Wild Caught Discus

[glstine]

I'm curious as to the thoughts of people regarding wild caught discus. The LFS around the corner from me just got some in (juvi's and adults). They are beautiful. I'm thinking about getting a pair, though I hate to advocate stripping our lakes, rivers and oceans of their wild life, but I also think, well they're already caught, somebody who has no idea of how to take care of them will probably buy them. At least I know I would do my best to care for them.

I haven't seen any discussion on this topic, so I was curious what peoples thoughts were.

[Merrilyn]

Hi Greg, my personal opinion is that wild caught discus are only for very experienced hobbyists.

They tend to arrive with a full burden of parasites, and need to be very carefully treated for all manner of worms and parasites. Remember too, they have come from pristine waters, and will need time to adapt to an aquarium situation. They are also more difficult to feed, and some of them never get used to processed foods.

Beautiful fish, but best left to the experts IMHO.

[glstine]

Good points hadn't really thought about that. Thanks

[tara]

Try this site I came across, has a bit of info about wild discus.
http://article.dphnet.com/cat-01/community.shtml