dwayne.aycock
Aquarium Advice Freak
I was out on Saturday when I decided to drop by my LFS for a few items (carbon, filter media, ball valves etc). They have always had a very impressive Discus display tank with some of the most beautiful fish and plants I had ever seen. I had always dreamed of having such a nice setup someday. To my surprise, I went to look at the Discus display as was my usual habit only to discover none in the display / show tanks as well as none in the stock tanks either. I asked "where are the Discus?" The guy working that part of the store said with a rather embarrassed look on his face..." one of our employees put Koi Angels in with our Discus fish." Discus 101 says NEVER put Discus and Angels together for a number of reasons. All of the Discus were sick (about 40 of them) and taken off display. They were all in hospital displays in the back of the store as well as the Angels. The total retail cost to the store was somewhere in the neighborhood of 4-5 Thousand Dollars (when I include treatment meds, lost revenue, tank, biological, chemical and mechanical filtration for the entire Amazon line up. The same person used the same nets, filters, pumps, buckets...the list goes on and on. As a result, the store is selling their entire Discus which they know to be sick or at least infectious at 50% off on 27 May. After they sell the remaining fish...they are no longer going to sell Discus because of (demanding care requirements, water requirements, overhead and finally cost as Discus don't sell as quickly as compared to neons or goldfish) return on investment VS Profit. Shame for the fish as well as the unsuspecting aquarist that may have just purchased a ticking bomb. I asked what happened to the bumbling employee....to which the answer was "he no longer works here." LOL was my first reaction....followed by pity for the sick fish and the store owner who just lost his shorts. Anyone looking for healthy discus from a reputable Discus only breeder give me a jingle...I have about 24 from the same breeder and they are ALL doing great.
Dwayne
Dwayne