March Spotlight - zoids/Roy Khoo

[DarkDiscus]

This month's spotlight is with Roy, also known as zoids. I want to thank Roy for his time and effort and also for the energy he put into keeping me from having to do a lot of editing! Hopefully he will include some pictures for us to enjoy!

Q - Please tell us all a little about yourself. Single, married, attached? Other hobbies? Any significant non-discus achievements you want to brag about?

A - My name is Roy Khoo and come from the sunny island of Singapore. I'll be turning 31 this year and currently attached with the love of my life Ai Tee. Apart from discus I keep Koi, parrots (2 african greys and a yellow nape
amazon) and some flowerhorns. Other hobbies include playing tennis and scuba diving but have been really busy with discus after I started the hatchery 2 yrs ago. Currently, I'm into keeping marine fishes and live corals. I just wished discus were as vibrant in colors than marine fishes.

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

A - I started out the fish hobby when I was 11 and was successful in breeding and raising bettas and guppies. The discus hobby begun when I was 18, when my dad's friend gave him 8 2.5" Wattley turqs. Initially, for the first few
months, he took care (feeding and doing water changes) of the fishes but he slowly assigned those tasks to me and I was hooked on the hobby big time. The "discus craze" was so bad that I visited most of the shops that sold discus in singapore and would end up buying fishes. This of course led to the addition of more and more tanks. Even till this day I will always remember the expression on my mom's face (Oh no, not more fishes Roy!) whenever I brought more fishes home. On numerous ocassions my dad would
accompany me for discus hunting and I would have a field day with him being the paymaster. To think of it I really enjoyed that father-son bonding when we went out to look for fishes and i would like wise do so when i do have kids of my own. Whenever I knew there was a new discus book out in the stores ii was a must have and I would not take no for an answer.

Q - How did you decide to take the plunge into breeding as a professional endeavor?

A - I have not plunged into breeding discus as a professional but have a day job and a partner who manages the hatchery full time. I would visit the
hatchery during the weekends to help out and to pair off the adult fishes.

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

A - Breeding fishes with vigor and nice body shape was difficult. There were many occasions where me and my partner would sit in front of a tank of fry at 1-2" and critique each fish for body shape, gill cover, eye and finnage.
For aspiring breeders a word of advice is always start with good and healthy stock from reputable breeders. Choose the fish yourself if you can or ask for second opinions.

Q - How many pairs do you currently have producing? How many tanks? What would be the maximum you could handle
with that system?

A - We have about 15 pairs breeding at any one time and the other pairs are in the community tank resting. The pairs are usually rested for about 1-2 weeks depending on their condition after breeding. There are 51 seventy-five gallon and 21 thirty gallon tanks in the present setup. If the hatchery was to be fully utilized, it should be able to accommodate about 2500 2" fishes comfortably.

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 - We are happy with most of the strains we have e.g Blue Diamonds, Soild Yellows, Golden and Melons. But I think more work needs to be done to improve the shape of our Red Spotted Greens and the consistency of spots on
the Leopard Snakes. Currently, we are working to stabalize the spots and eye color on the white leopards that we have. We are also constantly trying to improve on our current stock in terms of body shape. To us the body shape of the fish is of utmost importance, color is secondary. There are no preference in the particular fish I like, to me every fish is nice as they have their own beauty and character.

Q - Any tips on breeding or raising discus?

A - Always breed healthy fishes. Regular feedings and water changes are the key to success for raising young fishes. Adults are fed about 2 times a day and young fish (anything between 1" - 4&quot are fed about 4-5 times a day.

Q - What do you feed your discus? You must go through a ton of fish food!

A - We feed the fishes oxheart, bloodworms and brine shrimp. The bulk of the food we use is oxheart and the fishes chow down about 50 kg or more per month easily.

Q - What is your most exhilarating moment with discus?

A - Whenever there is a new brood of fry on the way. Watching the parents care for their young is simply wonderful.

Q - What is your most frustrating moment with discus?

A - The most frustrating moment is to see a pair do their dance rituals before spawning and when the female starts to lay her eggs the male is by her side doing nothing and acting dumb.

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

A - To consistantly breed nice healthy fishes and hopefully create a new strain of discus.

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

A - My parents are in full support and love the fishes. Both of them help me out when i'm out on overseas trips. My girlfriend is very supportive of me keeping discus and ocassionally accompanies me to the hatchery. All I need
to do now is to get her help do some water changes and talk discus to me one day. Wish me luck.

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

A - Never give up on a pair of discus, patience pays off in the end. I had a pair of yearling blue cobolts many years back. The pair had spawned about 8 times before they produced 20 fry. It was frustrating to see all the eggs
turn white but when they had those 20 frys I treated them like gold.

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 - My parents Tommy and Lillian for always being so supportive in my hobby. The countless books I read were my mentors, the rest were hands on experience.

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

A - I believe there would be more people taking up discus keeping as a hobby. Caring for discus is not as hard as what most would say. With the internet providing a wealth of information including all the helpful people on the
various discus forums, discus keeping can be easy. I would think a Yellow Leopard Snake would be something nice that I would like to develop.

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

A - My partner Eric for being as crazy as me to start this hatchery. Kelvin my childhood buddy for being there for me through thick and thin.

Thank you Roy for taking the time to answer my questions and give us your thoughts on discus keeping!

[SLY]

nice interview..kudos to both of u and I can testify that tommy and lillian(roy's parents) are very nice people..it's been fortunate to know the family and hope the friendship can last forever. ;D

[zoids]

Some pics of my fishes.

[zoids]

Another.

[zoids]

Another

[zoids]

Another

[zoids]

Another

[zoids]

Last Pics.

[Jeff]

Great interview. Now just send all the fry to the US. ;D We need them here.

[brewmaster15]

Awesome interview John!!!, and Roy... thanks for sharing! I have to say... those fish are spectacular! feel free to send them any time!

-al

[EthanCote.com]

Nice interview indeed. Nice to meet you Roy.

And very nice fishes indeed. Don't send them to the states, instead send them to Canada ;D we need some nice breeding stocks over here


Cheerio,

Chi.

[mench]

Another great job John.Nice to finally find out all the straight scoop on Roy.His fish look super,now if we could get them to the U.S. at a reasonable shipping cost :'(

Good Job.

Mench

[beta]

WOW! Great interview again!
Im amazed at the quality of your discus, Roy!
Keep up the good work!!!!

[April]

Hi Roy. That is a great interview.
Can your parents adopt me ? I think i need new parents lol.
great fish as usual...only one problem with them. their not in my tanks yet.!!!
But of course if you ask Sly.....i have quit getting discus.
Thanks for sharing. and Thanks John once again for a great interview.
I look forward to these.

[Jason]

nice to read a little more about you Roy, I miss our daily discussions as soon as things get better here I'll be back at the w/c club!