Discus In Distress!!! Emergency!!!

[ThePetPavilion]

I went to the pet store and I was looking in the Mystery Snail tank that has a few other fish in it. It is like 30g. And I did a double take, I was looking at the tank, I thought I saw an eyeball right as I looked away, I looked back and there was a huge discus sitting slightly sideways, he was a very dark blue discus and he was right next to a dark blue ornament. He looked very sick when I saw him, I have never seen a discus at the pet store before. I feel really bad for him. What should I do?????

 

[Lucyn]

Normally you should get Discus from a trusted source, because half the time chain store Discus are genetically unhealthy and are more sensitive and prone to sickness. I'd just bother to ask if it's being treated, and if not I'd ask why. If you were to buy the Discus and try and do something yourself, it'd probably just die from the stress of being sick on top of being transported to your home. It sucks but most pet stores don't really care about the fish, just how much moneys in their wallet at the end of the day Also Juveniles would be fine in a 30, I've done it countless times, but an adult should be in a 55 MINIMUM. I see a lot of cases like that at Petco's, Petsmart's I go to, it's sad.

 

[ThePetPavilion]

It was already like 4-5 inches.

 

[Lucyn]

It was already like 4-5 inches.

Hmmm I'd say that tank size is fine for that size, as long as it's only temporary, month maximum in my personal opinion. As long as large water changes are being done everyday.

 

[ThePetPavilion]

Okay, I will ask them, if he is still there. I was thinking maybe someone ordered him special.

 

[coralbandit]

When you buy an already sick fish do you accept you threw your money out when it dies ?
The only rescue that happens is the stores bank account ..They love selling you meds they were not using for free !
After you buy it another sick one will take its place ..
Who is supposed to buy it ? I prefer healthy fish myself ..
Maybe all the rescues is why it is so hard to find good fish now a days ?
I would leave it where it is and do research and find a good source before you get into discus..
There is a good group here on this form that has recently all got discus ..None started with sick ones on purpose ..

 

[fishfanman]

Do not buy from a pet store and never buy a sick discus, especially if you have no experience in keeping discus.

 

[angelcraze]

I feel so bad for the fish in distress at the pet stores, but bringing in sick fish brings the chance of cross contamination to your own healthy stock. Not saying you can do it, but I feel it is a risk most fishkeepers are not prepared to deal with. I would let the store know, hopefully they can medicate or nurse the poor discus to health, but often times, efforts are futile when the fish is like that honestly. Best you can do IMO though. They might not do anything, but it's worth a shot.

 

[nikm128]

I would leave it there as hard as it would be, I honestly doubt it'l last another day or two, especially if it's gotten super dark and is laying on its side

 

[tiffani]

Normally you should get Discus from a trusted source, because half the time chain store Discus are genetically unhealthy and are more sensitive and prone to sickness. I'd just bother to ask if it's being treated, and if not I'd ask why. If you were to buy the Discus and try and do something yourself, it'd probably just die from the stress of being sick on top of being transported to your home. It sucks but most pet stores don't really care about the fish, just how much moneys in their wallet at the end of the day Also Juveniles would be fine in a 30, I've done it countless times, but an adult should be in a 55 MINIMUM. I see a lot of cases like that at Petco's, Petsmart's I go to, it's sad.

Its possible too that private breeders/fish farms can also sell you culled & sickly fish, they do not only come from pet stores. Personally, I worked for private pet store for 3 years many years ago & they do lose money when fish shipments dies in the store, because some suppliers only credits/refunds for DOA fish. So, it wouldn’t benefit them to kill fish their trying to sell & make a profit on they’ve only had a week or two in the store. The store is losing money.
Personally, I had the opportunity to learn how to run a store & a ton about the hobby, saltwater & freshwater in that environment. Maybe Private people are also breeding fish to make a profit as well, and may sell overpriced sickly fish to people.
Personally, if I wanted the best of the best discus, I’d go directly to the source & order it directly internationally from suppliers of your preference. You can purchase fish directly from wherever they come from, I’ve done it before & it’s a process, but it can be done. I learned how to from the pet store I worked at ordering some wilds or directly from the suppliers southern America or overseas.

 

[Lucyn]

Its possible too that private breeders/fish farms can also sell you culled & sickly fish, they do not only come from pet stores. Personally, I worked for private pet store for 3 years many years ago & they do lose money when fish shipments dies in the store, because some suppliers only credits/refunds for DOA fish. So, it wouldn’t benefit them to kill fish their trying to sell & make a profit on they’ve only had a week or two in the store. The store is losing money.
Personally, I had the opportunity to learn how to run a store & a ton about the hobby, saltwater & freshwater in that environment. Maybe Private people are also breeding fish to make a profit as well, and may sell overpriced sickly fish to people.
Personally, if I wanted the best of the best discus, I’d go directly to the source & order it directly internationally from suppliers of your preference. You can purchase fish directly from wherever they come from, I’ve done it before & it’s a process, but it can be done. I learned how to from the pet store I worked at ordering some wilds or directly from the suppliers southern America or overseas.

Well then you can probably figure out why they never have Discus, too much money lost when they die. Some stores are ignorant and don't wanna waste the little amount of medication and sell it sick. I'm not saying every Pet Store is like this, just the majority that aren't very reputable IMO. I've just had a lot of bad experiences, as I've heard other people have, personally. One time, I bought 3 Discus from a Petco to see how'd it go, out of curiosity. One died in the bag on a 15 minute car ride, tried keeping him in my water for a half hour, absolutely no gill movement. Tried to return it as a part of their policy and they tried to make it seem like it was my fault because it was such an expensive loss. Also, I have two Discus I got from a Petco, they're stunted and it's not my fault. I got all my Discus at the same time, same exact size within .2 inches I'm guessing, the rest of the 3 from an online source. The two I got from Petco are around 1-2 inches smaller than the ones I got from another source, large eyes for the body ratio as well.

 

[86 ssinit]

Please leave it be. To hard to bring back. Unless there giving it to you for free and you have a tank just for it leave it be. This happens a lot with discus. That fish is probably $50 to $100 and there just isn’t enough interest in discus out there. I recently bought discus from my local store. I bought 3 different types that came in in 3 weeks. 2 of each. Unfortunately most of the rest that came in are still there and haven't grown. Just not enough interest and the store doesn’t have the time to dedicate to them.

 

[midna]

the best thing you can do is alert the staff or manager. they will probably take him to the back and quarantine him or put him in a hospital tank

i've seen discus being sold at petco and pet supermarket