Grade a?

[Swancici]

When I see Discus for sale some are called grade a? What does that mean?

[Chicago Discus]

When I see Discus for sale some are called grade a? What does that mean?

IMO it means nothing other than the Dealer or Breeder that uses a grading system has picked the Discus they consider an A grade. Most of the time its irrelevent because the fish are really young and its very difficult to grade a discus that young because they go through many changes before reaching adulthood.........Josie

[Swancici]

Thanks. So basically A grade is better quality?

[Chicago Discus]

Thanks. So basically A grade is better quality?
It's just my opinion on the grading of young fish. And yes its ones that the breeder-dealer think are better quality discus but remember lots of changes happen when they grow to adulthood.........Josie

[Swancici]

Thanks for the info.

[John_Nicholson]

It means that you are about to spend more money....LOL.

-john

[Chicago Discus]

It means that you are about to spend more money....LOL.

-john

That's right

[Swancici]

Well thanks to josie I won't get a A grade unless it's an adult.

[Second Hand Pat]

If grade A and regular grade are offered in the same strain and shipment compare them as a learning experience.

[Larry Bugg]

It means that you are about to spend more money....LOL.

-john

LOL, aint that the truth brother.

Seriously, unless you know and trust the breeder or importer it doesn't mean a whole lot. If you know and trust the breeder/importer then you can probably depend on it being a better quality discus.

[Swancici]

Well I'm planing on getting discus from Canadian aquafarm or April. I'm not too sure if they grade.

[stac545]

I have seen "Seclect Grade". Is that the same as "A Grade" ?

[Chicago Discus]

I have seen "Seclect Grade". Is that the same as "A Grade" ?

Its all the same stuff if the breeders are doing their job culling the crap then this would not be a topic......Just my opinion.......Josie

[gaboon]

Imho it depends on what you are looking for. Sometimes the mutts turn out better than the "purebreeds"

[strawberryblonde]

Here's an example of just how silly the whole grading thing is:

I purchased 9 4" discus from Hans Discus. In the first batch of 5, I had a VERY football shaped Red Turq whose fins looked like they stopped just a bit short (didn't reach as far towards the chest and head as I "thought" they should). She is now a little over a year old and is one of my roundest fish and her fins are totally normal looking. She changed dramatically as she grew out!

In the second batch of 4 discus, I had a Cobalt that I was very concerned with. She had a divot in her forehead just above her nose. I asked Hans about it and he laughed and said that he'd never seen any of his adults Cobalts with a divot. Sure enough, she is almost a year old and the divot is gone!

My first Flachen seemed as though he was going to be the largest discus in the tank based on how fast he grew for the first 4 months. And my Brilliant Turq grew so slowly that I was sure he was going to end up stunted.

My Flachen is now the fourth largest in size with my Red Turq, Marlboro Red and Red Scribbelt far outsizing him (they are nearly 9" and he's only 8"). And that Brilliant Turq who was SO darned small? Yep, he's now 6.5" which is a totally normal size for an adult discus.

So what I'm saying is that there's just no sure way to know how juvie and sub-adult discus will end up as adults. I bought mine from a VERY reputable dealer who doesn't have a grading system on them, but who does an awesome job of culling "problem" juvies and the ones I received each grew into very pretty fish. Oh and they didn't cost me an arm and a leg...just an arm...no leg. LOL

[Swancici]

Lol thanks for thAt I guess you never know unless you get adults. Has anybody gotten discus from April Ross? As I'm planing on getting some from her.

[mmorris]

My impression is that April has a good head on her shoulders. :)

Grade A to me means the fish is not stunted or beaky, is round, and has no obvious defects like an odd eye, short gill plates, deformed spine or genetically misshapen fins. The best thing to do, IMO, is to tell the person you are purchasing discus from what characteristics you are (or are not) looking for. Be very clear. Always ask for pictures of the tank you are buying from.

[Chicago Discus]

My impression is that April has a good head on her shoulders. :)

Grade A to me means the fish is not stunted or beaky, is round, and has no obvious defects like an odd eye, short gill plates, deformed spine or genetically misshapen fins. The best thing to do, IMO, is to tell the person you are purchasing discus from what characteristics you are (or are not) looking for. Be very clear. Always ask for pictures of the tank you are buying from.

Like I said earlier if the breeders were doing their jobs and culling those types of problems we wouldn't have issues
Like this ......................Josie

[Swancici]

Thanks for the info and I agree With Josie

[TNT77]

Correct me if I'm wrong about this view of grading:
Regular grade: discus that can have more obvious imperfections such as football shape, smaller size, major imperfections in color such as peppering, basically normal bulk lfs fish
A grade: mid percentage of the group in size, better shape with some imperfections
Select grade: smaller percentage of the group, most times largest specimens of the group and depending on the strain selected for color or shape
Show grade: smallest percentage in a group if any at all, selected for size, shape, and color, very few imperfections

[April]

Hello there...here I am...April : ).
The fish I get are from discus Hans and stendkers. I've imported from Forrest..same supplier as Rick has taken .
Here's my take. The previous poster speaking about discus Hans fish I'd dead on. The German stendkers start out not quite as rounded out or coloured up as the Asian ones...but they grow fast and furious, eat like mad...come flying to the top for food..and I haven't lost one yet in the previous shipments I've received. They do grow big and thick and sturdy. They have not been mixed with any other discus from other farms.if you go to Hans videos of his adults and pairs...you get a better understanding of their full potential of what to expect as adults. Of course 90 percent of the outcome once they leave my shop is in the care they are given by their forever home. Quality water, good food and you should get some beautiful discus.
Also..I do not ship discus I would not want in my tanks. When people come in to hand pick I encourage them to select the nicest ones that I like.
My tanks are all bare bottom, large wcs, high quality food and I monitor their health carefully daily. I treat thm as if they are my own fish. The last group I sold to customers all told me there's have doubled in size in a short time.

[CrazyAngels]

I sure would love to see this 9" discus with a tape next to them..

[Swancici]

That's lovely April I sent you a email a while ago I hope you get back to me soon.
My local pet shop here sells discus but everytime I go in there they are in bad shape. some have ick or fungus and not taken care properly:( they had a nice royal blue about 4 inch for 80.00 with ick.

[Swancici]

Are alenquer wilds? Is there a yellow varity?

[April]

There are santarems. More yellowish than the
I hope I didn't miss your email..can you send me another?

[Swancici]

Hello April,

I have sent you a email and you wrote back. I sent a email back and is wondering if you got it? Or is it better to message you on here. Let me know thanks

[Eddie]

I sure would love to see this 9" discus with a tape next to them..

Hans has posted a few pictures with the tape measure. BIGGINS!!!

[JenTN]

Swancici, I believe you asked about blues before if I'm not mistaken. Im a newbie too, here's a bad pic of a pair of Stendker Cobalts I got from Hans. Terrible pic, but hopefully you can get an idea. In person they are awesome.

[Swancici]

Wow they sure do look nice even in pics:) well icant wait to get mine. Thanks for sharing the pics there lovely.

[strawberryblonde]

I sure would love to see this 9" discus with a tape next to them..

Ok, I wasn't going to pull my fish out of the tank tonight just to measure the 3 biggins for ya (they've had enough stress in their lives lately), but...

I went ahead and took a few pics right after a massive water change and during the feeding frenzy immediately afterwards. My biggins love 'em some Al's FDBWs! I feed 9 cubes at at time. LOL

Here's the first pic of my largest/fattest one, the Marlboro Red. In this pic, I used the line tool in Photoshop to "measure her", then duplicatd the line, changed the colors so you can see them clearly, and lined them up on the front of the tank.

Note that she is NOT in the front of the tank in this pic, so if anything, she is LARGER than the line I drew. The tank is 32" top to bottom, 28 1/2" if you don't include the black strip at top and bottom. Ready???

73268

Next up is her eye size, as if her sheer bulk isn't enough to scare off any normal sized fish. =)

73269

And here's some general pics of all the fish. The smallest is 5.5" (a tiny little brilliant turq). The "average size is 6.5" and the three largest are the Marlboro Red, the big Red Turq and the massive Red Scribbelt. Enjoy!

73270

Here's the "Big Three" hogging all the yummy FDBW's at the feeder cone. Note the head on the Red Scrib on the left. It's so danged big and fat that he almost looks deformed. LOL

73271

Here's the big guys going toe to toe, lip to lip over the normal sized female right above them. Poor little female, in this tank she is NOT normal sized.

Hope that satisfies your need to see a tape next to them.

[Swancici]

lol they look awesome:) what color bAck ground do you use?

[CrazyAngels]

Ok, I wasn't going to pull my fish out of the tank tonight just to measure the 3 biggins for ya (they've had enough stress in their lives lately), but...

I went ahead and took a few pics right after a massive water change and during the feeding frenzy immediately afterwards. My biggins love 'em some Al's FDBWs! I feed 9 cubes at at time. LOL

Here's the first pic of my largest/fattest one, the Marlboro Red. In this pic, I used the line tool in Photoshop to "measure her", then duplicatd the line, changed the colors so you can see them clearly, and lined them up on the front of the tank.

Note that she is NOT in the front of the tank in this pic, so if anything, she is LARGER than the line I drew. The tank is 32" top to bottom, 28 1/2" if you don't include the black strip at top and bottom. Ready???

73268

Next up is her eye size, as if her sheer bulk isn't enough to scare off any normal sized fish. =)

73269

And here's some general pics of all the fish. The smallest is 5.5" (a tiny little brilliant turq). The "average size is 6.5" and the three largest are the Marlboro Red, the big Red Turq and the massive Red Scribbelt. Enjoy!

73270

Here's the "Big Three" hogging all the yummy FDBW's at the feeder cone. Note the head on the Red Scrib on the left. It's so danged big and fat that he almost looks deformed. LOL

73271

Here's the big guys going toe to toe, lip to lip over the normal sized female right above them. Poor little female, in this tank she is NOT normal sized.

Hope that satisfies your need to see a tape next to them.

Congrats Toni, you sure do growout some very nice Discus, definitely you should have been showing these from day one as you should be very proud of them. big thumbs up for you.:thumbsup:

[krislewis3]

How are we measuring discus?? Are the fins included in the measurement? If I have a 6" discus, is it from tip of nose to end of fin?

[krislewis3]

Mine like the fdbw to. I have 4 juvies...how many squares should I be feeding them? Because I am concerned about over feeding, i usually let them share 1 square. Am I way off? Now I'm concerned that I'm underfeeding.....HELP!!!!!!!

[strawberryblonde]

Thanks Jorge, it's been a lot of fun to raise them and quite a surprise to see three of them turn into such big fish. Hans has GREAT stock!

Kris, I measure from nose to end of tail fin. This method of measuring is called TL (total length).

For the fdbw, I used to feed one cube at a time too, so you're fine with that. Mine only eat more than that now that they are full grown.

How many feedings a day do they get and how big are they now? Their size will tell you how often a day they need to eat those cubes of food.