OCTOBER 2003 MEMBER SPOTLIGHT - RYAN WONG (ORIENT)

[DarkDiscus]

Here we are, folks, in record time. I have to thank Ryan (Orient) for really speeding up the process and getting back to me within a day with the questions! I was planning on doing a bit of a Halloween special, but I'm thinking that everyone would rather just hear about Ryan ASAP and also see some pics of his great fish. So, that's my October surprise - an early spotlight!

And heeeeeere's the real, uncensored Orient!

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 - Hi there, my name is Ryan Wong and generally known as Wong among my friends over here. I'm 31 and come from Penang, Malaysia. Just gotten married in May to my pretty wife Mei Kin this year and expecting my first baby boy in Feb 2003... I am going to be a dad!

Apart from discus, I keep marine fish and 5 dogs at home. Pretty much discus keeping has been my main hobby. The amount of work and time required to maintain my farm takes up the bulk of my time. I am very happy to have a very understanding wife.

Q - Congratulations on your impending fatherhood! How did you get into discus? Where was the first discus you saw? How long had you been into fish first?

A - I had my first discus in 1990 when my present partner and good friend Lawrence Soon gave me some discus (brilliants). It was love at first sight and started my journey into amazing world of discus keeping. I never kept any fish before and can you imagine the amount of anxiety and stress that those discus put me through? I nearly gave up on those delicate fish until I had my first pair spawning. That precious moment made all the effort worthwhile.

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

A - I actually stopped keeping discus in 1992 when I left to the States for my undergraduate studies in Lexington, KY. Came back in 1996 and started working in a bank. The mundane job nearly drove me nuts and I lasted only 9 months on the job. As chance would have it, I was reunited with Lawrence Soon and soon joined his company, Lucky Tropical Fish Farm as his partner. Hey, I was thinking, isnt it great to work with something you really enjoy. I have never looked back since. We are among the pioneering companies in discus breeding and among the first to market our discus online.

I am really more of a marketing man and only help out in the w/c... LOL! Most of the breeding is managed by Lawrence and he is a very qualified and experienced discus keeper. All the credit goes to him. I am just someone that handles all the sales, money and complaints..

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

A - The major obstacles are generally producing the best shaped discus and keeping them healthy. Discus fry below 2 inches requires the most care and attention. This is the time when the lack of it will make you runts or culls even if you have the best shaped parents. There are so many times that we get frustrated when we see the insanely high amount of frys that we have to cull.

For aspiring breeders, patience is the major trait that you must have and always buy good reputable breeding stock. Do seek opinion of other enthusiast/breeders. We might know a lot but never everything.

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

A - I normally have about 50 pairs of fish breeding at any one time and they are rested when they have bred three times in row. Normal resting period is 2 weeks. Sometimes they just don't get it that they are on holiday and will spawn in the community tank.

In my breeding farm, I have 240 tanks. I am using all 55 gallon tanks for my breeders and grow outs. Water storage capacity is 14,000 gallons and they are aged overnight prior to use. My water here is very soft at less than 100 ms and ph remains at 7.0-7.5 for all my tanks. This way, my fish gets acclimatized easier when they are shipped. I have room for another 120 tanks in my present place.

I have a separate facility for my packing and quarantine located near my farm bout 5 minutes drive away. This facility has 150 - 55 gallon tanks and normally houses discus and other tropical fish prior to their shipment. Fishes here undergo strict quarantine process and has separate nets and hoses.

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 strains do you like best, personally?

A - I work a lot with the spotted variety like Leopards, Leopard Snakeskins and RSGs. It was until couple years ago that we tried to cross our own breed and we started with solids. As a result, Mandarin Passion was born. We are very proud of this fish and have selectively bred them untll F3 prior to releasing them commercially.

Generally all discus still have room for improvement. To me, I will always need to correct the shape, color, eyes and finnage of my fish. I am never a believer that we have the best fish now because discus can always get better.

We are currently working extensively on breeding spotted golden spotted red fishes like the gold RSG, gold Leopard and gold Leopard Snakeskin. Hopefully we can see them very soon.

I dont really prefer a certain strain over another. As long as the shape is good, I am game for it. If its not, I will work towards improving it.

Q - Any tips on breeding or raising discus?

A - Patience. It's so common to hear discus about parents eating up their wrigglers or eggs. Discus do this all the time. Parental instinct is strong in this fish and that is what makes them so special. Again, source for the best available breeding stocks.

When you do get successful spawns, be prepared to make a lot of sacrifices with regard your leisure time. Fry do require a lot of attention and care when they are growing up. I always admire hobbyists that manage to produce high quality discus knowing the amount of time they poured into this hobby.

Q - What do you feed your discus?

A - I only feed my fish BeefHeart mix. Bloodworms are only fed to the breeders.

Q - What is your most exhilarating moment with discus?

A - Huge spawns. It always brings a smile to my face when I see the breeders covered with fry. Its amazing how well these fish care for their young.

Q - What is your most frustrating moment with discus?

A - It would be when my breeders decides to go on strike on me. They just look at you dumbly and pretend not to notice the cone.

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

A - My goal would be to create more new strains and make better-shaped discus. There is always room for improvement.

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

A - I have been blessed with a very supportive family and especially my wife. She is my biggest supporter and critic.

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

A - Discus are hardy fish. There was this one time when I shipped my fish to Glasgow Scotland and it ended up in Italy. The flight was re-routed and 24 hrs later reached Glasgow. Only 10% deaths on that shipment. Total time in bag was more than 60 hrs. I never expected them to make it at all.

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 - To my good friend and partner, Lawrence Soon for introducing me into this hobby and keeping a sane mind when I lost mine!

There are too many people to thank and especially to my discus friends that I have gotten to know the past year here, Sly, Roy, Jeff, April, Al, Miles, RyanS, Glenn, Dan, Henry, Jack and many more. I am very sorry if I have left out any here. Apart from discus, I am very happy to have gotten to know these bunch of discus nuts.

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

A - Definitely more people will be in this hobby. Its not as difficult as it seems.

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

A - I have a new website going online on the 8th Oct 2003. The address is at www.absolutediscus.com . This is my discus only site. More pictures can be seen there.

On an ending note, I am extremely gratified to be in the spotlight. Its an honor and I would like to extend a big thanks to all the members here.

Q - Thank you very much, Ryan! I am sure that everyone is looking forward to you posting some pics to this thread. I would personally appreciate it if you could post some pics of strains you and Lawrence are currently working on so that we can watch along with you as they develop!

[darcy]

Great interview!! Top notch!! Thanks guys.
Darcy

[Discus_KC]

Ryan,

What a great spotlight !!!!! We need more mentors to help us learn !!! Thank you for inspiring us to strive for better quality fish !!!! I agree, there is always room for improvement !!!!!!!

Now it's time for some pics !!!!!

Jack


John, thanks for all the hard work !!!! You make it look easy !!!!!!

[Glenn]

Thanks guys its alwats fun to find out more stuff about the guys we chat with.good job .

[henryD]

Great interview......of course we are all waiting patiently for those pictures......




Ok have I demonstrated enough patience yet?

Let see those

Henry

PS......Ah your a superstious man. Waiting til October 8th to start the new website......Well then I wish you lots of it...

88888888888888888 and bunch of 10's to go with it. 10-8 10-8 10-8 10-8 10-8 10-8 10-8 10-8 10-8. or some 4's 4848484848484848484. ;D ;D ;D

[Ryan]

Great interview, guys! I'm excited for the pictures too. I've never seen a fish from Orient that I didn't like. Show us those half-black blue diamonds

Ryan

[DarkDiscus]

By the way, what is it with guys name Ryan and tropical fish? Before this forum I never knew anyone named Ryan in my entire life except a history teacher I had whose last name was Ryan.

And we have how many Ryans here now who are fish nuts??

Very interesting trend here!

;D

John

[ronrca]

Thanks for the wonderful interview! It is always encouraging to hear how people are continuing to strive for excellance in this hobby despite down sets and failures.
Thanks again!

[April]

Great interview 'Oryan"!!! his new name in chat. very hard to talk to two ryans at once.
Thanks for telling us more about you. and yes a very speedy spotlight . Hardly was like an exam at all . lol.
I have two little mandarin passions in my tank that followed me home yesterday from the airport. and they are very nice looking little babies. cant wait to watch them grow up.
;D

[CARY_GLdiscus]

Well Done Guys! Great Report! ;D

[zoids]

Ryan,

Great going man .

Going to be a family man soon yeah.

All the best and great interview guys.

Roy

[CARY_GLdiscus]

Thanks Roy,
I forgot to add best wishes to you and your new family ryan! ;D

Cary + family

[SLY]

Great Interview as usual from John..hey you have been using the same set of questions for a year now..time to get some new questions to dig out even more information for the next victim..I smell "randall". :P

Great job orient for keeping those quality fishes and only sell the good ones..keep up the good work and enjoy your fatherhood.

[DarkDiscus]

Sly,

Well, I've changes some of the questions, but most are the same... I did have some Halloween questions to ask, but I was told there's no Halloween over there, so they wouldn't have worked out very well...

BUT...

I'm thinking of doing a special Halloween interview late this month!

;D

John

[korbi_doc]

Hey john, that was a great interview, very enlightening & inspiring!!

Ok, "Oryan" its so good to know you & your ideals in discus-keeping! I can't conceive a "working discus farm" that large & all-encompassing. I look forward to seeing your beautiful fish! Who knows, maybe someday some of us will actually get to visit your "discusdom".

I wish you & your expectant wife much joy & happiness in your future! Dottie ;D