DarkDiscus
06-28-2004, 09:29 AM
Q – Here we are for the June spotlight. I want to thank Dottie for her hard work and also for always being a great contributor to the atmosphere at Simply! We’ll get right to it!
Please tell us all a little about yourself. Your name, where you live, etc. Are you single, married, attached? Other hobbies? Any significant non-discus achievements you want to brag about? Plus tell us how did you get into raising discus or fish in general. We want the whole story!
A - Ok, here goes! You all know me as Korbi _doc, or Dottie. I now live in Southern Jersey, outside Atlantic City and have been a practicing veterinarian here for 30+ yrs, something I always wanted to do, my first “real dream as a kid”. When I could not achieve this in my home state of Massachusetts, my second choice as a registered Physical Therapist served me well through 2 marriages and 2 children, which was when I began my lifelong interest in fish.
Obviously animals have always had a big place in my life, just not where and when I wanted them. Horses and Dobermans were a must, but more difficult to obtain and I had to wait awhile, so fish filled the gap through my early days. They were many types of livebearers and cichlids. My kids still remember the Kribs strolling around the community tanks with babies while holding the other fish in the corners. This happened often. We would all lie on the floor watching the mollies or guppies or swordtails “delivering”. Those were the days! I still have 2 of those old tanks with slate bottoms and metal trim, a 2g useful for raising bbs and a 29g it leaks!! I’m so sentimental I haven’t been able to toss it, still want to fix it! I’m always wanting to do that with things, I hate to let go!
In 1969, our world was turned topsy turvy when I was finally accepted to University of Pennsylvania veterinary school after what seemed like a hundred years of banging on doors to get into a school at a rather late date, after all by their standards I was already old! So the fish had to go on hiatus for awhile. Then, later, after settling down here in Southern Jersey with my husband, children and a Doberman Pinscher, I setup my practice. The fish interest returned and my tanks came out of hibernation to be set up and added to for, this time, saltwater fish. These were indeed fun for quite awhile, one Volitans lionfish even living with me for over 9 yrs.
By then I had horses which I was showing and breeding. The practice was so busy that again fish went on a hiatus for a short while until in Nov. 2001, I hit the net looking for African cichlids to start back with. More on that later.
Anyway, on with the story. My son Rick retired from the navy (what’s wrong with this picture?) and lives with his wife and 5yr old daughter in Jacksonville, Fla. He loves it there. He has always liked the warmer climates. His older son, (previous marriage) is in the navy, married, 1 child, living in Vegas. My daughter Debbie and her husband Doug, and daughter and HER daughter (complicated huh??) live here near me. Deb and Doug have been a big help to me with this discus obsession, while not understanding in the least why I do this. They installed the pvc for the linear piston pump from one end of the house to the other for my tanks, to say nothing about moving those huge tanks into the house when I needed them.
Now for the latest in my saga, and this one is even scarier! Retirement plans! My best friend of 31+ yrs and head honcho for my veterinarian hospital and I have decided its time to get out of Dodge! NJ has become a sinkhole for money, with taxes, competition, restrictions and a high cost of living. We both would love to retire to a place where we can have our dogs and horses and ride down the road and in the woods safely so we can enjoy our later years. She and her husband have found a home with enough land for a horse and barn in Tennessee. So I am searching too and of course what do you think is the first thing I look for in realty? They think I’m nuts down there too! Water and large area for fish tanks. I do think I’ve found the right place, with all of that and a large pasture with pond for the horses. It will be so difficult to leave all that we have built up here, friends, family and devoted clients, but it seems the time has come.(Tears!)
But how will I move these tanks and fish all the way to Savannah TN? The horses are no problem, but discus? Oh well, may take a year or more to get to that point…
Back to 2001. I surfed the net for Africans and stumbled on that round discus-looking fish I remembered from years ago as a rather dull brownish vertical slow-moving fish with bluish markings that I thought rather uninteresting. But when I saw the newer models showing up on the sites like Jack Wattleys and Peter Thodes, I became somewhat intrigued. The rest is history. I still don’t have my Africans, but the intention is still there. Carol, your tank is an inspiration to me! And now that I will have much more room (much more room to breed, huh, Tad?) (boy am I going to have difficulty reining myself in, this could take couple of years, its only in planning stages) it will become a reality; I am insatiable!
Q - How many fish do you keep presently? What strains? Where did you get them?
A - Presently, I have about 50 assorted sized and colored discus along with a few cories and rams. Still have a few JW blue diamonds, Carys blue diamonds, red snakeskin and melons, 2 gold diamonds from Bruce with lotsa pepper, soon to go, along with pigeons, blue diamonds, cobalts and fire reds from Joe and Hans. Cary’s red snakeskin male is the one that about drove me nuts spawning with any female he could coerce in and out of the community tank, but he made the best father and that was the group that I raised. It was fun and Tad was the challenger throughout and helped a lot with the process. Tad, you were right, it is nice to see my own fish swimming in those tanks. So, someday when the dust settles, I will have the time and energy to go whole hog with these fish! I’m looking forward to that too!
Q - Do you have a dream strain of discus that you want to keep?
A - I DO have a dream fish! That gorgeous wild, dark, solid burgundy curipera!!!! Some of you out there know the one I mean, it has been at the back of what’s left of my mind.
Q - What is your home set up like? How many tanks, what type of filtration, etc?
A - My home set-up is now 2 large tanks, 90g and 125g in the living room on a relatively new, often flooded carpet, due to the 2 32g gathering water from R/O source that sit in between them. Over by stairway to loft bedroom sits the 65ghex and 2 20g tanks. Another 20g in the kitchen, a 37g here beside me at the pc, and in the extra BR, a 100g sitting on the bureau, & a 55g beside the bed. Heaven help any guest that decides to stay, because they had better wear ear plugs if they dont like the sound of bubbles. Actually, it is not that noisy with the linear pump, just the bubbles from sponges.
Q - What do you feed your discus?
A - My filltration is as follows. All my tanks have sponge filters fed from the central linear piston air pump, which I love. Most have AC filters, the 90g has wet/dry and the 125g has the Lifeguard with micron insert. These only cuz they were left over from saltwater days and as I alluded to before I can not part with anything that works. I have 2 Hot Magnums for add ons or emergencies and a vortex diatom.
Right now I feed basic primarily pellets HaiFeng Yazoo and Tetrabits. I also feed frozen Hikari bloodworms daily. I have used Diskusin, Ocean Nutrition 1 and 2, along with Spirulina and Omega flakes. I am not crazy about flakes. I think they pollute more than pellets, but I thought I would give them a try again. Wonder if they feed the Tilapia that are in the pond at the place I’m looking at in TN? Hmmmmmm? And no, I have not made beefheart yet, even though I thought your system is great, Carol! Know what? Now that I think of it, I remember years ago (Gawd I’m old!) I did raise red wigglers very successfully to feed my fish but I havent thought of that in all this time. Someone gave me a very large shallow stainless container to do it and used it for years indoors.
Q – What is your most exhilarating moment with discus? Any incredible specimens, surprise spawnings, whatever?
A - Exhilarating moments? Watching that Red SS with babies, just seeing them grow!
Q - What is your most frustrating moment with discus?
A - My most frustrating was seeing mommie dearest begin to devour them! I have read this one on the forums over and over. At least now I know how to deal with this one!
Q - How do those in your life feel about keeping discus or your fascination with animals in general?
A - Everyone in my life from early on has been frustrated, disbelieving and tried to steer me in another direction, obviously unsuccessfully. No matter what the goal was - school, veterinary career, fish, horses, dogs, any animals, men… HAHA! . When it comes to discus-keeping, the questions abound! “Why do you work so hard at a hobby?” “Why do you like a fish that is so difficult to keep?” “Why do you like them?” “They don’t do anything!” ”They just sit there!” I still don’t get what it is they want them to do. Dance a jig? Put on an act? Play a sport? Whatever! Years ago, I opened a Chinese cookie. The saying was: “the great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.” I carry this in my wallet to this day!
Q - Do you have any advice for newer hobbyists or any examples of mistakes you made and how to avoid them?
A - Advice for new hobbyists is like playing with fire. I remember being there. The biggest problem is lack of patience. The first thing we need is patience. No one can give that to us. No matter how often they are told to read, read and read it again, we read the same questions that tell us they did not. I guess this is just human nature. There is a huge learning curve in this hobby. I went through it and lost many fish while I learned, as did many of you. Perhaps this is a necessary step, indeed it is a necessary step in our ongoing education in the process of keeping and raising these wonderful fish. This forum with all the input over time from every one of our members has certainly touched every aspect of discus-keeping that has arisen. We can all be proud of this great accomplishment and it will continue to be a leader in this area. Be assured if you start in this hobby, you too will go through this learning curve, hopefully made much easier now by following the advice given by members of this and other forums dedicated to the “King”.
Q - Do you have any thanks or credit to give for your success with discus? Any mentors or colleagues who you think deserve some kudos?
A - Gosh, thanks go to everyone in this forum. How do you single out anyone in particular? Cary and Al I bugged a lot from the onset with crazy problems. Carol also helped with technical questions, and I really loved her beginner sections. Now the “incorrigible one”! He just wanted to challenge me! Tad I love ya, and those “babies” are a year old this month, believe that one?
Q - What do you see as the future of the discus hobby? Do you see more new hobbyists or less?
A - I see no reason why the future of the discus should not be filled with new hobbyists. The technology gets better all the time. The fish will sell itself by its own beauty. There are more knowledgable people today to breed and sell and maintain the fish in captivity so perhaps if there becomes a problem with in the wild there will still be a major population. So far, from what I have read and heard from the people that have been there, this is not yet a threat, but it must be monitored carefully, since the native people do depend on this for a livelihood.
Please tell us all a little about yourself. Your name, where you live, etc. Are you single, married, attached? Other hobbies? Any significant non-discus achievements you want to brag about? Plus tell us how did you get into raising discus or fish in general. We want the whole story!
A - Ok, here goes! You all know me as Korbi _doc, or Dottie. I now live in Southern Jersey, outside Atlantic City and have been a practicing veterinarian here for 30+ yrs, something I always wanted to do, my first “real dream as a kid”. When I could not achieve this in my home state of Massachusetts, my second choice as a registered Physical Therapist served me well through 2 marriages and 2 children, which was when I began my lifelong interest in fish.
Obviously animals have always had a big place in my life, just not where and when I wanted them. Horses and Dobermans were a must, but more difficult to obtain and I had to wait awhile, so fish filled the gap through my early days. They were many types of livebearers and cichlids. My kids still remember the Kribs strolling around the community tanks with babies while holding the other fish in the corners. This happened often. We would all lie on the floor watching the mollies or guppies or swordtails “delivering”. Those were the days! I still have 2 of those old tanks with slate bottoms and metal trim, a 2g useful for raising bbs and a 29g it leaks!! I’m so sentimental I haven’t been able to toss it, still want to fix it! I’m always wanting to do that with things, I hate to let go!
In 1969, our world was turned topsy turvy when I was finally accepted to University of Pennsylvania veterinary school after what seemed like a hundred years of banging on doors to get into a school at a rather late date, after all by their standards I was already old! So the fish had to go on hiatus for awhile. Then, later, after settling down here in Southern Jersey with my husband, children and a Doberman Pinscher, I setup my practice. The fish interest returned and my tanks came out of hibernation to be set up and added to for, this time, saltwater fish. These were indeed fun for quite awhile, one Volitans lionfish even living with me for over 9 yrs.
By then I had horses which I was showing and breeding. The practice was so busy that again fish went on a hiatus for a short while until in Nov. 2001, I hit the net looking for African cichlids to start back with. More on that later.
Anyway, on with the story. My son Rick retired from the navy (what’s wrong with this picture?) and lives with his wife and 5yr old daughter in Jacksonville, Fla. He loves it there. He has always liked the warmer climates. His older son, (previous marriage) is in the navy, married, 1 child, living in Vegas. My daughter Debbie and her husband Doug, and daughter and HER daughter (complicated huh??) live here near me. Deb and Doug have been a big help to me with this discus obsession, while not understanding in the least why I do this. They installed the pvc for the linear piston pump from one end of the house to the other for my tanks, to say nothing about moving those huge tanks into the house when I needed them.
Now for the latest in my saga, and this one is even scarier! Retirement plans! My best friend of 31+ yrs and head honcho for my veterinarian hospital and I have decided its time to get out of Dodge! NJ has become a sinkhole for money, with taxes, competition, restrictions and a high cost of living. We both would love to retire to a place where we can have our dogs and horses and ride down the road and in the woods safely so we can enjoy our later years. She and her husband have found a home with enough land for a horse and barn in Tennessee. So I am searching too and of course what do you think is the first thing I look for in realty? They think I’m nuts down there too! Water and large area for fish tanks. I do think I’ve found the right place, with all of that and a large pasture with pond for the horses. It will be so difficult to leave all that we have built up here, friends, family and devoted clients, but it seems the time has come.(Tears!)
But how will I move these tanks and fish all the way to Savannah TN? The horses are no problem, but discus? Oh well, may take a year or more to get to that point…
Back to 2001. I surfed the net for Africans and stumbled on that round discus-looking fish I remembered from years ago as a rather dull brownish vertical slow-moving fish with bluish markings that I thought rather uninteresting. But when I saw the newer models showing up on the sites like Jack Wattleys and Peter Thodes, I became somewhat intrigued. The rest is history. I still don’t have my Africans, but the intention is still there. Carol, your tank is an inspiration to me! And now that I will have much more room (much more room to breed, huh, Tad?) (boy am I going to have difficulty reining myself in, this could take couple of years, its only in planning stages) it will become a reality; I am insatiable!
Q - How many fish do you keep presently? What strains? Where did you get them?
A - Presently, I have about 50 assorted sized and colored discus along with a few cories and rams. Still have a few JW blue diamonds, Carys blue diamonds, red snakeskin and melons, 2 gold diamonds from Bruce with lotsa pepper, soon to go, along with pigeons, blue diamonds, cobalts and fire reds from Joe and Hans. Cary’s red snakeskin male is the one that about drove me nuts spawning with any female he could coerce in and out of the community tank, but he made the best father and that was the group that I raised. It was fun and Tad was the challenger throughout and helped a lot with the process. Tad, you were right, it is nice to see my own fish swimming in those tanks. So, someday when the dust settles, I will have the time and energy to go whole hog with these fish! I’m looking forward to that too!
Q - Do you have a dream strain of discus that you want to keep?
A - I DO have a dream fish! That gorgeous wild, dark, solid burgundy curipera!!!! Some of you out there know the one I mean, it has been at the back of what’s left of my mind.
Q - What is your home set up like? How many tanks, what type of filtration, etc?
A - My home set-up is now 2 large tanks, 90g and 125g in the living room on a relatively new, often flooded carpet, due to the 2 32g gathering water from R/O source that sit in between them. Over by stairway to loft bedroom sits the 65ghex and 2 20g tanks. Another 20g in the kitchen, a 37g here beside me at the pc, and in the extra BR, a 100g sitting on the bureau, & a 55g beside the bed. Heaven help any guest that decides to stay, because they had better wear ear plugs if they dont like the sound of bubbles. Actually, it is not that noisy with the linear pump, just the bubbles from sponges.
Q - What do you feed your discus?
A - My filltration is as follows. All my tanks have sponge filters fed from the central linear piston air pump, which I love. Most have AC filters, the 90g has wet/dry and the 125g has the Lifeguard with micron insert. These only cuz they were left over from saltwater days and as I alluded to before I can not part with anything that works. I have 2 Hot Magnums for add ons or emergencies and a vortex diatom.
Right now I feed basic primarily pellets HaiFeng Yazoo and Tetrabits. I also feed frozen Hikari bloodworms daily. I have used Diskusin, Ocean Nutrition 1 and 2, along with Spirulina and Omega flakes. I am not crazy about flakes. I think they pollute more than pellets, but I thought I would give them a try again. Wonder if they feed the Tilapia that are in the pond at the place I’m looking at in TN? Hmmmmmm? And no, I have not made beefheart yet, even though I thought your system is great, Carol! Know what? Now that I think of it, I remember years ago (Gawd I’m old!) I did raise red wigglers very successfully to feed my fish but I havent thought of that in all this time. Someone gave me a very large shallow stainless container to do it and used it for years indoors.
Q – What is your most exhilarating moment with discus? Any incredible specimens, surprise spawnings, whatever?
A - Exhilarating moments? Watching that Red SS with babies, just seeing them grow!
Q - What is your most frustrating moment with discus?
A - My most frustrating was seeing mommie dearest begin to devour them! I have read this one on the forums over and over. At least now I know how to deal with this one!
Q - How do those in your life feel about keeping discus or your fascination with animals in general?
A - Everyone in my life from early on has been frustrated, disbelieving and tried to steer me in another direction, obviously unsuccessfully. No matter what the goal was - school, veterinary career, fish, horses, dogs, any animals, men… HAHA! . When it comes to discus-keeping, the questions abound! “Why do you work so hard at a hobby?” “Why do you like a fish that is so difficult to keep?” “Why do you like them?” “They don’t do anything!” ”They just sit there!” I still don’t get what it is they want them to do. Dance a jig? Put on an act? Play a sport? Whatever! Years ago, I opened a Chinese cookie. The saying was: “the great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.” I carry this in my wallet to this day!
Q - Do you have any advice for newer hobbyists or any examples of mistakes you made and how to avoid them?
A - Advice for new hobbyists is like playing with fire. I remember being there. The biggest problem is lack of patience. The first thing we need is patience. No one can give that to us. No matter how often they are told to read, read and read it again, we read the same questions that tell us they did not. I guess this is just human nature. There is a huge learning curve in this hobby. I went through it and lost many fish while I learned, as did many of you. Perhaps this is a necessary step, indeed it is a necessary step in our ongoing education in the process of keeping and raising these wonderful fish. This forum with all the input over time from every one of our members has certainly touched every aspect of discus-keeping that has arisen. We can all be proud of this great accomplishment and it will continue to be a leader in this area. Be assured if you start in this hobby, you too will go through this learning curve, hopefully made much easier now by following the advice given by members of this and other forums dedicated to the “King”.
Q - Do you have any thanks or credit to give for your success with discus? Any mentors or colleagues who you think deserve some kudos?
A - Gosh, thanks go to everyone in this forum. How do you single out anyone in particular? Cary and Al I bugged a lot from the onset with crazy problems. Carol also helped with technical questions, and I really loved her beginner sections. Now the “incorrigible one”! He just wanted to challenge me! Tad I love ya, and those “babies” are a year old this month, believe that one?
Q - What do you see as the future of the discus hobby? Do you see more new hobbyists or less?
A - I see no reason why the future of the discus should not be filled with new hobbyists. The technology gets better all the time. The fish will sell itself by its own beauty. There are more knowledgable people today to breed and sell and maintain the fish in captivity so perhaps if there becomes a problem with in the wild there will still be a major population. So far, from what I have read and heard from the people that have been there, this is not yet a threat, but it must be monitored carefully, since the native people do depend on this for a livelihood.