Hans is back

[Charlyc11]

I looks like he is now selling discus from Thailand I was told. They look really nice.

[Iminit]

What’s his shop called?

[jwcarlson]

Yep, he is DiscusX distributor now.
https://discusfishstore.com/
That's his website, Tom.

[mleibowi]

I’m so confused by this. I never bought from him but spoke to hans- really nice guy. What’s going on now???

[jwcarlson]

He used to sell Stendker, but Stendker is closing down.
He moved his shop closer to house he bought for 'retirement', but had a flat roof and was about falling down it sounded like. So he has relocated the fish house twice in a very short period of time.
That's from the business standpoint. He has had some health issues that he's posted about on Facebook.
I bought Stendkers from him almost a year ago and he was great, felt like I got treated really well and he had no idea who I was. Answered a question I had before buying. Called the day my fish arrived. Texted a couple times with me the day off just about how soon I should heat them back up from shipping temp. Great guy so far as I have experienced.
More recently he replied to a picture I put on my personal Facebook page of worm eggs in my discus poop (without asking or tagging him, he just saw it).

[mleibowi]

Thanks Jacob- I thought he closed shop. Hope his health is better and glad to hear he’s still in the discus buisiness.

[bossanova]

He used to sell Stendker, but Stendker is closing down.
He moved his shop closer to house he bought for 'retirement', but had a flat roof and was about falling down it sounded like. So he has relocated the fish house twice in a very short period of time.
That's from the business standpoint. He has had some health issues that he's posted about on Facebook.
I bought Stendkers from him almost a year ago and he was great, felt like I got treated really well and he had no idea who I was. Answered a question I had before buying. Called the day my fish arrived. Texted a couple times with me the day off just about how soon I should heat them back up from shipping temp. Great guy so far as I have experienced.
More recently he replied to a picture I put on my personal Facebook page of worm eggs in my discus poop (without asking or tagging him, he just saw it).
This is all true, but you forgot to mention he also plays the drums and co-founded the famous rock band Fleetwood Mac.

(Kidding, but he does look exactly like mick fleetwood)

[seanyuki]

Hans new facility.

133969

133970

133971

133972

[bossanova]

The old one was 45 min from my house. Sigh. Has Anyone heard of discusX?

[jwcarlson]

I have levamisole from DiscusX, but I do not know about their fish. They look nice, though. I think Tammy interviewed them on her YouTube channel (Discus Talk).

[seanyuki]

Tammy interview with the owner Amgad of Discus X


https://youtu.be/ex61_mipnpQ

[Charlyc11]

Me to now 2 and a half hr drive.



The old one was 45 min from my house. Sigh. Has Anyone heard of discusX?

[Hicgup]

2.5 hours for quality discus is nothing! Granted if you were spoiled by a 45 minute drive I can understand why it would be a bit on an inconvenience. My big take away is that the largest best known discus facility in Europe is no longer the source for Hans, after many years of being their U.S. distributor.

[jwcarlson]

2.5 hours for quality discus is nothing! Granted if you were spoiled by a 45 minute drive I can understand why it would be a bit on an inconvenience. My big take away is that the largest best known discus facility in Europe is no longer the source for Hans, after many years of being their U.S. distributor.

I'm really confused as to what has transpired. In early October Stendker said they had stopped breeding in August and were basically "clearing out". But Super Cichlids in Delaware (Hans relocated basically right behind them initially and you could buy his fish in their store)... Not sure how much warning Hans had compared to the general public, but what is Hans supposed to do... just stop doing what he does? Then... In the middle of October Super Cichlids said they are the future home of "Stendker Discus USA" (and would be doing breeding of Stendker discus). Stendker also posted about this saying Super Cichlids would be the only authorized breeder and food retailer in the US, so it's not just like they were planning on buying some stock and making fry.

I feel like some 'other stuff' went on behind the scenes here. Weird. But... it's not really any of my business.

[Hicgup]

Not really my business either, but my day job is fish business so it makes me curious. Stendker appears to be “up and running” but did notice in January they will ship adult discus (99 euro ea.) direct to homes in Germany. Super Cichlids doesn’t ship fish, so they may be the only U.S. distributor for Stendker, but I can’t see them selling fish like Hans did (unless there is a jobber nearby).

[jwcarlson]

What I'm confused about is that... if they're shutting down... why start a brand new distributor partnership like a month before you close shop? That's my confusion. I'm more interested in the logic behind the decisions than the decisions themselves or the stuff leading up to them.

[Hicgup]

According to Stendker’s Facebook page
Achtung We will not close and will only take a short break from Monday, 26.12. to Friday, 30.12.2022. During this time, there will be no shipping, but orders from our retailers can still be submitted by e-mail to Diskuszucht_Stendker@t-online.de .
From 02.01.2023 we are here for you again.
We will extend the sale of our popular STENDKER discus fish until the end of April 2023.
We will also continue to offer our popular Good Heart feed mixes and our ORIGINAL STENDKER granules through specialist retailers.

[Hicgup]

Maybe Super Cichlids is most interested in carrying Stendker food, as they do ship hard goods.

[jwcarlson]

It looks like they're doing a TON of work, including setting up a breeding room. And it says they'll be an online retailer for Stendker discus. *shrug*
So I guess Stendker isn't shutting down, but at basically the same time as this Super Cichlids activity Stendker was posting that they'd been done breeding since August. Maybe they just mean that they're extending their shutdown until April to clear old stock? And Super is going to... breed their discus in the US?

"Update: 20th October, moving in the first set of 20 gallon tanks.
Update: 18th October, epoxy floor finished in one section.
Announcing the future home of Stendker Discus USA located in Dover, Delaware! We will be the only US authorized breeder and online retailer of these beautiful German discus!
It's a work in progress for sure! We are busy renovating this 7500 square foot building. Installed are new ceilings and lighting, new gas heating, fresh paint and new grinded and prepped floors. Painting epoxy floors today. �� Stay tuned for updates and surprises ahead! Our biggest adventure yet for Super Cichlids! The days are very long and physically exhausting but we are excited about the future!"

And then recently Stendker is announcing a new color/pattern... ?

I dug back a little farther and see now that Stendker had a "deal" that if you bought 100 breeding pairs they would let you tour their facility and teach you their "secrets".
Maybe it's just squeezing the last little bit of juice out of the business, but it certainly doesn't seem... normal.

[bossanova]

It looks like they're doing a TON of work, including setting up a breeding room. And it says they'll be an online retailer for Stendker discus. *shrug*
So I guess Stendker isn't shutting down, but at basically the same time as this Super Cichlids activity Stendker was posting that they'd been done breeding since August. Maybe they just mean that they're extending their shutdown until April to clear old stock? And Super is going to... breed their discus in the US?

"Update: 20th October, moving in the first set of 20 gallon tanks.
Update: 18th October, epoxy floor finished in one section.
Announcing the future home of Stendker Discus USA located in Dover, Delaware! We will be the only US authorized breeder and online retailer of these beautiful German discus!
It's a work in progress for sure! We are busy renovating this 7500 square foot building. Installed are new ceilings and lighting, new gas heating, fresh paint and new grinded and prepped floors. Painting epoxy floors today. �� Stay tuned for updates and surprises ahead! Our biggest adventure yet for Super Cichlids! The days are very long and physically exhausting but we are excited about the future!"

And then recently Stendker is announcing a new color/pattern... ?

I dug back a little farther and see now that Stendker had a "deal" that if you bought 100 breeding pairs they would let you tour their facility and teach you their "secrets".
Maybe it's just squeezing the last little bit of juice out of the business, but it certainly doesn't seem... normal.
Stendker was incredibly nasty to Hans afaik. The original guy passed away and his wife took over the business.

Tbh, I won’t ever get them again, for the simple reason that these latest fish I got from chicago discus (Robert Lim) are much nicer. Stendker were the best at one point but I think time has passed them by. They also perpetrated a bunch of lies about “Asian” discus that bordered on xenophobia.
Good for Hans for seemingly overcoming this BS

[mleibowi]

Love my Asian variety from Ping!

[jwcarlson]

Stendker was incredibly nasty to Hans afaik. The original guy passed away and his wife took over the business.

Tbh, I won’t ever get them again, for the simple reason that these latest fish I got from chicago discus (Robert Lim) are much nicer. Stendker were the best at one point but I think time has passed them by. They also perpetrated a bunch of lies about “Asian” discus that bordered on xenophobia.
Good for Hans for seemingly overcoming this BS

Yeah, I don't know all the back story here, other than it sure feels like there's more to the story. Either way, it's not really any of my business. I'm happy with the Stendkers I got from Hans almost a year ago, but I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to get more of them if I were looking for some. Especially not considering what seems like widespread issues mixing Stendkers with Asian discus.

[FischAutoTechGarten]

Wow... I like that Han's latest place is a rather a Dutch Style barn.

[Willie]

...Maybe it's just squeezing the last little bit of juice out of the business...

There you go. :wave: :wave: :wave:

[Skip]

Was just now trying to understand if Stendker was shutting down or not.. it's still confusing. Is super cichlids gonna try and replicate the German facility breeding operations here in USA?
Seems like a bold strategy..

[Seanliftsnyc]

The story sounds so shady and sounds more like they didn’t do right by Hans…shrugs
Either way he’s got a brand new facility and his new supplier Discus X looks to have some amazing strains of discus.