Buying Discus

[Fraoch]

So ive been looking into getting 5 discus for a while and ve been checking out where to buy them. So far the only places ive found is a shop down south but i would have to pay £45 postage on top of the discus Or a more local shop that does deilverys to my nearest city free but i wouldnt be able to choose my discus at all. Or p@h which i went to have a look at yesterday. I loved some of the colours of discus they had in and were £45 for 2. I didnt see them being fed but they had good shape and when looked head on had full rounded heads. Only problem was, there was one discus at the back dying, ripped fins and floating to the surface....? So i would prefer to buy them from p@h but not if they had caught something from the dying one but i dont have many other options

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

A wee drive for you, but the best you will get...trust me!!! http/www.wrgdiscus-edinburgh.co.uk/

 

[Fraoch]

Wow they are stunning fish! Dont think that i would be able to get down there though...

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

Wow they are stunning fish! Dont think that i would be able to get down there though...

Where in the Highlands are you? I used to live there myself, so know a few places where they have some good Discus.

 

[Fraoch]

North west coast IV21, its a hour and a half drive to Inverness so im looking around that area

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

North west coast IV21, its a hour and a half drive to Inverness so im looking around that area

Oh wow, you are right out there. The nearest place I know(and it is still going to be a 3 hour trek) is D&I in Lossie http/www.danditropicals.co.uk/ Even then I would contact them first to see what they have, or what they can get. The guys will go to the importers once a month, so you could order from them.

What I will say is that your tap water is the best Discus water outside of the Amazon! I lived near Fort Augustus and I would love to have that water again! It needs no treatment straight from the tap, it is so perfect.

 

[Fraoch]

Oh yes its a pain in the bum having to go back and fore for anything!
D and I is the one i mentioned that does free delivery to inverness and i just got some fish from them yesterday. Trouble is the parents refuse to drive all the way to lossiemouth so i have to buy the fish without seeing them
It is brillaint water but the way it gets processed is changing in a few months so i dont know what its going to be like after that, hopefully wont make too much difference
Also, how many discus do you think i could get, i was thinking 4 or 5 and 6 was maybe too many?

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

Oh yes its a pain in the bum having to go back and fore for anything!
D and I is the one i mentioned that does free delivery to inverness and i just got some fish from them yesterday. Trouble is the parents refuse to drive all the way to lossiemouth so i have to buy the fish without seeing them
It is brillaint water but the way it gets processed is changing in a few months so i dont know what its going to be like after that, hopefully wont make too much difference
Also, how many discus do you think i could get, i was thinking 4 or 5 and 6 was maybe too many?

Ask D&I to email you photos so you can choose the fish, I am sure they will.

What size tank do you have and what fish are in it just now?

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

I am dumb!

....Just saw your AquaOne 300..... sorry for the stupid question!

 

[Fraoch]

Hahah Its not actually 300L it was sold as that but its more like 240-260 liters? And i just posted whats currently planned

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

Depending on what else you have in the 300, you can happily house up to 10-12 Discus. However, you need to be well set up for easy water changes. This is the real key to having healthy happy Discus. Forget buckets and short siphons.You want an easy to do system(hose/pump, etc.) so that changing 30-50% of the water is a doddle. Mine get 30-50% every other day, and it is nice and easy. Takes 2 min to set up and it will change the water while I have my breakfast, without spilling a drop.

So, get a minimum of 6 Discus, as they like to shoal together, and it will help stop infighting.

Our lines got crossed there!........still, up to 10.

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

If you want to keep other fish with them, and this is only my opinion, they should be fish from the same wild region. Lions don't live with Polar Bears and Kangaroos don't live with elephants!

So why put fish together that really don't belong in the same water? As I said only an opinion(before I get lynched!). See what fish come from the same areas of South America as Discus....Tertras, Corys, etc. That way they will thrive in the same water and live in harmony.

 

[Fraoch]

well i have tetras,gbrs, hatchetfish and corys from the same region. I was planning only south american fish but i ended up with harlequins and glass cats aswell since they had roughly the same parameters. Would it be alright to add 2 or 3 discus every month or would this cause territorial issues? how would i go about setting up a better W/C system?

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

Yeah, a couple at a time is fine, I am guessing they will be small fish and so you wouldn't see any fighting anyway, as it won't happen until they grow up. By the time they grow big enough to sort the pecking order they should already be settled anyway.

With regard to water changing, I don't know where your tank is in situation to a water supply, but enough hose and a pump is all you need. I have some waffle about it in the first page of this journal thing: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/375715-breeding-my-discus/ Either way, you just want to make it so easy that it is not a chore

 

[Fraoch]

Thank you, ill try and set something similar up Just had a quick skip through your thread and its great, dont know that i would have the patience to keep trying with them like you did