JULY SPOTLIGHT - JASON NEIMI

[DarkDiscus]

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 Jason Niemi, I live in a small town of 130,000 in Northwestern Ontario, called Thunder Bay, I'm 27 and have lived here for most of my life, sorounded by lakes and trees. My other hobbies other than fish are mixed martial arts/kick boxing, I've had some levels of success with that. I'm single and have never been attached or married-wich could be considered an achievement I guess.. I do have a room mate though that I have lived with for 4 years now.

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

A - When I was really young like four or 5, whenever I went fishing or camping with my parents I would always catch frogs or turtles and sneak them home to keep in my room, sometimes I would even try to keep the tiny fish we caught and minnows alive after the trip. When I would go shopping with my mom I would take off to the aquarium section in Zellers or the pet store in the area, and plead with her to buy me fish and bowls and stuff. I think it was Christmas 1980 when I got my first tank, I still have it, it was a Hartze longlife 15 gallon with a plastic lid, a tiny bubble-box filter, and bright blue gravel, the star wars figures I got that year went in there too!, I didn't start out with most of the types of fish people do, I was more interested in tetras and angels than guppies and goldfish, then for almost every x-mas or birthday after that I asked for a new aquarium, eventually my room was filled with tanks of fish and newts and frogs.
I dont know when I first saw a discus, but aunts and uncles and people would buy me books about fish for birthdays and stuff, I remember looking at them and wanting them like every other fish in the book.

Then it was boxing day 1987, I was shopping for sales with my friends when I went to the pet store and saw 4 wild blues in a tank on the very top shelf for 25 dollars each, so I said bag them up!

By that time I was into dwarfs and some of the smaller S.A. cichlids, my tap water was just great for those fish and discus. I put them in a 55 gallon that had some gravel but was pretty clean. I did do alot of water changes then, because a local angel breeder I had met told me that was the "secret." Most my tanks were either bare to or had very little gravel because I never had any luck with plants and still don't, and I didn't use undergravels at all either. Most of the tanks I got came from yard sales and stuff and they always came with some kinda power filter or bubble filter, I still have a box of stuff that belongs in a museum.

Anyways one of the discus died within a week, but the other 3 grew and did well, very well after I had them for over a year I could tell something was going, so I put some peat moss in the filters and 2 paired up and laid eggs, I pulled the slate out and hung the eggs upside down like I was doing with angels but they didn't hatch. Eventually I got wrigglers and I'd see them feed off of the adults it was really neat, the pair would spawn again and the 3rd fish would take-over raising the babies. I would try to sell them or trade them in but nobody was able to keep them alive for very long, including myself, I did manage to raise a few wich weren't too great by todays standards though. Eventually I sold the pair because I wanted the new nice discus that were showing up like brilliants and turquise. Then it was all uphill, I could raise out nice fish and spawn them, but never had any more luck raising babies for a few years after that.
then by the time I was in high-school I still had some, but other things were more important. Finally, I got an old tfh magazine and saw Axelrod in Singapore visiting Gan and Chai's farms and I was hooked again.


Q - What were the major obstacles involved in setting up your fish room. Any specific challenges that needed to be overcome and how did you do it?

A - Right now my fishroom is a mess, I've got tanks all over the place, my new room will be fairly modern. My only advice for people at the fishroom stage is try to streamline everything, make things as efficient as possible. Its a great hobby and very rewarding, but when you get over extended, its just not fun anymore. You got into the hobby to enjoy the fish not to slave away doing water changes and having other aspects of your life suffer because of it. When it gets to that point, step back and take a break. I've had to do this a few times over the years, then eventually you pick back up and its all fun again - the reason you started in the first place.

Q - How many fish do you currently have? What strains are you the most happy with? What strain/s do you like best, personally?

A - Due to a fammily situation I've scaled back alot recently. I have some of my own fish that are adults in a 180 for now and some wilds in my bedroom and some heckel crosses in another tank that I'm waiting to find something to cross them with. I really like wild yellow/browns right now, and heckels of course, and I really like all the older strains you don't really see anymore. Those were the fish I first saw in the books and I want them again. I guess the hobby has gone full-circle for me. I do like the new stuff, like the mellons and whites and gold snakes. I can very much appreciate all the hard work that goes into those and if I was just starting out that's what I'd have, but they are just not "my thing."

Q - Any tips on breeding or raising discus?

A - Start with good fish and Good advice! If I listened to those know-it-all clowns that hang out at the lfs or on the internet these days, I would have never made it this far. The fish themselves will show you you everything you need to know, its no secret anymore what to feed or when to medicate etc,etc, but still the fish will show you when its time to do those things. Also follow mother nature, She's giving the discus all they've needed for millions of years, she also has no problems spawning heckels or raising fry.

Q - What do you feed your discus?

A - Right now just a seafood mix that I'm constantly playing with, bloodworms, pellets, red wrigglers, and flour beetles.

Q - What is your most exhilarating moment with discus?


A- When heckels court and spawn for me.

Q - What is your most frustrating moment with discus?

A - When the same heckels eat their eggs, lol, also when I get a nice wild that's just beautiful as nice as any man made fish, the kind that looks like he was the king of the river 2 months ago, then just sort of loses his zest for life and is just content to eat, live and exist.

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

A- Yes, in mid August I'll be launching my website with alot of great products intended for the discus keeper as well as articles of interest, and I will be Canada's first major online discus hatchery and importer, finaly bringing in the strains and quality of discus that the discus fanatics up here deserve to have, right here in our own country.

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

A - My close friends and family are not really as suportive in so much as they are understanding, I guess alot of them realize I do what I do because I love it so much and in a way that helps them understand.

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

A - Well, one time I was defrosting some beefheart mix in the fridge, my roomate Mike's brother is a chef and is always dropping food-off for us, those two are very competitive with each other, I came home that day and Mike was telling his brother on the phone that his new pate' spread sucked and he needed to go back to culinary school.

Then there was a few years back when naturose was the buzz word, I tried to get some but it was crazy expensive, so I got the synthetic stuff, anyways it wasn't doing much to my fish so I tried about 10 capsules myself, everyone I bumped into for the next two weeks asked if I went to mexico or something.

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 - Yes, a lot of people who unfortunately have moved on, or are in a better place.
All my friends on the internet April, Al, Ryan, Jeff, Sly, Roy, Jack, Tyler, I gotta stop because I dont want to leave out anybody, you know who you guys are and how much you mean to me.

Cary Strong and Rod Lewis, until I met these two guys I'd though I'd have to wait till I retired like Frank to do anything about "my crazy idea."

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

A - Honestly I don't see the hobby getting any bigger people wise, its still just gonna be a hard-core sect of the aquarium hobby. Fortunately with the internet and places like simply, its alot easier for us to find each other and share and network.

I'd like to see wilds a little more standardized in tank generations, like the alenquer and royal blue, even an f4 is still pretty close to what it originaly looked liked. Strains will come and go some will stay, some are dead ends, history repeats itself. What's old now , will be new again. Then if someone can fix the heckel bar that could be big for a while, I hope nobody does.

The quality in North America has to get better though. We are way too far behind Europe, that has to start with everybody here from the importer/sellers to the breeders to the hobby-breeders to the average consumer, there's no excuse anymore. Let's get with it.

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

A - Hehe! Sorry about the pics guys. I'm working on it, before I sat down to type this I took a pic of a valve on my desk here for Daninthesand, and even that sucked!

[DarkDiscus]

Jason,

Thanks a ton for the opportunity to interview you - I'm really looking forward to seeing you get the ball rolling on your dream. I wish you all the luck in the world!

John

PS. On another note - MAN, you are brutal with those run on sentences! You win the award for hardest interview to edit!!

[henryD]

Finally!!!!.

Congrats for having the gut to go after your dream. It is always scary to take that step but I know you will have success.

Beside it sounds like you can't do anything else because your grammar is crap. j/k.....

I am interested in seeing the pic of the fishroom. I know the fishroom does not move. So even you could not mess that up.

[ReeferKimberly]

see jason, now that wasn't sooo bad. I can't wait for the pics either ;D
great interview, i need to streamline my tanks like you mentioned.
kimberly :-*

[Discus_KC]

Jason,

Long live the dream !!!!!!!!!!!! If anybody can do it, you are the one !!!!

Jason has gone out of his way to help me with my fish and more importantly, my system !!!!!!! I look forward to putting his knowledge and my labor to work !!!!!!!

Jason, you are great for the hobby and you will achieve your goal. I'm confident in that !!!!!!!!!!

Jack

[Smokey]

Great interview, Jason.
I wish you well. I just know you will succeed.

Smokey

[April]

Good interview Mr. Jason. ;D Thanks for sharing.
Im sure you will do very well with your new venture. And of course im waiting extremely patiently....to hear and see all about them. : ))
And to think poor April hasnt had any new fish for awhile.
Sorry Jack..not sure i can hold off till NOvember. lol.
Anyhow.jason has been a great friend also and he has great values and etiquette so i know he will do well. as the love of his fish and long term committment shows.

[fcdiscus]

Terrific interview guys! Enjoyed it very much, thnks! Frank 8)

[paulmat]

Thanks John for the great interview and thank you Jason for sharing your personal info.
It was nice to learn more about you and your devotion to wilds and esp. Heckles(my favorites also)
Good luck in your future indevours ;D

Paul

[Jeff]

Good job Jason. Now get to work and get some nice discus in there.


Thank you John for the interview.

[brewmaster15]

Way to Go John! We can always count on You!

Jason-
I wish you all the best on chasing that Dream. Your Fellow Canadians are Lucky! You definetly will fill that Void.

Now go do a water change, and get those heckels spawning!

-al

[gary1218]

That wasn't so bad now was it Jason

I'd like to hear a little more about your seafood diet. I can't seem to make one that doesn't float, even after several hours in the tank. My discus are so used to food that sinks that they never find it floating at the surface ;D

Of course you know this interview isn't "officially" complete till we get LOTS OF PICS ;D

GARY

[Ardan]

8)
Well done Jason and John!
Very interesting. I commend you for taking the risk to make your dream a reality. 8)

[Jason]

[quote author=DarkDiscus link=board=1;threadid=11212;start=0#116358 date=1058189057]


PS. On another note - MAN, you are brutal with those run on sentences! You win the award for hardest interview to edit!!




[/quote]

I knew I should'nt have wasted all that money on my edumacation! shulda gots more fish imstead me thinks!

[rickk]

That was a great spot light Jason, thank you for sharing with us. I love to hear about people who have a dream and then set out to achieve it. too many people today have a wish list and then sit down and watch the TV. I can feel the deternination in your story and wish you all the best to achieve it. Well done

Rick