# surely they shouldn't be killed



## Daniel (Feb 17, 2006)

I rescued two discus that were a bonded breeding pair (breeding as in had bred not breeding as in profit) 
they were in filthy cloudy water with broken filtration so they were being poisoned by there own enviroment (couple split up and the lady considered flushing them down the toilet).
I collected them they were half starved/ had no colour and scale damage I treated their ailments and now I'm being told to kill one of them on this discussion 
here 
read all the discussion and tell me why should I destroy a living thing that eats well and appears to have no stress


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## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

That guy is a jerk. Don't pay any attention to him. The situation you have is not ideal for discus, but it's better than in the toilet. I thought the larger discus looked pretty good. If I were you, I think I would move all the other fish and try to get that pair to breed.


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## dwool36 (Jan 31, 2006)

I am an absolute amateur, however I could not have killed them. I am a painter by trade, and 2 days ago I found the tank below in an apartment. The maintenance guy was going to flush the two goldfish. So now, much to the dismay of my wife, I have another tank and two goldfish that I know NOTHING about. Looks like more reading...lol.


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## Daniel (Feb 17, 2006)

thanks for your agreement, I have a 200G in progress, I couldn't see them suffer 
knowingly, but the thought of killing a living creature on what the chap said -they may not be anything special, but I want to give them the best existance I can while they are not in pain or stressed. 
Should they become terminal ill I think I'd have to ask a friend to perform euthanasia as I couldn't do it.
Glad that while the situation isn't perfect, they are getting the best I can provide (good food and clean water)

tears over fish!!, that chap really is an arsehole of a breeder, not a living thing to him just a product


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## leveldrummer (May 27, 2005)

i think the fact that you have brought these fish back to health, both are eating well, is amazing, everyone talks about how difficult they are to keep, and you not only keep them, but bring them back from the dead. i say kudos!! and might i point out, if you breed them, the babies shouldnt be drab like the parents, the parents problems more than likely are not genetic, but deformity due to poor conditions. breed them suckers.


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## Daniel (Feb 17, 2006)

thanks for the agreement, I'm hoping that the female's condition will improve even more- the fungus has gone from the fins and the scales have grown back.

the water in the ladies tank had suffered ph crash / ammonia(made my skin red) build up.
the fins were cloudy- they are good on the male and improving on the female

I currently can see a couple of mm round yellow/white discs on the females fins, it's not whitespot could it be 'velvet' or just symptoms of the poisoning they suffered?


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## AshleytheGreat (Jul 24, 2005)

Danggg Johns a jerk! People like him shouldnt keep fish. I think your discus are adorable! And i think they by weening them back to health makes it more rewarding to see them happy.


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## Daniel (Feb 17, 2006)

I'm glad people agree I'm doing the right thing, what upset me was the chap pm'd me telling me that he is a fish breeder who gives talks and I was prolonging their misery. I think he works on the nazis version of the 'final solution' for fish.

I'd like to get to the bottom of the yellow white dots on the female, i'm not keen to dose a treatment unless I'm sure


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## Rem1061 (Nov 7, 2005)

Could this be it?


White or or discoloured 'cotton-wool' patches on the skin 
or fins. Often accompanied by inflammation and skin erosion
1) Saprolegnia (fungus) infection
2) Columnaris infection (mouth fungus/cotton wool disease). Take sample for microscopic examination which would show typical long 'gliding' bacteria (Flexibacter sp).


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## Daniel (Feb 17, 2006)

it's hard to discribe it looks to be a round cloudy spot inside by the bone-could it be something like a calcium build up? I've treated for fungus and it's more a confined spot, looks like a velvet spot, but the information I have says multiple ie covering the fish
spots-she has three and he has a couple ever since I have had them, he now has one more but none of the other fish are affected


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## Rem1061 (Nov 7, 2005)

I would try to find the largest/high end privately owned pet shop I could go to, and either take some really good pic’s or take the worst case fish to them and ask.

Richard


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## Georgia Peach (Sep 23, 2005)

I used to be a member of that place - I hate it!

I think you done the right thing - the fish look like they are coming along.


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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

Daniel, Im gonna have to stop over there and say Hi im a member on that forum as well, that guy is indeed in the wrong on his sayings.


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## Georgia Peach (Sep 23, 2005)

MalawianPro said:


> Daniel, Im gonna have to stop over there and say Hi im a member on that forum as well, that guy is indeed in the wrong on his sayings.


I was gonna add my 2 cents worth myself but they locked that thread.. LOL


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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

yea just saw that, i was gonna do it yesterday but had to get running. Darn it! Gotta be more quicker next time!


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## Daniel (Feb 17, 2006)

thanks everyone, I have talked to the lfs and I have a treatment that is applied to the affected spots, they think it could be a wart/ a calcium type thing as it doesn't appear to spread to the other fish, I'm going to put in some metafix which is a general tonic and see how they go-2 months on and they don't seem to have affected the other fish and they were isolated for 2 weeks before I put them in.

I've noticed that this forum has a more friendly family atmosphere as others have said-all 99% of us want is to give our fish the best possible


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## Guest (Feb 26, 2006)

Although i can understand that he may need to get rid of fish that are not up to breeders perfection in order to make a profit, killing them is not necessary. I'm sure there would be other ways for him to to get rid of the unwanted, such as handing them over to a regular lfs that is not overly picky about quality, which we all know most of them are not. What makes me even angrier is that he knew you are just, as he says, a "casual fishkeeper" but yet he offered his idea of killing them to you. I don't understand this. You stated that you were not intending to breed for profit, yet he still thinks they are undesirable and should be killed. You were right in saying that it is barbaric and it's just plain disgusting.
and good work to you! A lot of us here want to take fish in, mostly from Wal-Mart and such and nurse them back to health and give them a shot at life. Not all of us are able to do it, yet you are doing a great job! In my opinion, i think they look great, and from the description you gave of them in the hands of the previous neglecting owner, it seems that they have come a long way. I agree with leveldrummer in that you basically did bring them back from the dead.
Terrific job. Im sure that they are in great hands.


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## ultasol (Mar 12, 2006)

Unfortunately this attitude (kill the culls) is rampant and accepted in many animals. I have a horse that is purebred, microchipped, and was purchased from a feedlot situation as an untrained three year old. She was shipped off with a 'lot' of other purebred and crossbred horses even though I called the breeder a week before and offered him up to $1500 for a female up to eight years of age... he cussed me out and told me his horses were worth more than that and hung up on me (he was having an on-farm sale at that time accompanied by much advertisement). At the end of his sale the next week, he hadn't sold enough horses to cut down on stock, or had some that he didn't think would sell due to lack of training, health, or other reasons... so he sent them off. I then purchased my mare for less than what I offered him, and I know the farm owner got far less than what I paid as the feedlot guy marked them up considerably.
After doing further research on the farm my mare came from, I found out it was common for this gentleman to send purebred horses off to the feedlot. He didn't want to sell any animals that he felt he wouldn't get a premium price for, because he didn't want to flood the market. People are afraid if they sell lesser quality stock at reduced prices, some buyers who would otherwise buy the other animals at a significantly higher price will buy these 'cull' animals instead. I in no way condone this, but this is the rationale, and it in some ways makes sense (terrible as it is). 



Scuba Kid said:


> Although i can understand that he may need to get rid of fish that are not up to breeders perfection in order to make a profit, killing them is not necessary. I'm sure there would be other ways for him to to get rid of the unwanted, such as handing them over to a regular lfs that is not overly picky about quality, which we all know most of them are not. What makes me even angrier is that he knew you are just, as he says, a "casual fishkeeper" but yet he offered his idea of killing them to you. I don't understand this. You stated that you were not intending to breed for profit, yet he still thinks they are undesirable and should be killed. You were right in saying that it is barbaric and it's just plain disgusting.


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