Question:

I am a newcomer to Discus, and have to set up a 150 x 45 x 60cm (60" x18" x 24") deep tank which has been running since January.

It currently houses 10 Corydoras, 18 Cardinal tetras and a pair of green Rams, with the aim of adding 6-8 Discus (bought as 3" and grown on).

I have two external Fluval filters (204 and 304) to provide flexibility on filtration plus a gravel substrate, bogwood and some plants.

The water is pH6.5 and I carry out a 20% weekly water change - with either filtered rainwater or RO plus tapwater. The ammonia and nitrites are nil, nitrates less than 10.

All the local shops that we have contacted or visited so far have only had a couple of Discus at any time - no choice (colour or quality) - which also makes it difficult when it comes to introducing the group all at once.

All the specialists that advertise in PFK seem to be in London, Leicester or further North. Having never bought any livestock mail order, or anything other than seeing them first, we are understandably nervous about shelling out some £200+ on fish that we haven't seen. My husband keeps making jokes about them being flat fish and of course they'll fit in the letter box, but how do these companies that sell livestock by "mail order" arrange delivery, and what guarantees should we expect?

Reply:

"I can fully understand your concerns about ordering fish by mail order. Unfortunately there have been a few problems with one or two mail order Discus dealers regarding the condition of the fish when they have arrived at their destination.

If you want the best quality and a good choice, I advise you to give South Eastern Discus a call - all the stock they sell is bred on site by the owner Barry Howland and they are of the highest quality.

He can arrange delivery for you if you require it but I strongly advise if it is at all possible that you try to visit them so you can really appreciate the quality of what you are buying. If you decide to go ahead with a mail order purchase, then you can rest assured that South Eastern Discus will send you nothing but top quality Discus, and that they are guaranteed to be alive and healthy on delivery.

Now to answer your question about delivery of fish. To start with the fish are starved for 24 hours before despatch, to ensure that they don't excrete too much while in transit which would foul the water which they travel in. After the starvation period strong, clear plastic bags are partially filled with water from the same tank that the fish are coming from. The fish are then placed in the bags of water, the bags are injected via a tube with pure oxygen from an oxygen cylinder and then the bags are twisted at the to prevent oxygen escaping. The top of the bag (the twisted part) is either knotted or strapped very tightly with extra strong elastic bands. 

The bags of fish are then placed in a specially made 1" thick polystyrene box which has a tight-fitting lid. This box is placed inside a tight fitting thick walled cardboard box, which is then sealed and taped, and labelled with the name and address of its destination. The box is collected by a specialist courier usually between 12 noon and 6pm, and they are delivered to your door by delivery van by noon the following day.

This is the correct and safest way to transport any aquatic life, and they suffer no more stress than if you were to go to your local aquatic shop, select a fish and take them home in a bag. The polystyrene box maintains the water temperature and the pure oxygen gives the fish plenty of air in the water, so they can breathe just as well as they would in an aquarium. Most dealers would pack them in exactly the same way (minus the starvation period and courier) if you were to bring the fish home yourself and your journey was quite a distance.

Just to put your mind at rest, if the fish are packed in this way they would be fine for up to 2½ days, without it causing dangerous levels of stress***.

Your set-up sounds as though it will be very impressive. You could house 16 Discus very comfortably in an aquarium of your size. "

Ian Greenwood

Please note this is a personal view as expressed by the expert author of the article - We at SED would like to point out that in the case of mail order delivery, the fish are collected late evening from us and are delivered by courier the next day - in this way stress is kept to an absolute minimum