Quarantined | Assorted Discus (Symphysodon sp.)

What “Quarantined” means

Every animal sold under this listing goes through YoCamron’s Aquatics full quarantine program — treated preventively for the common pathogens, observed daily, and confirmed eating — before it goes home with you.

Most livestock losses in this hobby aren’t bad luck. They’re pathogens that arrive with a new animal — ich, velvet, gill and body flukes, internal parasites — and stay invisible for the first 1–2 weeks while the animal is stressed from shipping. By the time you can see the problem, it’s in your display tank, and every animal you own is in the fight. Quarantine exists to run out that clock in our tanks instead of yours.

Our process

• Dedicated quarantine systems, separate from our display and sale tanks.
• Preventive treatment for the pathogens that actually kill new arrivals, instead of waiting for symptoms.
• Daily observation — breathing rate, body condition, behavior — so problems get caught while they’re still small.
• Feeding confirmation. Nothing goes home until it’s eating in front of us. An animal that eats is an animal that travels well.

Quarantined to order

Nothing we sell online is pre-quarantined and waiting on a shelf. Every quarantined animal is quarantined to order — your purchase starts the process, and the clock starts the day your animal reaches our facility.

For a freshwater animal like this one, plan on up to 60 days before it goes home.

Add up to two more weeks in front of that. If we do not already have the animal in-house, sourcing it is the first step — and that time sits on top of the window above.

This is not a rush purchase, and it can’t be turned into one — the entire value of quarantine is time. If you need your livestock by a particular date, contact us before you order and we’ll schedule the arrival around it. If you need something this week, the non-quarantined listing is the honest choice. The full process — and how to decide which tier is yours — is explained in Quarantined vs Non-Quarantined.

The guarantees

• Shipped — Early AM Overnight only: 48-hour live arrival guarantee from confirmed delivery. Next Day Air (standard Overnight), 2-Day and USPS Priority carry no live arrival guarantee, on any tier.
• Local pickup or delivery: 28-day live guarantee — bring a water sample from your aquarium so we can test it before your livestock goes home with you.
• Maintenance clients: 60-day live guarantee on any livestock you buy from us, for as long as we service your aquarium on a plan of at least twice a month — weekly, every 10 days, or biweekly. Monthly plans carry 28 days. Nobody else in the trade puts that in writing.
• Sourcing: if the animal is not already in-house, add up to two more weeks in front of the window above — that applies on every tier.
• Claims: video of the sealed, unopened bag, opened on camera, with the animal on a white paper towel, inside the window.

Why quarantined is the right choice

If you have an established display tank, the math is simple: the premium on a quarantined animal is small next to the cost of treating — or losing — everything already in your tank. It also means you can skip running a hospital tank at home, which done properly is its own aquarium, its own months of patience, and its own chance to get something wrong.

The honest caveat: many of these species are also available from us non-quarantined for less. Those carry a 1-hour live arrival window on Early AM Overnight — or 24 hours on local pickup or delivery with a tested water sample — and no refunds, returns, or credits beyond that. There is also a middle rung: the Lightly Medicated listing gets one short prophylactic course and is covered for 24 hours on Early AM Overnight, or 7 days on local pickup or delivery with a tested water sample. Next Day Air (standard Overnight), 2-Day and USPS Priority carry no live arrival guarantee, on any tier. If you already run a proper quarantine setup at home, that’s a fair trade and you should take it. If you don’t, this listing is the right one. (You’ll sometimes see “quarantined” abbreviated as QT — same thing.)

Discus have a reputation as the most demanding centerpiece fish in the freshwater hobby, and it’s mostly earned — Symphysodon sp. evolved in the warm, soft, extremely clean water of the Amazon floodplain, and they haven’t forgotten it. They want water consistently warm (82–88°F is the actual target, not the 76°F a typical community tank runs at), soft to moderately soft, and impeccably clean. Nitrate above 20 ppm is stressful; above 40 ppm is damaging. Daily or every-other-day water changes aren’t overcautious for a dedicated discus tank — they’re standard practice.

What makes them genuinely remarkable, and worth the effort, is how they raise their young: both parents secrete a nutrient-rich mucus from their skin that newly hatched fry feed on directly, grazing off the parents’ sides for the first week or two of life. It’s one of the only examples of this kind of parental nutrition among fish, and watching it happen in person is one of the more affecting things freshwater keeping has to offer.

Their round, laterally compressed shape and calm, deliberate movement have made them a benchmark species for decades — the fish serious keepers work up to rather than start with. This listing is assorted morphs, meaning you’ll receive a mix of color strains from the same source.

Scientific name: Symphysodon sp. (assorted color morphs)
Origin: Amazon River basin, South America — slow floodplain lakes and river margins with warm, soft, tannin-stained water
Water parameters: Temp 82–88°F (non-negotiable) · pH 5.5–7.0 · GH 1–8 (soft water essential) · Nitrate ideally below 20 ppm
Tank requirements: 55 gal minimum for a group of 4–6; tall tank preferred; dark substrate and subdued lighting reduce stress
Diet: Carnivore — high-protein discus beef heart mix or premium pellets; supplement with frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp
Compatibility: Peaceful; best in a species-only or calm large-fish community; avoid active or nippy tankmates
Husbandry note: Discus kept in water that’s too cool or too hard will eat poorly, show clamped fins, and slowly decline. Before buying discus, verify your water change water is preheated and soft — cold water changes, even brief ones, will trigger disease outbreaks.