  The Turquoise and Cobalt types can be readily crossed back to wild discus to add vigor.  Doing the same with Blue Diamonds, in contrast, will require many generations of backcrossing to clean out all the stripes.  In general, the more expensive the fish, the less likely that it will breed true. 

In the past five years, a number of discus enthusiasts have accused Asian breeders of sabotaging imported fish.  These stories range from adding hormones to increase color, to sterilizing the fish with radiation, even to export diseased fish.  With the exception of hormone treatment, the rest of the stories have all been disproved.  Hormone treatment exists and the practice reflects market demand for these types of fish.  Colorful 1½" - 2" discus that almost glow in the dark, particularly with color around the head region, are usually hormoned.  Other fish are fed with highly pigmented live food, such as prawn eggs.  These fish will usually keep their color, but their progeny will not unless fed with the same type of food. 

When buying discus, price considerations must be weighed against fish size.  Young discus, < 1" body length, are very sensitive to water changes and have poor survival rates.  I try to buy fish that are at least 1½” in body length, 2" including the tail fin.  Although small fish are the most inexpensive, buying larger fish is far more cost effective.  For example, buying four 3" young adults at $60 each provides a much better chance of producing one breeding pair than six 1½” juveniles at $25 a piece.  Not only will larger fish have better survival rates, you can select for color and body shape more effectively.  You only have to wait half as long before they reach sexual maturity.  The difference in price is far less than your cost to raise these fish. 

I have often been asked about arranging to import discus directly from Asia.  While commercial breeders routinely import discus from Asian hatcheries, the local aquarist cannot take advantage of direct shipments.  High quality discus from Asia is extremely expensive.  A typical 3" fish, for example, a Leopard Snakeskin or a Mandarin Passion, can cost $100 - $150 each.  A pair of Gold Diamonds with intense red spots, when available, can cost $7,000 to $10,000.  Asians take their hobby very seriously and Asian breeders, like all businessmen, reserve their highest quality products for their best and oldest customers.  Cheap discus advertise on the Internet are often culls.  There is no such thing as cheap AND high quality discus, from anywhere.