is this a wild caught?

[Dave+Amy]

hey, just wanting to know if this is a wild caught?
Also - a breeder has offered to buy him/her off me, what would be a suitable price for this Discus?

Thanks

[waitaki]

why sell it? It looks amazing!

[Dave+Amy]

have to sell due to space issues - cutting back some tank space (have 9 Discus in there altogether) and need the smaller ones to grow out, thought he/she is better going to a breeder than someone who wouldn't know how to look after Discus..

[Fishontherun]

well .. I don't know much about wild pricing .. but if you're in Sydney I would probably be happy to pay around $500 for it !!

[waitaki]

I guess that equats to at least $600 sure the cost to import them in NZ!! Have you tried any of the aquarium shops to see what they sell them for?
He/she is a beautiful fish! Oh yeah, it looks like a wild - hopefully one of the wild fish owners on the site will give their valued opinion so don't make any decisions until they confirm what you have

[Merrilyn]

Hi Dave. A wild caught fish is only a genuine "wild caught" if you can verify that it actually came from the wild. The price you paid for the fish would confirm that.

Wild caught fish are expensive because of the difficulty in actually catching the specimens, then the cost of transporting and of course the number of fish that die during the catching and shipping process. All these factors drive the price up.

Without knowing the history of this fish, my guess is that it's a cross between a brown and a heckel. My reason for this is the three very prominant bars, through the eye, the centre of the body and the caudal fin.

It's possible your fish is the offspring of wild caught parents, but I doubt very much if the fish himself was caught in the wild. Browns and heckels come from very different regions in the Amazon and would be unlikely to meet up and breed.

Whatever the ancestory of the fish, he's a very nice looking individual, and if you have a breeder interested in buying him, and you know he's going to a good home, then I would be selling him for something around the price you paid for him, I'm guessing between $100 and $200.

That's just my opinion, so I suggest you wait for comments from some other keepers of wild fish.

[Dave+Amy]

wow I definately got it for a bargain then! (it was a 2 for 1 fish sale at the local petshop - BUT no staff knew what it was, sold it to me for being a possible turq...)
People on our NZ forum thinks it's an imported wild type from a shipment over 18months ago - then I got advised to join this forum because of better knowledge

Then I guess the breeder was trying to rip me off he was implying that it wasn't worth much and saying it wasn't an attractive fish...

[waitaki]

Just as well you asked before you sold then!!
and if it was so unattractive to him, why would he want to breed from it!!

(it was a 2 for 1 fish sale at the local petshop - BUT no staff knew what it was, sold it to me for being a possible turq...)

that is soooooo funny

[Dave+Amy]

that's exactly what puzzled me - he was basically saying that he'll take it off my hands since it's nothing special...sneaky tactic!

Staff in petshops in our city are pretty much useless - can't help with fish info, or correct species or possible age. Had this guy trying to sell me electric yellows to go in my fancy guppy tank - didn't think the pH would have suited then telling me a silver shark wouldn't eat my guppies