January 6, 201016 yr comment_347746 Can anybody tell me a main difference between a blue/red turquoise and a checkerboard discus? I bought some young ones and got told the mother was a red turq and father was a blue turq. they both looked the same to me just varied in pattern a bit. the young ones i just assumed were turqs but could not help but wonder if they actually were then someone else said they look a lot like checkerboards. Im not sure if the black bars have anything to do with telling them apart or not but these ones have 5 or 6 bars when they decide to show them. I will get some pics tomorrow and put them up. I would really like to know exactly what kind they are. Report
January 7, 201016 yr comment_347912 According to liveaquaria.com : red turks are blue/red and checkerboards are green/red. Report
January 7, 201016 yr comment_347932 I am no expert on Discus, but I used to keep some and I believe that 8 is the minimum number of bars that a discus can have (unless they are 'negative' and the bars are not visible at all). If the fish has more or less than 9 bars (including the head and base of the caudal fin) then it is most likely an S. haraldi - what is commonly called the brown (or blue) discus. They can have 8 to 16 bars and a multitude of colour variations. The checkerboards have full horizontal colour lines in addition to the 16 bars (this is what gives them the checkerboard appearance). If the fish has exactly 9 bars, it could be a Heckel or a green discus in which case additional rules apply! That's about as much as I know and who knows if it is still correct :-? (someone correct me if I am miserably wrong!). Might help to post a pic. HTH Report
January 7, 201016 yr Author comment_347946 Ok here are the photo's of the discus. any ideas peoples? :roll: all are nice and healthy, eating well and all are for sale. Report
January 7, 201016 yr comment_347954 ah what does it matter what they are called, they're all hybrids. nice fish 8) Report
January 8, 201016 yr comment_348022 They are to young to tell what they will eventually be. They may look like checkerboards at the moment but as they grow all the dots will more than likely join together to form striations. Its really impossible to tell without seeing the parents. If the parents are as stated then they are blue turq x red turq cross Its quite possible that as they mature they could be more either one or the other. A red turq has a red base colour with blue striations A turquoise or blue turq would blue stripe/striations over a brown base but would definately look more blue Report
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.