Black discus [Archive] - Discus Forums

mcloughlin2

Sun Aug 28, 2005, 09:54 AM

I went to a fishshop today to buy my first discus...yipeee...and there was a black discus.... :shock:

I think this was a extremely heavily peppered discus as it had a brownish colour visible under the black on one side...i was wondering if it would be possible to breed this fish with another heavily peppered discus and try to create a HEALTHY black discus...it had clear blood red eyes aswell and looked to be in good health.. :wink:

By the way i bought four discus but im not to sure on the varieties..i think i have a red turquose, 2 blue turquose's and a brown...i will post some pics wen they stop hiding and show there true colours so u guyz can identify them for me... :D

Merrilyn

Sun Aug 28, 2005, 10:58 AM

Love to see a picture of that brown/black discus.

Any chance you might be going back there sometime soon :D

nicholas76

Sun Aug 28, 2005, 01:57 PM

Black discus??

I've seen pictures of half moons but highly unlikely to be found in the local fish store.

black discus usually means = sick as a dog and on the way out

post a pic if you can get one, but be very cautious about buying this one.

Ben

Sun Aug 28, 2005, 02:41 PM

mcloughlin2

I agree with Nicks post, if a discus is black this is not a good sign.
Its health could be seriously in trouble.

I believe there are no colour types of discus with full black pigment through out the whole body.

The book, Penang Discus" has a picture of a heavily peppered discus.

Still far from black though.

If possible a picture would be great if you get the opportunity.

Cheers,
Ben

mcloughlin2

Sun Aug 28, 2005, 09:53 PM

I might be able to go back there this weekend...it didnt look sick...it was swimming around with bright clear red eyes and didnt have that black look sick discus do, it had as i said a peppered look.... :)

It was also nice and fat so i think that this discus could be a healthy discus with alot of black pigment in it..... :o

They were selling it as a brown discus but they dont really noe different discus varieties coz they couldnt make there mind up.... :wink:

oscar

Tue Aug 30, 2005, 08:44 AM

I have seen a black discus in a run of the mill pet store up north here. It's black as the ace of spades, and i don't recall any patterning (comparing agains the ones in pics above) It looked a little on the thin side but has been in one of their tanks for months. It's probably 3.5-4 inches in diameter.

I've never really paid too much attention to the thing because as you all said, the automatic assumption is black=sick.

I'll try and sneak a pic next time i'm in there. Probably have to do it with my phone as i don't want to look like a moron in a pet shop with the digital camera out.

nicholas76

Mon Sep 05, 2005, 10:05 AM

any luck oscar? with the pics??

was the same fish still there???

mcloughlin2

Mon Sep 05, 2005, 10:12 AM

Im stiil trying to get pics of my discus up.....as soon as i got it figured out i will try to get some pics of the black discus i saw... :D

Merrilyn

Mon Sep 05, 2005, 10:36 AM

Sam, check out the "how to" instructions in the photo thread. Proteus has written quite a good article on posting pics. You should find it very helpful.

oscar

Mon Sep 05, 2005, 07:55 PM

Nicholas,

The pet store i mentioned is in a city 400km from where i live. I didn't go there on the weekend! But seriously, my other business is in that city and i intend to go up there later this week, if not it will definitely be next week.

Promise will post pics when i get there (that's assuming it is still there).

nicholas76

Mon Sep 05, 2005, 08:57 PM

400 km?? :shock:

dont stress mate !!! its all ok no need to get it

oscar

Wed Sep 14, 2005, 09:21 PM

Well,

Went to that fish store yesterday. The Black discus is still there but terribly thin.

I don't know if the blackness is linked to a long term, slow acting illness, or of the thinnes is attributed to the quality of keeping of the fish as they are all quite thin.

Anyhow, i didn't take a photo because the sight is pretty depressing and didn't think anyone really wanted to see it.

nicholas76

Thu Sep 15, 2005, 08:41 AM

HI Oscar

dibs on it being a sick as a dog discus!! hehehe

thanks for the update

rytis

Thu Sep 15, 2005, 09:49 PM

nicholas76

Fri Sep 16, 2005, 06:03 AM

black discus usually means = sick as a dog and on the way out

post a pic if you can get one, but be very cautious about buying this one.
i have one almost black (little brown), but healthy. the one in lower right, actually it looks more brown here, depending on lighting i guess
here are the pics i took yesterday of all but one of my discus

Rytis

without alarming you too much the one you refer to should NOT be Black.

nicholas76

Sat Sep 17, 2005, 05:31 AM

Rytis i wasnt going to mention this as I didnt want to sound heavy handed or to look critical as you havent asked for my opiniong however.

your fish appear to be way too thin and skinny.

the size of the eye indicates theat they are also stunted.

You mention in another post that you feed less to discourage aggression however what i have mentioned above is a direct result of not feeding enough.

rytis

Sat Sep 17, 2005, 09:16 PM

actually ive been feeding them about 10 times a day, and some are smaller, but i editet all to same size. smaller ones i got in second shipment. but ive been feeding them frozen blood worms and live mosquito larva mostly. but now just today i started chicken liver or heart, not sure. they seem to like it, so i am making it into cubes for future....

nicholas76

Sat Sep 17, 2005, 11:57 PM

if your making your own mix, add a tea spoon of spirulina .

1kg - 1 tea spoon

that way you are giving them a heap of vitamens as well as the protein boost.

good luck

rytis

Sun Sep 18, 2005, 06:08 PM

mcloughlin2

Sun Sep 18, 2005, 09:24 PM

If u can get some pics face on so we can tell if he is fat and healthy that would be great.....wat sort of discus is it??? It doesnt look happy....

Sam

oscar

Sun Sep 18, 2005, 09:28 PM

OK i don't know everything about discus, but what i do know is that i'd be aking a set of water parameter readings and posting all the relevant info you have so someone more informed than myself can tell you what to do to help that fish.

It's not happy.

nicholas76

Mon Sep 19, 2005, 06:07 AM

your fish should be blue.

a blue turq but ill need another few pics to confirm.

oscar

Mon Sep 19, 2005, 06:34 AM

Going by the anal fin markings on your black discus, that is the guy from the pics 2nd from top on the RHS of your compilation?

That's a little dramatic change for 4 or so days.

BTW - He looked pretty thin in the first image.

rytis

Tue Sep 20, 2005, 10:57 PM

:D
my black discus is happy and healthy. and yes fat after feedings, but i don't think u can ever feed these fishes enough - they keep staring at me as long as i am in the room

Merrilyn

Wed Sep 21, 2005, 03:40 AM

If your fish is swimming normally and eating well, with normal droppings, then he sounds like he's fine.

Perhaps he just has deep blue colouration, that is unique to him.

Keep and eye on him; if you're at all worried, then let us know.

rytis

Wed Sep 21, 2005, 10:57 AM

i will. so far he's fighting for his food if needed, has perfect shape, bright eyes, and does not let anyone push him around....

rytis

Sat Sep 24, 2005, 10:30 PM

update on my dark discus: he's fat after feedings, and sometimes changes color in front of my eyes becomes lighter, but usually when he gets scared. other then that stays dark and looks super healthy.

If u can get some pics face on so we can tell if he is fat and healthy that would be great.....wat sort of discus is it??? It doesnt look happy....

Sam
can you post a picture of a discus that does look happy? like a smiling one or whatever, coz im not sure how to know a happy discus

mcloughlin2

Sat Sep 24, 2005, 11:32 PM

By looking at a discus front on u can tell if it is nice and fat.... :D...but if it is eating well then it may just be a unique colour like ladyred said.... :)

nicholas76

Sun Sep 25, 2005, 08:10 AM

unique colour??

umm highly unlikely .

its nice if its eating though thats a positive sign,

rytis post up your water parameters. i bet they are out by a bit, if we change this that fish will return to its intended colour.

rytis

Tue Sep 27, 2005, 07:52 PM

update on my black discus: unfortunately he's become brown with black stripes, much nicer in a decorative way, but not that unique black color.

nicholas76

Tue Sep 27, 2005, 09:51 PM

great news.

now to help him further and lose those stress bars.

rytis

Wed Sep 28, 2005, 02:13 AM

trust me nicholas, it wasnt sick black, just a very dark strain. it kinda changes with the mood, and it looks very healthy either way...

nicholas76

Thu Sep 29, 2005, 08:01 AM

rytis,

no point in arguing with you over if your fish is sick or not, at the end of the day its your fish and i hope it does well for you.

however this strain simply Does NOT have variations of darkness or black.

when a fish darkens and or produces stress bars it is usually a tell tail sign that an issue exists thats why i asked for your water parameters before.

enough of that ,,,, by the way your tank looks awsum how big is it?

rytis

Thu Sep 29, 2005, 10:22 AM

thanx. it's 265g

rytis

Tue Oct 04, 2005, 07:51 PM

update on my black discus. well, u may find it hard to believe,but it looked greysh/green just now. but by the time i took out my camera and zoomed in on it, the stripes appeared and it changed to greysh brown. this fish changes colors and fast.

rytis

Wed Oct 19, 2005, 02:09 AM

update on my "black discus"

ok here's how it was a month ago looked healthy
http://vytasornamental.net/black%20discus.jpg

here it is now: with another and final discus i bought yesterday. the one in front is/was black:

Benny

Wed Oct 19, 2005, 03:54 AM

My turqs did that once, and they ate healthily etc.....

Turned out to be some sort of fungus on their scales, i added salt and put the temperature up, and voila they went back to a normal colour...

Darkness aing normally a good sign, but he looks alot better in the recent pic

DiscusMan

Thu Oct 20, 2005, 09:22 AM

my opinion on this would be that certain fish are a lot more sensitve to water conditions. Blue diamonds are the most common. If your blue diamonds go darker in colour its a sign that things are not 100% right. It doesnt mean that yoru fish are dieing but simply that the conditions may not be optimal.

Fish taht arent in optimal conditions will live but will they flourish, probably not, when conditions are brought back to something they prefer they will get there normal colouration back again.

I would ask that the next time you fish changes colour that you do post your params for us jsut for interest sake. And if your fish is looking good now then also get the paramaters now.

Wayne

nicholas76

Sat Oct 22, 2005, 03:01 PM

rytis

hows that fish going ?

any signs of illness ? has it maintained its proper colour now or is it still swinging to black?

rytis

Sat Oct 22, 2005, 03:04 PM

rytis

hows that fish going ?

any signs of illness ? has it maintained its proper colour now or is it still swinging to black?
it's the one i suspect of kiling my neons. it looks good, the one in front:

http://www.discusforums.com/forum/files/redblue_w_grey_snake.jpg