How discus has changed your life.

[BlueTurquoise]

Hi all,

I just wanted to share with everyone my experience with keeping fish and in particular getting into the discus hobby and how it has effected my life and the people around me in good ways (and bad! but mainly good!). But mainly I want to touch on how it has made me new and very good friend, maybe even lifelong friends, all because of a small fish that lives only in the waters of the Amazon, in aquariums all aroudn the world and in the hearts of their keepers.

I was hoping that people could share their stories too and we can all have a long winded chat about our favourite topic.

I have kept fish for years, mainly goldfish and Koi. Last year in my facination with my uncle's beautiful and intelligent "round" fish (that' all i knew them to be then) I found Simply Discus. Well I thought, here is a bunch of very nice people willing to help me even though I was asking very silly questions and had very little understanding of these pretty remarkable fish.

Today I know people that live down the road, wonderful, good and kind people with big hearts and without our simple (and complex) passion for discus we would never have met at all. Without the forum, we would have shared a passion in the dark and battled it alone.

The other day I got my fridge delivered by a bloke sent from the distributors, he came in to the house, walked all over my new carpet with his boots and plonked my new frost free, unsidedown fridge into place. Immediately he pointed to my fish tank and said "ahhh discus". I said "Ahh yess!" and we talked alittle about how his brother keeps discus and how he is thinking about buying a tank. Without the fish I would have just signed the dotted line and part ways.

I went to the plumbing store the other day where I enlisted the help of a very friendly young store hand with my (fish related) plumbing questions. I explained to her my odd request for a side mounted float valve and various other odds and ends, and she was confused as to why I would need specifically side mounted valve becuase all toielts need bottom mounted. So I said I keep south american exotic fish and I need it for my water change tank. Immadiately she said "Ahhh Discus!". I said "Ahh Yess!!". We talked about how her father used to keep discus before he passed away. "Very pretty fish" she said and gave me a discount on my goods.

I once explained to a friend, if my future boss kept discus, and I went for an interview where I mentioned discus, he would most likely hire me without looking at my credentials! So is the nature of our passion...

So as you can see, for me, the discus hobby is more than just fish and water, it is a micro community within a community. It brings people from all over god's wonderful world together with one common interest. I meet more and more discus people everyday and I am loving it! Networking is fantastic and I can't wait to learn more about fish and befriend many more people who share my passion. Now that I have been made moderator of this forum I feel that the passion is not dead but on the contrary, I realise that it is alive and kicking! growing day by day. More and more people that I meet are showing interest in my "round and colourful" pets.

Share your discus 6 degrees of separation story. It's interesting and amazing to see what a south american cichlid can achieve indirectly...

Chong :thumbsup:

Ya know Chong.....

I just love reading your posts. They are so full of life!. Thanks for sharing your story.. I just wish I had the time right now to compile my feelings/experiences, to share as well. It would take me hours.

Come on everyone.... This is a great thread!..... ;)

[Kevin]

You are both right. Earlyer today I posted on burn out. looked around at diffrent articles and posts. Asked a guy that had red and whites how much for some of them. Went down to the basement, did some water changes, pulled a pair to put upstairs in the living room to look at. Went out and sold four young Discus, didn't buy anything there. Had a car delivered for my wife, nothing fancy a used saturn sport coupe, nice and a great deal. I have bought six cars from the guy so his word is good only fifteen hundred plus tax. Then thought about my burn out. You are right on about Discus being a blood thing. It is in mine for sure. After all its only a few hours a day. and it relaxes me. I do think I will get a couple of ninetys or one twentys and give myself and the Discus a break for awhile. Let the young grow and then continue on. It kind of boils down to vacations and such, and it will be easy for some friend to come feed a couple times a day, while we are away. Then I can get back to the thing I really like. Seeing the pair spawn and raise the young for awhile before they are pulled to grow out. I want to thank you for the article you wrote, and the person who answered about the hours it would take to explain the passion we have for the Discus. Anyone ever talk about the Discus to someone who knows nothing about them? The first usual responce to pictures is " are those salt water fish". I guess you just need to have it in you, and once there it is a part of the heart.
Again thank you.
We were talking of going to Australia or New Zealand, so when the time is right I will get with you Aussie Discus lovers.
R.S. K

[brewmaster15]

How Discus changed my life? Thats a loaded question for sure. :)

I used to shoot film, 10-15 rolls a weekend for wildlife pics. I used travel alot, see different areas of the country. ( now I don't) I used hang out with a lot local friends...non of which have fish. I used to follow the stock market and try to invest (now I have no money or time to do so). I use to have dozen of hobbies that I spent a little time on each, now I have one main one, andspend most time on it. I used to feel alone in most of those hobbies though, now I never do. I used to try to learn alot about everything and share it, now I try to learn alot about one thing and share it. I used to wonder if I could ever be really good at something, I think I have finally found that something...and theres a feeling of peace in knowing that its all just a matter of time and experience before I am really good at something.

How has discus changed my life? from reading the above it may not be clear. To me it is though. I have been able to meet and become friends with people all over the world. Personally, I have experienced the trials and tribulations of trying to do something constructive with my knowledge and passion....helping to build Simply Discus. This alone has taught me more about myself , my shortcomings, and strengths than any thing else I have ever done. It has given me an sense of accomplishment I have never experienced before, and forced me to live constantly on the edge with a fear of failure, which is a powerful motivator to keep trying.

And there there is the Discus... then there is the Discus.. What can I say about them...that I haven't said before. I see them , and I get an overwhelming urge to have more. I see them and I want to breed them and raise them to adults. I see them and I am calm when I was restless. I see them and see beauty in an often ugly world. I see them, and I know I was meant to raise them. :)

take care,
al

The Discus Poem...

I've worked all morning, my tanks are clean,
My Discus are Happy, a joy to be seen.

They guard their eggs, they raise their Fry,
I'm so happy, I'm going to cry.

I watch my discus glide with grace,
That hobbyist smile across my face.

Their Eyes are bright and crystal clear,
They rush to greet me as I draw near.

I feed them food, they feed my soul,
Glad I am, to keep them was my Goal.

A. Sabetta 12/2002

[jim_shedden]

Al : I agree 100%.
I have found that discus can be very frustrating and stressfull. But in reading your post and Chong's I sense a fullfillment that may not have been there in the past. I myself have a rather streesfull occupation (don't we all) and I have 2 offices. One is at a local welding shop and the other is at home. I get extremly frustrated with work sometimes and I have found that the best way for me to deal with it is to go downstairs and play with the fish. I forget about work for the time being and it is great. What is also very interesting is that while cleaning tanks I do a lot of thinking. I have come up with some of my best ideas while cleaning tanks. I think that I should join DA (discus annonomous) , I have a serious problem now. My freinds think that I am way off center. I don't go out as often but I have found that I do more entertaining at home. Even though my freinds think that I am out in left field it seems that they are always around looking at the fish. Last Friday night I had freinds over for sushi & and a bbq and we ended up eating downstairs with the fish.............and the topic of conversation was the wilds that I had just purchased from Oliver. One of my freinds wives (Terry) was in awe thinking that these were just in the Amazon not too long ago. My freinds did not leave until 2am. Enough said I guess.

Jim

[BlueTurquoise]

Wow, thanks for sharing guys. It still amazes me every day to talk to people who have never seen discus before. You are right there Kev,

Last night I had guests over to talk about a very important descision of house purchases in my area, basically it was to buy or not buy and we are talking $1/2 mil easy . The talk of purchasing was about 30 mins max, the rest of the 2 1/2 hours was about the discus! lol they were particularly interested in how they breed and it amazed them that they raised their fry instead of just mass spawn etc. They were also confused as they thought they were salt water fish, as I explained I added salt to the tank for medicimal purposes.

Discus sure have an alluring charm to them I'll give them that.

Jim, we are all left of centre trust me, have confidence in the fact that you are not alone! I was at the LFS on the weekend and the owner had not seen me since before I got married. He was like "well show it to me" (referring to my ring) and he was dissapointed that it didn't have fish engravings on it LOL. I also said "look, SHE (pointing to my wife) is the only thing that stands between me and a loungeroom full of discus!" lol I spent last night on the couch LOL

Take care all, and post more stories!
Chong "thumbsup: