selecting discus by April Ross

heres a great link to nada..it shows different strains of discus. written by a good friend of mine..carol roberts who was the original president of nada .
http://www.discusnada.org/discus/classification.html

nada stands for north american discus association.
note: these pics were given to nada and have rights to them. not to be copied.
also heres a link to the nada show a couple of weeks ago with some excellent fish .http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...t=80397&page=4 high quality. great eye to body ratio. there should be 7 eye heights between the top of their head and the chin..otherwise runted. small pointy head ..big eyes..you wont get growth. some of these pics of the show fish are good examples of quality healthy fish. should have full stomachs..not concave. clean fins..no raggey edges..no white on fins..and bright eyes. dark eyes..ragged fins..means illness. internal issues.
another great post on selecting and "seeing"discus.

http://www.aquariumhobbyist.com/disc...ner/index.html he has great illustrations of ill or poor quality discus for educating people.
alot of people (beginners) cant see past the colours. also very small young discus 2 inches should not have full colour . if small and fully coloured..then hormoned. hormoned discus end up with liver damage..stress and bang..they crash. one giveaway is colour in the tails.
article by beta of india below.
The King of Aquarium fishes is an easy fish to keep in the home aquarium if some simple tips are followed and proper selection is the first step to success with discus.

Below are some general tips on how to select good discus:
1. The first step is to observe the discus in your dealer’s tank, make sure that they are active, curious and are not hiding in the corners. Discus which are stressed or sick turn dark.(With the exception of Pigeonbloods, Ghosts, Snow Whites and Goldens)
2. Check for sick or dying fishes in the tank, if so then avoid picking fishes from the tank.
3. Presence of medication in the tank might mean the discus are sick, recovering from a disease outbreak or in quarantine.
4. Check for wounds and lesions on the body.
5. Make sure that the gill plates are not short or deformed, they should cover the gills completely. Lookout for heavy breathing too.
7. Avoid fishes with deformities of the spine.
8. The discus should swim in an upright position fishes which struggle to do so could be suffering from swim bladder problems or other such ailments.
9. Give a thorough check to see if there any external parasites attached to the body of the discus.
10. Ask the dealer to feed the discus and observe if they are having a healthy appetite. Make sure that the discus were not raised on Tubifex worms as food.
11. Observe the feces of the discus. It should not be stringy or white in colour.
12. Avoid discus with bellies which look thin or sunken, if so this is could be due to long periods of starvations or presence of internal parasites. The same criteria applies to foreheads, a healthy discus would have a broad forehead.
13. Avoid picking from tanks in which discus have peeling slime coat or the slime coat is absent.
14. Ensure that the eye is not too big in proportion to the body. Large eyes could mean that the discus is stunted.
15. The discus should have a round shape and should not be triangular or elongated.
16. Lookout for hormone treated fish which have adult coloration in the juvenile stage. Juveniles with coloration on their caudal fins and on the tip of their noses are signs of hormone treatment.
17. Avoid discus which keep their fins clamped or are whitish and frayed.

Some tips which are strain specific:
Blue Diamonds: They shouldn’t show any stress bars on the body or along the eye.
Pigeon Bloods: Avoid Pigeon Bloods with a lot of black specks on the body (peppering) they can be pretty unsightly.
Turquoise: They are generally late colouring. 2 inch juveniles with adult patterns usually mean that they are stunted.

Some more tips after you bring your discus home

 Always quarantine your new discus.
 Avoid Mixing discus which were bought from different sources to avoid disease transfer.
 Do not feed Tubifex worms!
 Young discus need to be fed several times a day to maintain good growth.
 Regular water changes help in keeping your discus healthy.
 Avoid shotgun treatment for medicating your discus.

a picture of a round discus. good eye to body ratio.

There are lower priced discus but basically..a 20.00 discus will be a bad investment in the long run. you start with low grade and poor quality..you have a bad experience..then the old saying comes into play once again.."discus are hard to keep". they arent hard to keep if you start with healthy stock and look after your water quality. starting with a pointy triangle shaped big eyed discus , hollow stomach, dark eyes, etc..you will fail..as the fish is already complimised.