Wild discus score

[swamp-rat]

I've been looking for a pair of wild discus for a while, but they're hard to come by not only because of their collecting area being at the opposite end of the land mass but also their notoriously difficult transition to tank life. I came across the perfect scenario at a LFS - price, history, and strain were all right and I couldn't pass. Within 2 days of being in the tank they staked their place with the domestics and are eating like champs.

Just to make some discus keeper's minds explode, yes, those are NA natives in those pics (Suckermouth minnow, Central Stoneroller, Redbelly Dace collected by me in June from IL; Longear Sunfish from Jonah's Aquarium). Because when someone tells me I can't do something, it means I'm gonna prove them wrong.
Current tank parameters: 85F, pH 6.4, gH 74, NH3/NO2/NO3 = 0/0/10 ppm
Pics taken under MH lighting

 

[Anonymous]

You cant do that!!

WOWZERS, those are amazing!

 

[KaraWolf]

Holy wowzers those are beautiful!!! Really love the dark one who looks like hes trying to blend with them in the last pic too. Cant believe there isnt a common domestic line of these!

 

[dwarfpike]

Great score ... I haven't seen real discus locally in quite some time.

 

[MattArmstrong]

I like wilds more than domestics, especially the ones in the 4th and 5th pics. A bit like the difference between a nice hand painted sign and a blinking neon one.

 

[swamp-rat]

All the same fish, just whether he was showing off for the resident discus or not. He really colored up when he got near them, and those are the pics you noted. It's amazing how quickly they can change, too.
I'd been looking at Santarem Discus since they seem to have ethical collection, good handling/quarantine, and beautiful stock, but I feel lucky to have found these 2 without having to pay massive import prices.

 

[star_rider]

very nice.. I love the look of the wilds as well.

one reason I like keeping Alenquers..they have the wild look to them ..I like the VR's as well.

 

[swamp-rat]

The ultra dark one in the back is a blue-faced brown I was hoping would look more like wild but she mostly stays dark because she's the omega dog. Never really got into alenquers I wa looking specifically for the "sunset" color.

 

[KaraWolf]

Whoops didn't even see that uber dark one! Was looking at the one in the middle of the wilds with all the extra squiggly blue/green.

 

[swamp-rat]

Ah. That's a male Red Turk. He's mated with the White Butterfly (facing forward) and together they seem to be the highest ranking in the tank...their territory is usually at the far right. The big Blue Ghost (to the right of Red Turk) is a male and constantly challenges the pair. He's in his usual territory here. However, he likes to chase off the female Red Eagle (bright red in my profile pic) and female Blue-faced Brown, which usually hang out at the back center-left of the tank (and confusedly try to mate with each other). When I added the wilds, they took the far left side. The little Yellow Diamond can go anywhere because he/she is too small to be threatening to anyone.
I need to come up with names for the wilds. All the others have Avatar: The Last Airbender names according to their color/nation. Not sure which nation to call the wilds - I may go Earth Kingdom, with one being Kyoshi warrior Suki if female.