Wild Type Discus

[fishplants]

I see why people pay in the excess of hundreds for these..really jealous...

Yeah, they are pretty awesome.

I don't get why they have to pull them out of the water for photos

I suppose it easier to get a well focussed photo, in a hurry.

[hovmoller]

So to go back to the original question..

Does no one bother with the more "plain" looking Discus around here? I mean the ones that would resemble a wild discus the most or is all that is avaliable here in NZ strains that were bred for their crazy colours?

I'm fairly new to discus have always steered around them for some reason but now have 5 in our South American community "living room tank" They are a mix of different colours (the ones my wife liked the most ) Where as I have always prefered fish that are as close to what you would be able to find in real nature as possible.

[phoenix44]

They are a high risk fish, because of NZ's extended quarantine requirements.

Those that do survive, occasionally get stunted in the process and since a high number of them die, the price per fish goes up considerably, as any scale economies associated with a larger import batch are unrealised.

Better to just have the hardier mutant fish. Well, not better, but beggars can't be choosers :lol:

[hovmoller]

They are a high risk fish, because of NZ's extended quarantine requirements.

Those that do survive, occasionally get stunted in the process and since a high number of them die, the price per fish goes up considerably, as any scale economies associated with a larger import batch are unrealised.

Better to just have the hardier mutant fish. Well, not better, but beggars can't be choosers :lol:

I agree but my question was more a repeat of the original.. Are there really no "Wild looking" commercially or privately bred discus avaliable in NZ? Is it always all about getting the most crazy variety possibly?

Isn't this a slippery slope towards ending up with something that looks like a goldfish? (bred to that extent of sillyness I mean) Sorry goldfish keepers but I will not shed a tear if I woke up tomorrow and all the goldfish had left this planet and gone home to whereever they came from

oops didn't mean to make this into an anti goldfish thread..

[phoenix44]

yeah, you get the odd wild looking / brown coloured one.

Those are usually the ones I like best - except for the hi fin blue diamonds that is.

This was one of mine before I sold her -

[reptilez]

looks like a red rose/brown?

[malevolentsparkle]

saw a nice discus at silverdale animates the other day no idea if it was a 'wild' type but it had nice clear stripes

[fishplants]

Better to just have the hardier mutant fish. Well, not better, but beggars can't be choosers :lol:

This quote probably sums it up perfectly, in the world market NZ is just a 'beggar' when it comes to fishkeeping. Wild caught Discus are relatively readily available in the US and Germany (kind of ironic given the Germans are responsible for development of some of the most famous and well known breeds ('mutants' ), there are even companies specialising in supply of wild Discus only.

A friend of mine used to keep Discus years ago in NZ, he said all that was available back then were Browns and some Blues (all wild type). If we weren't so fixated, today, on genetically altered fish and more interested in the wild form - it would be worthwhile for importers to bring these wild type fish into NZ.

There is a strong case here for demand driven supply, possibly even, slightly less of a case of supply driven demand.

Maybe one day.........

[ryanjury]

This quote probably sums it up perfectly, in the world market NZ is just a 'beggar' when it comes to fishkeeping. Wild caught Discus are relatively readily available in the US and Germany (kind of ironic given the Germans are responsible for development of some of the most famous and well known breeds ('mutants' ), there are even companies specialising in supply of wild Discus only.

A friend of mine used to keep Discus years ago in NZ, he said all that was available back then were Browns and some Blues (all wild type). If we weren't so fixated, today, on genetically altered fish and more interested in the wild form - it would be worthwhile for importers to bring these wild type fish into NZ.

There is a strong case here for demand driven supply, possibly even, slightly less of a case of supply driven demand.

Maybe one day.........

But would you pay the money required to get these wild caught fish in the country? And would an importer judge the risk (of loosing really expensive fish in quarantine) acceptable.. I mean if bog standard discus that come in end up retailing for $1-200 would you pay say $3-400 for 1 wild caught fish? Alot of it comes down to supply/demand. You also have to realise that we are small fry in the international fish market so any overseas exporter will just bump us down the list for quality fish and send the best to their big customers to keep them happy.

[hovmoller]

I don't think the question is regarding wild caught discus.. which we can all agree would be hugely expensive and a big risk for any importer.. but more about a wild strain of discus.. Bred in the hobby than would closely resemble a wild discus. As is the case for many fish in the trade.

[David R]

I don't think the question is regarding wild caught discus.. which we can all agree would be hugely expensive and a big risk for any importer.. but more about a wild strain of discus.. Bred in the hobby than would closely resemble a wild discus. As is the case for many fish in the trade.

I couldn't find anything like that for my 1400L south american tank, so I went with some of the "peru altum" (actually scalare) F1 angels. I too prefer more natural looking fish over the man made strains, with the only real exception being high grade asian aros.

[fishplants]

But would you pay the money required to get these wild caught fish in the country? And would an importer judge the risk (of loosing really expensive fish in quarantine) acceptable.. I mean if bog standard discus that come in end up retailing for $1-200 would you pay say $3-400 for 1 wild caught fish? Alot of it comes down to supply/demand. You also have to realise that we are small fry in the international fish market so any overseas exporter will just bump us down the list for quality fish and send the best to their big customers to keep them happy.

Not necessarily talking just about wild caught, I mainly use the phrase 'wild type'. These fish can be bred, albeit with a greater degree of difficulty than the man-made breeds. Look at the market on TM, there is a huge number of 'bog standard' fish available for way less than the $100-200 you mention. Browns and Blues were available in NZ once remember, and I guess there were fewer fishkeepers then than there are now.

And yes I do realise that we are 'small fry', that was the essence of my post. An importer does have the ability to ensure quality of his/her imports, BTW.

cheers

[Flosty]

You'll get throwbacks in the domestics which will resemble wild type discus

it all depends on the make up of a particular strain

e.g marlboro reds will throw a small percentage of browns

Very few strains breed true so a breeder could work with these throwbacks if he wished