Beautiful fish from Darren

[keef]

I picked some Checkerboard Pigeons up about a month ago from Darren @ A1 and am over the moon with them. I must say Darren was awesome, he let me net out the ones I wanted and gave me tons of useful advice. It was about a 25 minute drive to pick em up & they settled in v. quickly. In the first two weeks two got a bit finicky with food so fell a little behind size-wise, I therefore separated them into a 30g tank along with 2 small hero runts that I had previously. Well about 1 month on and all 7 are doing amazingly well, all have grown a MASSIVE amount in the month that I have had them and are happily munching on b/b, f/b/w, tetra buts & Eddies seafood mix. They are patterning up really well too and seem to be colouring up from the front of the body first & towards back half last (you can see this in some of the pics). Can anybody tell me is this how it usually happens with checkerboard pigeons? Of the two that were separated, one fattened up almost immediately & is now back in the main 60g with the other 5. The other is now doing ok appetite-wise and has got his confidence back by chasing the two smaller hero runts around (poor guys!) but just needs a little more time to bulk up before he too joins the others.

So a really positive experience with Darren, and I recommend him to everyone, you can’t go wrong.

The pics below were taken today around feeding time, they aren’t the best quality I know, but I am practicing with my new SLR and will hopefully get a bit better as time wears on!

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd169/hazeyjane5/21april09256.jpg

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd169/hazeyjane5/21april09251.jpg

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd169/hazeyjane5/21april09260.jpg

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd169/hazeyjane5/21april09268.jpg

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd169/hazeyjane5/21april09258.jpg

[kirkp]

Very nice fish. Be sure and keep us updated on their progress.

Kirk

[seanyuki]

I think the spots will cover up the body as they get bigger...
these are mine.

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh127/seanyuki/th_DSCF2392.jpg (http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh127/seanyuki/DSCF2392.jpg) http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh127/seanyuki/th_DSCF2355.jpg (http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh127/seanyuki/DSCF2355.jpg) http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh127/seanyuki/th_DSCF2402.jpg (http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh127/seanyuki/DSCF2402.jpg) http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh127/seanyuki/th_DSCF2269.jpg (http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh127/seanyuki/DSCF2269.jpg)

Super Pigeon Checkboards

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh127/seanyuki/th_DSCF1725.jpg (http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh127/seanyuki/DSCF1725.jpg) http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh127/seanyuki/th_DSCF1724.jpg (http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh127/seanyuki/DSCF1724.jpg) http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh127/seanyuki/th_DSCF1716.jpg (http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh127/seanyuki/DSCF1716.jpg) http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh127/seanyuki/th_DSCF1715.jpg (http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh127/seanyuki/DSCF1715.jpg)

[Eddie]

I picked some Checkerboard Pigeons up about a month ago from Darren @ A1 and am over the moon with them. I must say Darren was awesome, he let me net out the ones I wanted and gave me tons of useful advice. It was about a 25 minute drive to pick em up & they settled in v. quickly. In the first two weeks two got a bit finicky with food so fell a little behind size-wise, I therefore separated them into a 30g tank along with 2 small hero runts that I had previously. Well about 1 month on and all 7 are doing amazingly well, all have grown a MASSIVE amount in the month that I have had them and are happily munching on b/b, f/b/w, tetra buts & Eddies seafood mix. They are patterning up really well too and seem to be colouring up from the front of the body first & towards back half last (you can see this in some of the pics). Can anybody tell me is this how it usually happens with checkerboard pigeons? Of the two that were separated, one fattened up almost immediately & is now back in the main 60g with the other 5. The other is now doing ok appetite-wise and has got his confidence back by chasing the two smaller hero runts around (poor guys!) but just needs a little more time to bulk up before he too joins the others.

So a really positive experience with Darren, and I recommend him to everyone, you can’t go wrong.

The pics below were taken today around feeding time, they aren’t the best quality I know, but I am practicing with my new SLR and will hopefully get a bit better as time wears on!

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd169/hazeyjane5/21april09256.jpg

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd169/hazeyjane5/21april09251.jpg

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd169/hazeyjane5/21april09260.jpg

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd169/hazeyjane5/21april09268.jpg

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd169/hazeyjane5/21april09258.jpg

Can't see the pictures from the job but I'll check them out first thing in the morning! I really like that strain too so I am anxious to see them. Glad you had a great experience with Darren!

All the best of luck,

Eddie

[keef]

Kirk – thanks mate. I’ll be sure to get some more pics up once they have coloured up a bit more.

Seanyuki – Your fish look very nice indeed. And wasn’t it you who had those beautiful big Blue Diamonds/Sapphires? hidden away somewhere? If so then I am still in awe of those fish! My BD’s are unbelievably slow growers I’m beginning to think I was sold some kind of pygmy strain! (although you’d never know it by the amount the they eat) :)

Eddie, yep I love this strain too. Although I didn’t realise how much until I got round to Darren’s place and saw a tank full of ‘em. Btw –your seafood mix is a real hit with ‘em. They go insane for it – good work Mr Oliver!

[Eddie]

Eddie, yep I love this strain too. Although I didn’t realise how much until I got round to Darren’s place and saw a tank full of ‘em. Btw –your seafood mix is a real hit with ‘em. They go insane for it – good work Mr Oliver!

LOL, Glad they enjoy it, should put some good growth on'em. ;)

I'll be looking at the pics in the AM for sure.

Take care,

Eddie

[TankWatcher]

They're beautiful. Pattern is so nice. Thanks for sharing.

[Darren's Discus]

Keith,
glad to see your fish are doing so well,keep up the good work.


cheers

[Eddie]

Super super nice, they are gorgeous Keith. Those are definitely some beauty's.

All the best of luck with them,

Eddie

[DiscusDude85]

O man. What awesome discus.! I love the check pb ive got a real soft spot for them. Best of luck with these gorgeous discus.




Joe

[keef]

Thanks for the kind comments everyone. Darren the fact that they were such good quality fish to start with makes it easy!

[Eddie]

Thanks for the kind comments everyone. Darren the fact that they were such good quality fish to start with makes it easy!

Yup, Darren does have some amazing quality discus. I'd pay alot for that group.

Eddie

[seanyuki]

Hi keith,


The Blue Sapphire are slow growers too cos neglected them from the start and some got runt but took a long long time to grow them up again.....your checkerboard pigeons are very nice too & thanks for posting them.

Cheers
Francis:)



Kirk – thanks mate. I’ll be sure to get some more pics up once they have coloured up a bit more.

Seanyuki – Your fish look very nice indeed. And wasn’t it you who had those beautiful big Blue Diamonds/Sapphires? hidden away somewhere? If so then I am still in awe of those fish! My BD’s are unbelievably slow growers I’m beginning to think I was sold some kind of pygmy strain! (although you’d never know it by the amount the they eat) :)

Eddie, yep I love this strain too. Although I didn’t realise how much until I got round to Darren’s place and saw a tank full of ‘em. Btw –your seafood mix is a real hit with ‘em. They go insane for it – good work Mr Oliver!

[Rod]

Looking good keith, very nice discus. :)

[keef]

Thanks guys for the kind comments! Eddie I guess you are in Discus heaven over there in Japan right? Are they as mad about Discus as they are about Koi? I alway think of Japan as the ornamental fish capital of the world lol! You are one lucky guy!!! Francis, yes I have also heard that the BD/BS strains are slow growers, it just makes it all the more worth while when you grow 'em big! - Thanks also Rod, I'm still super-looking forward to hitting you up for some of your fish when they are ready (I even have a tank cycled and ready for 'em!)! Especially those Browns! Wow - there's something about Qld discus... I guess got lucky when I landed in this corner of the world, what with Darren round the corner and you down the road (...even if it is 16 hours down the road!)! PS - I added to your thread in Hobbyist breeders... ;)

[hedut]

Nice :fish::fish::fish::D:D nice body shape to. Thanks for sharing and good luck.

Hendri

[Eddie]

Eddie I guess you are in Discus heaven over there in Japan right? Are they as mad about Discus as they are about Koi? I alway think of Japan as the ornamental fish capital of the world lol! You are one lucky guy!!!

Not really Kieth, I know they are in Main Land Japan but not on Okinawa. They have some amazing wilds in several stores but they are priced super high. Nobody ever buys them.

The hardware store where I picked up all my fish started getting some unreal colors and sizes, probably thinking I was gonna buy them but I am only into healthy looking young fish. Juvenile fish that have potential.

Eddie

[keef]

Not really Kieth, I know they are in Main Land Japan but not on Okinawa. They have some amazing wilds in several stores but they are priced super high. Nobody ever buys them.

The hardware store where I picked up all my fish started getting some unreal colors and sizes, probably thinking I was gonna buy them but I am only into healthy looking young fish. Juvenile fish that have potential.

Eddie

Eddie, sorry mate I must have misread cos I thought you said you got your Discus at THE HARDWARE STORE! That's so funny!!! I'm marching right into my local hardware store in the morning and I'm gonna ask them where the hell THEIR Discus are! Shame about the prices though eh? Do they have good Koi where you are? I really miss them, I used to have an awesome Koi pond when I lived back in London and would love one here but Koi are banned in Qld; they are on the declared noxious species list due to them being basically ornamental carp. (However, goldfish which are about the closest related species in the cyprinidae family to the carp and would share pretty much exactly the same ecological niche in the wild are perfectly legal?!? Maybe it's cos goldfish don't have barbels and as such look more uncarplike? Who knows?)

Anyways I'm with you all the way when it comes to young quality Discus that you can grow out! A bit cheaper and much more satisfying. My only stipulation is that they come from a trustworthy source. In my case either Darren or Rod here in Qld. About 3 months ago I gambled on 6 baby BDs from a local LFS (they were about as big as my thumb nail) & only about 10 bucks each. I asked the owner (whom is a nice and honest guy) did he think they would grow out well, and he said yes, he honestly thought they would as he had seen the parents. Well three months later, after lots of time an effort expended, I have 6 well grown BDs. Only problem is that they developed black patches all over their bodies about a month after I got them, and are still somewhat 'beaky' (I know all small fish are beaky but this looks pretty permanent already). I guess there was some pigment throwback issue that the LFS owner couldn't have known about, so I dont blame him at all, it's just one of those things. The long & short is that I guess they would now be classed as culls. But I am gonna use them as hero fish for my q/t tanks. It was worth a shot, and at 10 bucks a piece it hasnt exactly wiped me out :p. It's just that Discus are a fish that morph so significantly in patternation & shape from juvenile to to adult stages that buying youngsters blind is too risky for me now. I guess there is a point somewhere when they're still young that you can see exactly how the shape and pattern is going to develop... The trick is getting them at this cusp before they fall over into 'expensive adult territory' lol!
Just one of the many, many things that make Discus such a challenging hobby - but like you Eddie, I wouldn't have it any other way! :D
keith

[GrillMaster]

Beautiful fish from Darren Keith! All the best with them! :)

[keef]

Cheers Mark!
Keith

[yim11]

Very Nice fish!!

Have their colors/spots changed since you got them?

[keef]

Very Nice fish!!

Have their colors/spots changed since you got them?

Thanks Yim!
Yes they have. Aside from growing like weeds, the fish have definitely patterned out towards the caudal area. This was the last area to develop patternation, which is something I believe is common with checkerboard pigeons. It's not so much that the spots/patterns have changed as such, they have just become more pronounced in the areas that had little/no patternation before.
Keith

[Kenny's Discus]

Hi Keith,

Excellent Checkerboard Pigeons you got from Darren, nice conformation and pattern at this age. You can't go wrong getting fish with the knowledgeable and always ethical and helpful Darren my friend!

All the best with them!:)

Kenny

[Darren's Discus]

Hi Keith,

Excellent Checkerboard Pigeons you got from Darren, nice conformation and pattern at this age. You can't go wrong getting fish with the knowledgeable and always ethical and helpful Darren my friend!

All the best with them!:)

Kenny

your too much.

cheers

[Kenny's Discus]

Darren,

See my signature.;)

Kenny

[pcsb23]

I do like chequerboards and these are very nice :D Congrats. (nice one Darren)

[keef]

Cheers Kenny & Paul!
They are coming along really well, I'll try and get some more pics up over the coming weekend. I have already had a pair form from this group, although it seems to just be all talk at the moment, lots of shaking etc, but no end product. Still, as they are are only 10 months old there's plenty of time for flowerpot shenanigans in the future. :p

[Eddie]

Cheers Kenny & Paul!
They are coming along really well, I'll try and get some more pics up over the coming weekend. I have already had a pair form from this group, although it seems to just be all talk at the moment, lots of shaking etc, but no end product. Still, as they are are only 10 months old there's plenty of time for flowerpot shenanigans in the future. :p

Any picture updates Keith, gotta love those CBPs? ;)

Eddie

[keef]

Any picture updates Keith, gotta love those CBPs? ;)

Eddie

Here you go Eddie - two of my favourites paired up a few weeks ago and this is the result! It's their 3rd time of trying but is by far the biggest batch so far. Fingers crossed!

[keef]

and one more...

[Mr Wild]

Looks like we could do an even swap of a few of these critters!

[Eddie]

Thanks for the update! They look amazing! Darren definitely takes care of his customers! Thats great!

All the best,

Eddie

[TankWatcher]

Oh, keep us posted. Hope you get lots of cute little fry.