How to buy discus fish online- the Step by Step Guide

Buying discus fish online is common nowadays. I have been breeding and raising discuss 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 buying discus fish online.

How to buy discus fish online Myth #1 – You should buy discus fish ONLY from online sellers that offer FREE shipping.

FALSE – When it comes to discus fish sales and you come across an online discus store that offers free shipping you really need to think carefully before making a purchase. You will think- if i knew how to buy discus fish online this would be easy. Regardless of how big or small an online fish store is shipping is never free for anyone! UPS and FEDEX will NEVER ship anything for free! So how do discus sellers offer free shipping? It’s all in the quality of the fish they are selling. Many discus sellers sell fish that are imported from Asia. When you buy fish from Asia you must order them in large quantities minimum of 100 or more at a time. Many of the Asian discus sellers offer discounts on disc fish that are not top quality. It’s very rare to see discus fish sales however not all Asian discus fish are bad quality, in my experience the majority of them are low quality and come with internal parasites. Once you receive these fish you must quarantine them for several weeks and de-worm them on a regular basis so they won’t kill your other fish. So while you may be saving money on shipping It may cost you a lot more money and headaches in the long run. You will also notice that sellers that offer free shipping just increase the cost of each fish to cover the shipping. The amount of time, materials and water weight required to ship fish properly makes it impossible to ship fish for free. Remember- shipping is never free! Continue reading more tips on how to buy discus fish online.

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!

Myth #3 – Only expensive discus fish are good quality.

FALSE – Some online discus sellers just increase the cost of their fish to be make a large profit and to make up for the cost of free shipping. Some discus fish are more expensive if they come from well- known suppliers. However you can also get good quality reasonably priced discus fish if you do your homework.

Myth #4 – When thinking about How to buy discus fish online you may think that only expensive discus fish sellers are reliable.

FALSE – Just because someone is selling expensive 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 seller 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? Does the seller have an Ebay store where you can see their customer feedback? 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. So if you place an order and have an issue chances are they won’t answer either. You want to try to avoid purchasing discus from sellers who just do it to make a profit. 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 frye then 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.

I hope that this information is helpful to you.

Buy Discus Fish Online