Runted Discus

[jacksta]

Hi folks,

I have about 15-20 discus that have weird top fins,as in they are not perfectly round or develope. What do you discus keepers usully do with this kind of fish?

cheers,jack

[samir]

cull them

[jacksta]

ok,what ways do you use to kill them?

cheers,jack

[scott bowler]

put them in a ice cream container and put them in the freezer that will do it :( :( :(

[goldenpigeon]

if you have a disposeable plastic container, put them in the contain with enough water the comver them, then put the in the freezer. or you could use clove oil.

[FishLover]

Actually, a smash in head is a better way. The fish suffer less in this case. A slow death is much painful than a quick kill. It may look mess and cruel but it is the better way.

I did not make this up. I read it from a good fish book.

[nicholas76]

I wouldnt mind seeing a photo before the execution orders are issued.


fridge is the way.

[TomNS]

Hi folks,

I have about 15-20 discus that have weird top fins,as in they are not perfectly round or develope. What do you discus keepers usully do with this kind of fish?

cheers,jack

I will pay for postage to Brisbane and give you a few $$ for them. I don't mind the runts..

Same if you have any runts David.

Cheers guys
Tom

[mistakes r crucial]

I agree with Nicholas, a photo or two before the execution.
MAC

[jacksta]

Hi guys,i woudl lvoe to post soem pictures,but i don't knwo how to sorry.I'm not even sure if you can call these guys as "runts" because their body is perfect colouring due to the hign quality food i feed them. Is just that their top fin is not fully developed or soem don't have this nice curl shape.I need to get rid of these guys as i am trynig to pair them up.

cheers,jack

[nicholas76]

The process of posting a picture is very simple actually. Refer to the sticky section of this sub section


simply reply to a post the normal way and scroll down refer to the attachment section and add your pic. Ensure your file is small 128 kb and less

[jacksta]

pics as requested by members

[jacksta]

more

[goldenpigeon]

they are deformed, but they are very nice colours!

im just wondering why you might have so many fish with this deformation? there are usually a few deformed fish in each spawn but in most spawns i dont think you would get 15-20.... hmmm.

they appear to be growing well thought (nice small eyes).

[jacksta]

more mroe

[nicholas76]

It really depends on various factors

do the parents of the same issue?

[Merrilyn]

Hmmm this is congenital deformity Jack. I wouldn't be using those fry for breeding. They will certainly pass the deformity on to their own fry.

In fact, I would go so far as splitting up the pair, and test breeding them with other fish, to see if one or both are carrying the deformed gene.

In my own fish room, the fry would be culled immediately, and their siblings (without the deformity) would be sold as non breeding display fish.

The colour is lovely, and you have done a great job of raising them.

[jacksta]

Thank you i've always wodnered if their eyes are big thanks ofr that guys :D . They have great colours and i'm not sure if there is soemthing worng with their gene because thei parents are perfect. Will it have something do do of when they were and egg or wiggler that the parents might of damaged them or the water conditiosn thye were in when they were small. I just have no idea and have never seen discus liek that else where.

cheers,jack

[discus lover01]

they dont look runted mate at all they are in good body to eye size it's just the defective fin which is a defect not a rnting of one pertion of the fish a runted fish will be small arrow shaped and have large eyes to body size.
cull them cull them all the defective ones i am thinking poor quality water may have had something to do with why so many are like this as maybe not enough or not big enough water changes when young which in turn may have damaged the fins or caused this but also think it's a throw back from the parents is the main thing i would think.

[nicholas76]

they dont look runted mate at all they are in good body to eye size it's just the defective fin which is a defect not a rnting of one pertion of the fish a runted fish will be small arrow shaped and have large eyes to body size.
cull them cull them all the defective ones i am thinking poor quality water may have had something to do with why so many are like this as maybe not enough or not big enough water changes when young which in turn may have damaged the fins or caused this but also think it's a throw back from the parents is the main thing i would think.

no chance those eyes are way to big for that body size. The "busted" forehead and top fins make it stand out worse.

The defect is present in all these fish it appears genetic all the way im afraid.

find pictures attached of young fish with teh ideal eye size for your reference.

[discus lover01]

yes the eyes empahsised even more because of the busted forehead and defective fins and had they been my breeding stock wouldnt have made it that far at all and would of been culled long b4 then.
but i still think it is water conditions and a genetic fault from 1 or either adult or both which is making it bad but i do know from the batch before this of babies from the same pair only 2 were defective not like the amount from this batch so maybe one gene was stronger in the spawn this time.
I wasnt looking at the pictures on here i was going by what was sent to me and the eyes didnt look that bad on eht ones i saw but they look shocking compared to body size on here and yes it's just a defective fish all way round.
and again they wouldnt have made it this far if were in my tanks.

[Merrilyn]

Jack, it may sound tough, but those deformed juveniles really need to be culled, and the parents split.

I would suggest that the parents are siblings, and may well have come from a spawn with some deformed fish and some normal fish. Whoever bred them, has culled the deformed fry, and sold on the normal looking ones.

To my way of thinking, this is not a responsible thing to do. We are struggling here in Australia to improve the quality of our home bred fish, and it makes it very difficult when breeders continue to breed from fish that throw deformities.

I'm sorry to take such a hard line, but it's something I feel very strongly about. We will never have good quality home bred fish unless all breeders are prepared to take a stand, and work for the betterment of this magnificent fish.