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Second Hand Pat
07-31-2013, 11:03 PM
I am pleased to announce that Eddie is our Spotlight Member for August. I did this a little different in that I invited Eddie to be our spotlight member. Eddie had posted about accepting a deployment on Facebook and since he had been nominated by our membership and I was unsure about Eddie's future availability I figured I would make it happen. Thank you Eddie.


Q - Please tell us all a little about yourself, what makes You tick? Single, married, attached? What do you do for a living? Other hobbies? Any significant non-discus achievements you want to brag about?

A - A little about myself. Let’s see… I am 36 years old and I am married going on 6 years now (seems like 20, lol). We have a son that is 5 years old. We’ve had our share of ups and downs and we almost called it quits until about a year ago. The wife and I were separated for 3 years and the most difficult part was not being with my son. I had to do a lot of soul searching and went through some major self-improvements. Bettering myself enabled me to be more successful with life and with my marriage. I learned to try hard and never give up and I’ve taken that stance with everything in life. I’m big on physical fitness and I am a certified Personal Trainer. I enjoy cooking and creating healthy alternatives to favorite dishes and desserts. I am in the United States Air Force and have served for 17 years. My specialty is heavy cargo aircraft maintenance and I currently oversee four teams of about 100 maintainers. I was away from the hobby and the forum since late last year as I was pursuing my Community College of the Air Force degree. I finished with all my requirements and I earned my Aviation Maintenance Technology degree just this past June.


Q - How did you get into discus? Where was the first discus you saw? How long had you been into fish first?

A - It began with my father’s love for aquarium fish. He tried to keep discus when I was about 6 or 7. We had a tank of brown discus and angelfish. We'd go to the fish store and get live tubifex worms to feed the discus. The discus died off at a pretty fast rate, imagine that, live tubifex. Anyways, I always had fish as a young child and bred convicts when I was 8. Finally when I was about 20 (back in 1997), I picked up a book on discus keeping and I was totally hooked. It seemed like a challenge so I read several other discus books (back before any discus forums existed). I set-up my first 55 gallon tank and ordered some fish through a breeder in San Francisco, Samson of Universal Discus. I had a bad turn out because the fish had missed their connecting flight. The next morning my discus arrived barely alive. I had cycled my tank with guppies so when I added the stressed discus to the tank, they immediately got sick. The breeder recommended formalin treatments with big daily water changes. The fish recovered and they thrived well in my tank. Then over the years I got in and out of the hobby. I found Simply Discus in 2005 but not the forum, just the main website. A lot of people have no idea about the Simply Discus site. There is a ton of useful information on there. I still reference to it today. Eventually I figured out there was a Simply Discus forum and I learned everything possible from its experienced members. I continued to keep discus and have been a part of the forum since then. I like to help others especially with treatment. Mainly because I have dealt with my fair share of diseases and I’ve gained a great deal of my experience by helping others.


Q - What strains are you the most happy with? Which do you think need some work? Are you working on anything new and exciting now? What strain/s do you like best, personally?

A - I’m a big fan of blues such as brilliants and I also like wild crosses or domestic wilds. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of sources for super nice blues. Maybe there is and I just haven’t noticed. I’d like to see more thick lined blues available. I guess the demand isn’t high for them at the moment. There is definitely one thing I’d like to see improved and that is the eye color on spotted fish such as leopards and Leopard SS. I rarely see spotted fish with a nice deep red eye. I’ve seen a few but I feel the strain/type needs improvement. Currently I have a tank of heckel crosses that I grew out from about 1.5 inches. Unfortunately they do not show the prominent fifth bar like a wild heckel. I thought maybe the bar would develop as they matured but they haven’t had much change. My personal favorites are the wild crosses produced by Watanabe of T-Aqua in Japan.


Brilliants

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7360/9372137091_244630fae2_o.jpg


Leopard Snake Skin lacking red eye

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3822/9374911396_59270e9e80_o.jpg


My current fish (Heckel X Turq and Royal Blue F4)

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2847/9375073224_924a764620_c.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7377/9375080850_7a3379283b_c.jpg

Watanabe's stock

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2832/9374930620_db1a00c528_o.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7425/9374929862_fd117535b1_o.jpg


Q - What do you feed your discus?

A - I feed my fish my own mix. It is primarily seafood consisting of tuna, mussels and shrimp. I also add bison, collard greens, crushed garlic, flake food, paprika and Pro-Growth (by Andrew Soh).


Q - What is your most exhilarating moment with discus?

A - The most exhilarating moment is when a pair has fry attached. That is a sight that will never get old. Whenever that feeling is gone, you may have turned into a distributor. LOL I also enjoy seeing juveniles grow out and start breeding.


Raymond Lee's fish/fry (He is a famous breeder from Singapore)


http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3736/9374913222_2dc52368e4_c.jpg


Q - What is your most frustrating moment with discus?

A - The most frustrating moment, is when pairs continuously eat fry. And whenever fish fall ill and don’t seem to respond to treatments.


Q - Do you have any future discus plans that you would like to share with us?

A - Well actually I do, I will be stepping out of the hobby for a little while. I volunteered for a 365 day deployment to Afghanistan and my report date is March 2014. I will still be online with the forum but I won’t be keeping any fish…unless they have discus available in Afghanistan. Lol It’s something I decided to do for my career and it will also help me financially.


Q - How do those in your life feel about discus?

A - My wife doesn’t really care for my fish but she knows I love the hobby so she respects my space. If she loved the fish too, we’d really be broke. LOL My son is too young to be fully addicted but he’s got discus bug tendencies. He likes to watch the fish when I am cleaning the tanks so it’s a start. When I received my heckel crosses last year, they were about the size of a nickel so he likes to say that they are real BIG now.


Juvies to Adults

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5527/9372248337_9999c345a0_c.jpg


Q - Do you have any funny, amusing or interesting discus stories to share with us?

A - Nothing funny or amusing but interesting I guess. For those that don’t know, my favorite fish was a Heckel Cross that fell severely ill several times and at one point I thought it was a goner. I tossed the fish in a bucket with formalin and the dang fish improved and recovered fully. That same fish continued to breed and carried fry many times. I always thought about how that fish almost died and then ended up living.


When it was on deaths door

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5445/9372136557_063a6fd50f_z.jpg

Paired with another fish after recovering from sickness

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3745/9375099568_75843c7a99_o.jpg


Q - Do you have any thanks or credit to give for your success with discus? Any mentors or colleagues who you think deserve some applause?

A – 100% of the credit goes to all the amazing members of Simply Discus. Several of the members that have helped me the most are: Al, Paul, Rod, John Nicholson, Carol Roberts and all of the members of Simply. I would also like to mention the North American Discus Association and its members, past and present. I had the pleasure of being trained as a Judge by John Nicholson, Dick Au and Larry Matinchek.


Q - What do you see as the future of discus keeping? More/less people? Any cool ideas for strains?

A - It’s hard to tell what the future of the hobby will bring. The hobby will always exist and it's just as strong now as it was 10 years ago. People come in and out of the hobby every day. The hundreds of different types of fish available today so people have more of a variety. One thing I will bring up is the small craze for the so called bulldog discus. The mere existence of these types of fish in the hobby, negatively impacts it greatly in my opinion. They are all culls and should be destroyed immediately by any responsible breeder. It seems that the some breeders are just trying to "create" the next big thing but in my opinion, the bulldog is not a discus.


I was going to put a picture of a bulldog here but then I figured it would negative impact my interview. LOL


Q - Can you think of anything I left out you would like to bring up - either personally or discus related?

A - Not much really. I guess I'd like to see more support for the North American Discus Association. I know that there are many different clubs in the US but since I've been around the world so much, other world organizations view NADA very highly. I want to see more members join the organization and I also want to see more attendance at the biennial shows.


Breeding

Q - How did you decide to take the plunge into breeding as a significant part of your fishkeeping?

A - I think that every person who keeps discus eventually experiences breeding whether they want to or not. Thats something that bothers me actually. People who buy discus and then get upset or frustrated when the fish breed. It's what they do! Anyways, so it wasn't really a plunge for me to have my first pair breed. It was more of an occurrence. I'm not an experienced breeder. I've only raised several handful of spawns and I have NEVER had any babies that I raised to adults. I've grown many juvenile fish out to adults but none that I have bred.


Q - What were the major obstacles involved in setting up as a breeder? Any advice for aspiring breeders?

A - Again, not an experienced breeder but I know what it takes to raise the fry. You need a clean quality pair, an overabundance of clean water available 24/7, an effective method of performing multiple water changes daily, properly conditioned water and adequate nutrition. When I say a clean pair, I mean a pair that has been through a course of preventative treatment. Many will discourage it but I think you have a better chance of getting the fry to survive if you eliminate parasites/bacteria in the beginning. This is very dependent on the source of the fish and if you received them pair directly. Obviously preventative treatment can be risky to the pair if you do not know what you are doing. When I refer to properly conditioned water, I mean water that will support the growth of the fry. I firmly believe that hard water or nutrient rich water supports the proper development of the fish. Some people don't think this is accurate and they have grown fish out in pure RO but I do not believe this is a good practice. I have seen too many times where fry were raised in pure RO water and it caused many defects in fins, gill plates, eyes and body shape.


Q - How many pairs do you currently have producing? How many tanks?

A - Zero. I currently am not breeding any fish. I have over a dozen tanks but only 2 of them are set up and running. There are only adult fish in both tanks.


Q - Any tips on breeding or raising discus? Tricks or methods you use to encourage pairs to breed?

A - I covered this in the section above. One thing I will add, is there is not one single way to do anything. There are many proven ways to successfully raise and keep discus and you may find an easier way. I am all about challenging the set-in stone methods of the past but you have to be able to repeat the success to claim it effective.

Thank you for reading and I hope you have learned a little bit more about me!

Eddie

blueluv
07-31-2013, 11:24 PM
Congratulations Eddie! I also want to say THANK YOU for your service in the United States Air Force.

papyol
07-31-2013, 11:34 PM
Congratulations Eddie!

Trevor W
07-31-2013, 11:46 PM
Congrats Eddie! and Thank You for sharing your story and thoughts with us. A great spotlight yet again. Thank you Chad and Pat!

Kal-El
07-31-2013, 11:54 PM
awesome read... thanks for sharing...

Skip
08-01-2013, 12:09 AM
So your missing nada austin?

nwehrman
08-01-2013, 02:46 AM
Congrats Eddie and Thank You! We will miss you at NADA 2014, but promise to have a drink in your name!

DonMD
08-01-2013, 04:12 AM
Thank you, Eddie, for that great interview. I've followed your posts on the forum for a long time, and of course we are all familiar with Eddie's great tuna/salmon mix! Good luck with your upcoming deployment, and I hope you keep checking in, even if you won't be keeping discus for a while. You've always got great advice to share, and it's appreciated by all of us. -Don

dennis waage
08-01-2013, 06:20 AM
Thank you Eddie, great interview. I have learned a lot from you, reading youre posts.

Thanks again and good luck in afghanistan.

Dennis.

dpt8
08-01-2013, 06:21 AM
Hi Eddie, Stay safe.. and thank you so much for your service. I really enjoy all you posts and have always considered you a very knowledgable discus person :0)
Take care and glad you could fix your relationship to enjoy your family.

Carolina discus
08-01-2013, 07:24 AM
Eddie,
Always enjoy reading your posts...be safe my brother and thank you for your service...get home soon!

John_Nicholson
08-01-2013, 08:12 AM
Eddie thank you for you do for the rest of us. I hate to read that you will be deployed during NADA 2014 but keep your head down and we will keep you in our thoughts.

-john

Allwin
08-01-2013, 08:12 AM
Enjoyed reading, wishes Eddie!!!

Disgirl
08-01-2013, 08:44 AM
Thanks Eddie, great interview. We will miss you at NADA. Maybe you can make the one in 2016. Congrats on the family! Keep in touch here as often as you are able. And keep those cones! For those of you who don't know, it was Eddie who suggested I make a swirled clay cone. Good idea Eddie!
Barb

Poco
08-01-2013, 11:27 AM
Eddie, thank you for sharing. I really enjoyed reading it.

Glad you managed to put the differences aside and got back together, happy for you and your family.

William Palumbo
08-01-2013, 11:34 AM
I also enjoyed it very much Eddie...A great read. Take care...Bill

Eddie
08-01-2013, 06:01 PM
Thanks everyone! I really appreciate the comments. I am pretty heart broken about not being able to make it to the 2014 NADA show. I really wish I could make it because I know it will be a huge success like the prior shows.

cupido
08-01-2013, 08:15 PM
First and foremost THANK YOU for your service to our country Eddie and I am glad things are good with your family. Since day one from joining SD I have always enjoyed reading your posts and have learned SO MUCH from you as I am sure so many others have. I also really enjoy seeing the fish you are working with. All the best to you and your family Eddie.

DiscusBR
08-01-2013, 10:01 PM
Great interview by a great SD member. Thank you for sharing your stories Eddie and all the best in your next steps.

discuspaul
08-01-2013, 11:09 PM
Eddie - I have to say that since joining SD in 2010, your posts were without question among the first ones that caught my attention, and quickly lead to my admiration for their thoughtful honesty, straight-forwardness and obvious background of down-to-earth experience.
In fact, it bothered me not to hear much of you, at times over the past few years, no doubt due to your new postings or changes in your service or deployment. It was always a pleasure to hear from you again when you managed to re-surface, after being sort of 'incognito' for a bit !
You are a long-time well regarded stalwart of SD, and I particularly respect you for your service to your country.
It was more than a pleasure to hear a little more about you personally & your thoughts about the discus hobby.
Keep well always, and best regards,
Paul

yim11
08-01-2013, 11:22 PM
Thank you very much my friend!

AquaAnt
08-02-2013, 02:34 AM
Wow, that was an amazing write up... My hats off to you Eddie for your service as well!

farebox
08-02-2013, 08:29 AM
First of all from a retired USAF, First SGT, and son currently in the AF/Msgt also, "thanks for your service". Also god bless you on your next deployment, I know about the reason.... Like many of us whom became SD members we all have enjoyed your posts. You OJT me many times on the caring of the discus fish from reading your threads numerous time. Do the best you can while over there and keep in touch with SD. I know it will be hard for you with the family, the mission, and your job. Good luck my fellow airman!

Discus-n00b
08-02-2013, 11:50 AM
I just came here for the pictures, mainly of the brilliants and Heckel crosses.



Just kidding. Enjoyed it Eddie! Hope to meet you in person one of these days.

MKD
08-02-2013, 12:23 PM
Great to know you more. You're 1 of the best SimplyDiscus OG members that I learn a lot from your posts. Very sad to hear you go but super happy for you doing what best for your family and you. I hope i'll still be around when you come back .

Best wishes,

Tony

CrazyAngels
08-02-2013, 01:38 PM
Eddie my brother, awesome job on the interview, and as always my friend you stay safe wherever you are. Remember your hometown is always thinking and praying for you and yours.

I'll still be here when it's time for you to make it back, then maybe we can set something up together... Take good care of yourself.

BTW, if you ship the royals I'll keep them for you until you get back. LOL

dadecountyalan
08-02-2013, 02:14 PM
thank you for serving eddie. you have all my respect