How to Buy Discus Fish Online
Nowadays, purchasing discus fish online is common practice. I have been breeding and raising discus fish for over 20 years. With the tremendous increase and domination of the internet we are seeing more brick and mortar stores closing and more online stores opening up. This includes pet shops – especially fish stores. Today you can find more discus fish for sale online that you can find local pet stores that sell them. This article will reveal all the myths to buy discus fish online.
How to buy discus fish online Myth #1 – You should buy discus fish ONLY from online sellers that offer the most expensive shipping.
FALSE – Reputable online sellers ship with enough regular frequency and consistency that they usually have special rate accounts with shippers such as the airlines or FedEx. NEVER think that paying a premium for shipping ensures that you are receiving a better-packaged product.
Myth #2
– Before you ask yourself how to buy discus fish online you must make sure that your water parameters are exactly the same as the water parameters of the person you are buying them from.
FALSE – Discus fish will adjust to just about any water parameters as long as they remain constant. You NEVER want to adjust your water parameters using any chemicals. In my 20+ years of experience with discus fish I never used any chemicals in my water aside from PRIME when doing water changes. Using chemicals to adjust water parameters will just cause your water parameters to spike and kill all of your fish. Don’t worry about water parameters just make sure you acclimate the discus properly. Remember- we are fish keepers not chemists! The last thing you want to do is turn your water into a witch’s brew.
Myth #3
– Only inexpensive discus fish are worth my time and budget.
FALSE – Life is short — sometimes, too short. Time and resources are limited. Why bother undergoing any endeavor if it cannot be done to the absolute best level? Why spend time and resources on discus that are unworthy of your tank? High quality discus undergo multiple rounds of culling by experienced breeders and dealers. They are also not easy to breed to begin with, hence their higher asking prices. Selling discus online is a highly competitive business, and as a customer, you deserve the highest quality fish available to the hobby from a trustworthy source.
Myth #4
– When thinking about buying discus fish online you may think that only low to moderate-budget discus sellers are reasonable.
FALSE – Just because someone is selling lower priced discus fish doesn’t mean that the fish are good quality and they offer a good service. The best way to find out if a discus sellers is good is to check their customer feedback and customer ratings. Does the seller have a Customer Testimonials page where you can read some of their customers reviews? If you come across an online discus store that you are not familiar with make sure to do a google search and find customer reviews. Also- how good are these discus sellers at responding to customer inquiries? Test them out before you purchase. Ask them some questions about discus to see how quick they are to respond and what kind of answers they give you. Some online discus sellers will never answer customer emails. Therefore, if you place an order and have an issue chances are they won’t answer, either. The best discus come from sellers who are passionate about the hobby. Those who are passionate about the hobby will be able to provide you with the most information, tips and tricks about successful discus keeping.
Myth #5 – Only reputable discus sellers will send you pictures of the actual fish they are sending you.
FALSE– If you are buying discus from someone who breeds discus out of their house and only has 1 or 2 breeding pairs then it is possible for them to send you pictures of the actual fish they will be sending you. However, if you are buying discus from a breeder who has many breeding pairs and thousands of discus fry, it will be very difficult for them to send you pictures of the exact fish because they just have too many. Many breeders who breed in large quantities may send you pictures of what the fish will look like when they are full grown which is fine. The main thing is once again- check their customer testimonials and feedback. Those people purchased fish already and can tell you what to expect.
Myth #6 – You shouldn’t mix discus purchased from different sellers.
FALSE
– As long as you do your homework and take caution- there is no reason why you can’t keep discus from different sellers together.
Discus require the same water parameters regardless of which seller they come from.
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