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[Nickrich]

Hi all
I have been reading the forum for the last couple of night to learn as much as we can, as i have built a 8foot cabinet to house two 4foot tanks.and i have been told that we will be keeping Discus in them by the wife and 3 kids.
A question that i do have is where would be the best place for me to purchase some Discus from.
I live in Vic (go saints ) in dingley near moorabbin

good bye for now

[Proteus]

Welcome Nick...

we have quite a few Victorians on board here.

maybe Scott, Nick or Merrilyn may be able to point you in the right direction.

some of our sponsors such as SLS & SunshineDiscus ship as well, so anything is possible if you really want something.

HTH

[Merrilyn]

Hi Nick, maybe Oakleigh Aquarium Fish Importers in Warrigal Road Oakleigh would be a good place to start. Funny little shop, but the owner Mac Lew is very knowledgable.

When you are ready for some top quality discus, I would highly recommend SLS, in Sydney, one of the sponsors of this forum. Fish can be sent down by airfreight for collection at Melbourne Airport. I have always had excellent fish from them.

There are also other sponsors highly recommended by members of this forum, who could airfreight. Check out the classified section of this forum to see what colours you like. I would suggest getting young fish and growing them up.

Welcome to the wonderful world of discus. Your wife and children have very good taste in fish. :lol:

[Aurora]

Hi Nick,

I got my pair of discus from Nick (nicholas76) who knows an importer in Queensland. He picked the fish up from the airport and then I picked them up from his house. He has been great help since then too in answering questions. He should be able to get you anything you want. Send him a pm.

Otherwise if your looking for a shop in Melbourne, well Ive only been to about 5. 2 didnt have any discus. 1 had them, but the quality is D grade. I went to a Pets Paradise and was surprised to find they had some pretty good young discus. Othewise, even though it seems a bit dodgy, the best place Ive seen in terms of discus is Oakleigh Aquarium.

[ctvu]

Welcome Nick

Well said by Ladyred. I would go by what Ladyred said, shopping around and start with young one (don't get too young) if you want to have the good quality fish, check our sponsors here. I personally bought some and I am going to buy some more soon from Kev - SLS - you can't go wrong with his fish. HTH

ctvu

[Rgoganj]

Welcome Nick…

I have to agree with the posts, shop around and read the article called “Article: Tips on Buying Discus....” in the section called “Articles, DIY & Product Reviews”.

Personally I found the Oakleigh Aquarium had the best price and quality of fish compared to many LFS. (For newbies anyway).

What we need in Melbourne is some of the local breeders to get on board

[Ben]

Welcome!
If you decide to go and buy them from oakliegh, wait until late march as this is when he is getting a new shipment come in. I went there 2 weeks ago and you can tell he is trying to run out of all the remainding stock, room for the new lot! But in saying all of this, try and hook some up with someone in this forum. Slippery Little Suckers would be about to send some down Via air express. This might seem a bit daunting but dont stress, as they are safe as houses in their styriene box's.
Also there are so many differnet colour variations, so maybe get a book or 2, search on the net and work out which ones the whole family will enjoy!

cheers,
Ben

[flukes]

Ill put my 2cents in, seriously for starting out you dont need the latest strain and the latest price tag. Just fined something you like, blue diamonds are normally on most peoples first discus list and they are at a reasonable price.

Local aquariums do have discus but nothing worth buying, even OAFI (Oakliegh Aquarium fish importer.) arnt the best fish you can buy but they are good for starting out. SLS will give you a better price for a better quality fish, but there is the daunting experience of ordering fish you cant see, but SLS will guide you through it and make it as easy as possible.

If you can pick them up from the airport less stress and a quicker service, although the survival rate is well for courier it is alot more stress on the fish.

If your going to buy discus, get of one of the 2 meantioned's fish, cause if your going to start out you want quality discus too make it easier on yourself.

Take what Meryilyn, said about what stability very seriously. Most people start out dumbing litres of chemicals into there tank trying too get the magic 6.7 ph but a fish would be a lot happier with a 7.6 stable ph.

So work out cleaning and water changes routine first.

Also with discus a varied diet is a must, i know it is tempting to feed the food that makes them spin in circles but it will just cause problems with them later.

A good dry food like discus priemium is good choice, if the dont eat it at first suck it out of the tank, reason being next time you feed them they will reaslise that food is not going to be at their disposal they will be feed when you want them too.

Thats about it for now, stick with it, its addictive. But remember the answer too your problems are one post away there are plenty of people here that can help. Try not too use meds too change too much with water quality until you have asked or researched it on the net.

Happy discusing...

Scott