Gravely ill discus do get that dark (check out threads on Simply where people have columnaris, the fish look black 
) but they usually show other signs of sickness too, like clamped fins, peeling slime coat, cloudy eyes, etc.
I saw this video a while back and I don't really know what to think. It's obvious that the fish isn't truly black because it shows its bars. It could very well be just a dark discus, though. I'd have to see it eat and interact with other fish before I'd go so far as to say it's healthy.
There used to be a variety of discus called "half moons" which were blue discus with a half-black body from the middle to the tail, similar to halfblack angels. They were pictured in some magazines in the early 90s I believe. As with most color morphs of discus, there was a lot of discussion as to whether or not they were natural. Occasionally you will still find blue diamonds whose back half turns black -- sometimes it stays, but mostly it fades away, leading people to believe it's some kind of bruising or nerve damage that eventually heals.
I wondered for years whether or not you could have albino discus, and now they are all the rage in the discus community. Every strain imaginable is being crossed with albinos. So I don't see why one day you couldn't have black discus, the same way you have black angels. If they could get a black discus with red eyes, sign me up!
) but they usually show other signs of sickness too, like clamped fins, peeling slime coat, cloudy eyes, etc.I saw this video a while back and I don't really know what to think. It's obvious that the fish isn't truly black because it shows its bars. It could very well be just a dark discus, though. I'd have to see it eat and interact with other fish before I'd go so far as to say it's healthy.
There used to be a variety of discus called "half moons" which were blue discus with a half-black body from the middle to the tail, similar to halfblack angels. They were pictured in some magazines in the early 90s I believe. As with most color morphs of discus, there was a lot of discussion as to whether or not they were natural. Occasionally you will still find blue diamonds whose back half turns black -- sometimes it stays, but mostly it fades away, leading people to believe it's some kind of bruising or nerve damage that eventually heals.
I wondered for years whether or not you could have albino discus, and now they are all the rage in the discus community. Every strain imaginable is being crossed with albinos. So I don't see why one day you couldn't have black discus, the same way you have black angels. If they could get a black discus with red eyes, sign me up!
