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[seanyuki]

Willie is raising them in a 40 gallons breeder tank.

Looking good!! What size tank is it?

[pablos]

I have two of them as well, but they call ‘Solid Turquoise’ there

[Willie]

It's been just a month since the Flachens arrived. So 28 water changes later, this is how they look.



They seem a little bigger compared to the previous video, although I see them every day so it's hard to tell.

[Willie]

I have two of them as well, but they call ‘Solid Turquoise’ there

Flachens is a Stendker's brand name. When I started raising discus, they were called Cobalts. "A rose by any other name..."

[Shan_Evolved]

Is that a sump setup for the 40breeder grow out? Looking good

[Iminit]

Discus look great and growing nicely! But you are a mean one ! Tricking them with thinking they were getting food!! Even got the rams! ��.

[Willie]

Is that a sump setup for the 40breeder grow out? Looking good

That double stacked sponge is all the filtration they get. That plus the daily water changes.

Discus look great and growing nicely! But you are a mean one ! Tricking them with thinking they were getting food!! Even got the rams! ��.

LOL, they have to eat dry food before I give them beefheart!

[CliffsDiscus]

Flachens is a Stendker's brand name. When I started raising discus, they were called Cobalts. "A rose by any other name..."

There was a Discus Breeder in the 60's name Dr. C Wall he called his strip Discus Wall's Colbalt, then later Bing Seto bought some of these and rename the Bing's Colbalt in the early 70's. Currently solid color turquoise are called colbalt, but breeders like Bing still calls his red turquoise cobalt red.

Cliff

[Willie]

Now I remember, Cliff. That was so confusing when I first met Bing. I kept thinking there was something about his Cobalt Reds that was different from other cobalts! I visited the hatchery several times and invited him to the Frostbite Falls Discus Club in Minneapolis once.

On one visit to Alameda, Bing was out and I learned that the secret to Bing Seto's discus was Mrs. Bing. She did all the artificial rearing!

[Syris71]

Very nice looking Discus. love the tank setup. Also as an avid aquarist ... love those rams too

[CliffsDiscus]

Now I remember, Cliff. That was so confusing when I first met Bing. I kept thinking there was something about his Cobalt Reds that was different from other cobalts! I visited the hatchery several times and invited him to the Frostbite Falls Discus Club in Minneapolis once.

On one visit to Alameda, Bing was out and I learned that the secret to Bing Seto's discus was Mrs. Bing. She did all the artificial rearing!

Willie,
Not only Lyn artificial rearing for Bing, she did it for me too especially when I went on vacation. She would say why does everyone make a big deal about artificially rearing. Ask Bing why was his wife helping in the hatchery he would say because he pays her.
Mostly all of Bing's Discus were striated except for the Pigeons, when the striated strips became almost solid he would sell some of them to me.

Cliff

[LizStreithorst]

I think it comes down to profit vs pleasure. Yes, you can crank them out by doing artificial, but I get my joy from watching parents raise their own. I'm that way not only with my Discus but was also that way when I went through my Angelfish phase, to now breeding Rams. It all comes down to the reason you breed fish.

[Willie]

Bing Seto was one of the earliest US-based breeders who developed a national reputation. Back then, there were only 4 - 5 US breeders with very basic strains: turquoise, cobalt, blue diamonds... I think it's fair to say that Bing's fish ranked very high in desirability. Unlike most US breeders, Bing spent a lot of time getting good breeding stock from Europe and Asia. Almost all the importers were based on the West Coast and imported discus were generally much more expensive, so I expect Bing did very well with his operation.

For anyone thinking about it, artificial rearing took a lot of space and required 3 - 4 feeding/cleaning cycles everyday. And if you commit to it, vacations were pretty much out of the question. I saw it done and it wasn't very difficult - but it required a significant investment of space and time. If I did it, I couldn't sell that many fish locally and I don't enjoy shipping.

It makes a lot of sense if you're a professional outfit, but what's the fun in that?

[CliffsDiscus]

I think it comes down to profit vs pleasure. Yes, you can crank them out by doing artificial, but I get my joy from watching parents raise their own. I'm that way not only with my Discus but was also that way when I went through my Angelfish phase, to now breeding Rams. It all comes down to the reason you breed fish.

Liz,
Artificial is there for the taking, but I have only known less then a handful of breeders since
1960 that can really crank out these fish to no end. Artificial raising could be very profitable
and have many offers to work in Asia but this is not my intended career. I can understand that some hatcherys might want up crank up their production four times the number all for profit.

Cliff

[LizStreithorst]

You nailed it, Cliff. Profit it great, and I could use some profit. But I turned my hobbies into a business once before and found that making my passion into a business took all the fun of it away. I happen to get my fun watching parent's raise their babies. Go figure....