How did you get into Discus?

[brewmaster15]

How did you get into Discus? I've met alot of hobbyists and heard alot of stories from them as to how they got into Discus. For some of them it was a family member.. maybe a parent that had discus...for others it was a kid that got his parents hooked. I know some people fell in love with discus in books and magazines...and had to have them. Could be a friend or maybe a website.


Me, I was a salt water hobbyist and a co-worker,Greg, in the lab I was employed at was leaving the hobby and he gave me a pair of discus. The pair spawned, raised fry, which I ended up killing through ignorance... but the hook was set and there hasnt been a day in the last 30+ years now that I have not had tanks of discus. That guy Greg would probably be amazed that his gift of a pair of discus had such an impact.. funny how that works.

So how about you.. whats your story?


Al

[dagray]

I had a small 10 gallon tank in high school with two male bettas (divided tank), and swordtails. Before that when I was three my dad had a small tank with angels (zebra by the color I remember). So in August 2012 I went on severance from my federal job as an ammunition inspector due to mission being complete at my location.

At that time I bought a 75 gallon tank (had a 20 gallon set up in my oldest son's room with a Raphael Cat and some other fish), moved the Raphael striped cat into that big tank after cycling the tank, and put some angels in the tank. Next I got a couple small breeder boxes and picked up 10 dime sized 1/2 wild 1/2 domestic strain discus and raised them in the breeding boxes until they were about 1.5 inches diameter when I turned them out into the 75 gallon tank.

I ended up with four discus adults (one proven breeding pair) that were 6.5 inches or bigger diameter. I sold the discus, traded the catfish for supplies, eventually lost the angels and only had albino bristlenose plecostomus.

Decided now that things are paid off to go ahead and add fish to the 75 gallon tank, and add another filter and a UV sterilizer (both have been laying around unused for a few years). Put some fish in the tank and had issues (Nitrate poisoning) so I got my water quality figured out, and added dither fish again with success.

Once I had success with the dither fish (rummy nose, and Cardinal Tetras) I added five wild caught Atabapo Altum angels, and recently added F2 Batata Discus from Hans Discus.

Tank is doing great. Discus are little piggies coming to the front of the tank if I walk by begging for food

The reason for Discus was I was up to the challenge as Discus are said to be the most difficult freshwater fish to keep......my experience is otherwise if one does the tank maint and pays attention to the fish.

[jeep]

I think I've told parts of this story before, but when I was 8 years old, my hippie mother made me move to San Francisco. I absolutely hated living there after being raised in the open spaces, but my mom's hippie boyfriend had oscar's and I enjoyed taking care of them, but I did feel sorry for the goldfish he fed them so I kept a few as pets, lol... One day I discovered a fish store called Fairy Lakes. The owner, Herman, had tanks full of discus he was breeding and I fell in love with them so I bought a 20g high along with 6 2" wild types at .25 cents each. I knew nothing about discus, or water changes or anything they require, but I kept them alive until one of my mom's hippie friends thought it would be cool to see if he could breath through my WW1 gas mask while the filter canister was submerged in the tank. It killed them all within a few hours. But, at .25 cents each, I regrouped and started over. I kept them pretty much unsuccessfully until at age 14 I left the hippies and moved back home to KC.

I always thought about another discus tank but I was too involved with after school activities so I just kept angelfish. In 2002 I decided to take the plunge again and bought some discus from Wattley's. A couple of weeks later, Gabe told me about a new forum called SimplyDiscus. I joined, I learned and the rest is history...

[brewmaster15]

Brian, Herman and Fairy Lake is name that has come up over the years. I never had the pleasure of meeting him or seeing his shop but he really made an impact on discus hobbyist in that area. We didnt have any shops like that in my area. Had many small LFS and when I caught the discus bug I would drive all over the state to see if any shops had discus.. .. which in a state as small as CT means about an hour in any direction. :)

The shops at the time had small 2-3" red turqs called "candy apple reds" at the time.. and they had your basic low end wilds.. so after my first pair those were the two kinds of discus I initially kept.. followed I think by Tank of several strains offered by Peter Thode of Gwynnbrook .

Al

[solasis]

Got the bug for fish keeping again around a year ago. I had done most other fish but never tried discus. They were a bucket list fish for me, but I couldn't muster up the courage to pay that much for fish that were supposedly extremely delicate. Always was told they were very difficult, and not fit for my hard water. Ended up getting a killer deal for a 180 gallon and decided to jump into it.. Got a lot of bad information at the start. Bought an RO filter because I thought they required that. Then I discovered this forum, and you can find my post from last year questioning the water parameters. Y'all told me I could keep them in my tap and I couldn't be more excited haha. Started with a group of 11 from Golden State, then some from Ping, and finally a batch from Chicago Discus for my display tank. All these fish are great, so rewarding to see the fish I got last year at 3 inches being 6-7 inches now. Starting with a good source is one of the best things you can do for yourself. Earlier this year I got a proven pair from Discus Hans which I adore. I have one of their batches of fry I'm growing out right now.. most are around 2-2.5 inches.

I've had mistakes and challenges, but these fish have been my favorite to keep so far.

[jeep]

Brian, Herman and Fairy Lake is name that has come up over the years. I never had the pleasure of meeting him or seeing his shop but he really made an impact on discus hobbyist in that area.


I believe Cliff said he's still around and still open for business. After 50 years, he'd never remember me but I would like to stop in if I'm ever in the area again...

[Iminit]

I started with discus back in 88. 60g tank. I’d been into fish since 10 and had many different types over the years. Knew both of the owners of the 2 pet stores I used. New tank and I was looking for something new to keep. Just married and my wife with me. She found the discus. Blue turqs. Local bred Whattleys. Big bucks $25 for 4”. Got full instructions on what they needed and some live black worms. Bought 2 and off I went. Store owners would call me whenever discus came in. Within a month I had 8. Remember when the pigeon bloods came in. Pretty ugly then. But the new big thing! I remember taking road trips every so often and visit about 10 different pet stores on a Saturday. Thing was all the stores had nice looking healthy discus. Not many but what they had were good looking. 30+ years later and it’s very rare to see a lps with healthy looking discus.

[brewmaster15]

Got the bug for fish keeping again around a year ago. I had done most other fish but never tried discus. They were a bucket list fish for me, but I couldn't muster up the courage to pay that much for fish that were supposedly extremely delicate. Always was told they were very difficult, and not fit for my hard water. Ended up getting a killer deal for a 180 gallon and decided to jump into it.. Got a lot of bad information at the start. Bought an RO filter because I thought they required that. Then I discovered this forum, and you can find my post from last year questioning the water parameters. Y'all told me I could keep them in my tap and I couldn't be more excited haha. Started with a group of 11 from Golden State, then some from Ping, and finally a batch from Chicago Discus for my display tank. All these fish are great, so rewarding to see the fish I got last year at 3 inches being 6-7 inches now. Starting with a good source is one of the best things you can do for yourself. Earlier this year I got a proven pair from Discus Hans which I adore. I have one of their batches of fry I'm growing out right now.. most are around 2-2.5 inches.

I've had mistakes and challenges, but these fish have been my favorite to keep so far.
Carter I have to say for your time in the hobby you have really done amazingly! Not many get the hang of Discus that fast and succeed in breeding them. Well done!
Al

[Second Hand Pat]

I joined SD back in 2011 to learn about discus and spent four months researching, asking questions and finally decided to keep wilds. I have always preferred to keep the "natural" form of any fish. As a kid growing up in Florida I would catch and keep fish caught on local waters. Later as a young adult I kept marine fish and bought my first "large" tank in 1986 after we had moved to Colorado to work for Lockheed Martin. Today that tank still lives in our old house as it was built into the wall.

After building and moving into our current house I continued to keep a smaller marine tank and kept only Florida natives http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?91252-Before-Discus-I-Had-This. Once I decided to keep discus I rehomed the fish etc and retired this tank. I then bought a 100 or so gallon tank for my first wilds which I got from John K. I called that tank my home tank. A bit later I bought a used 230 with stand etc which became my main tank for wilds.
Pat

[CliffsDiscus]

Started keeping Discus back in the 60s before any turquoise Discus. There were no information on how to take care of these fish.
Then in the 70s came Wattley Discus, Macs Powder Blue, Bing Seto's Colbalt, Lenny's Albino available locally.
1990 came the Pigeon Bloods and the Blue Diamonds, I saw asked by San Francisco Aquarium Society if I could start an study group,
I said yes we would called it San Francisco Aquarium's Discus Study Group, this lasted for 10 years. There were a couple books published
and one member started the forum DiscusAsAHobbyist.

[brewmaster15]

Appreciate the replies everyone please keep them coming !

Cliff I am not familiar with Lenny's albinos. But I remembered you mentioning that name before.. One of the things I love about this forum is the ability to go back and read old discussions, its much more permanent than the momentary facebook, twitter posts.. members may find this thread interesting..
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?86694-When-did-you-see-your-first-discus/

I think I will bring that one back up.. maybe others will add to it..
Al

[CliffsDiscus]

I believe Cliff said he's still around and still open for business. After 50 years, he'd never remember me but I would like to stop in if I'm ever in the area again...

Herman Chan's store is still open sometimes. I would drive by the store and still see the lights on.

[CliffsDiscus]

Appreciate the replies everyone please keep them coming !

Cliff I am not familiar with Lenny's albinos. But I remembered you mentioning that name before.. One of the things I love about this forum is the ability to go back and read old discussions, its much more permanent than the momentary facebook, twitter posts.. members may find this thread interesting..
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?86694-When-did-you-see-your-first-discus/

I think I will bring that one back up.. maybe others will add to it..
Al

Lenny and Maggie LaBue(spelling?) operation was called Discus Haven, they were in Morgan Hill, California. They advertised on
TFH and FAMA.

[brewmaster15]

Thanks for the info Cliff!

[GregMD]

When I was a kid I kept fish. Then again I’m my 20s. One 20ish gallon tank each time.

Fast forward 30 years. In 2021, looking for Christmas gift ideas for my 83 year old parents I googled “presents for old people” and one of the items that came up was the oase biorb aquarium. I got one for them, stocked it with a few tetras and it was a big hit. Since then I’ve had serious multiple tank syndrome (mts). I currently have 10 tanks in my fish room.

Until early this year I was intimidated to keep Discus as they are more work to care for. But finally I ordered 9 Discus about 90 days ago. They’ve been great, challenging, and endlessly fascinating.

The fact that I have two proven pairs in the group has been especially fun and I’m raising a small batch of fry as we speak. Haven’t decided what to do with them but I may have tank 11 in mind for the future if most of the fry. You can see the fry thread here: http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?139838-Another-wigglers-now-what-post

[Willie]

I believe Cliff said he's still around and still open for business. After 50 years, he'd never remember me but I would like to stop in if I'm ever in the area again...

Herman has long retired. (I don't know if he's even still alive.) Rumor is that he owned the apartment building above the store, so its still sitting there on Clement Avenue.

135722

So a funny story about Herman. My wife grew up in San Francisco, so I used to visit Fairy Lake while on family reunions. If you paid cash for fish, Herman didn't bother with sales tax. After he formally retired, the store stayed open with abbreviated hours. It was only open between 1 - 2 PM on Saturdays. I stopped by once on a Saturday and the store was closed. On the door listing for Saturday hours, Herman had added in magic marker "Maybe".

[jeep]

I remembered him telling me that he and his family lived upstairs.

Is that a current photo?

[Willie]

Picture is ~7 years old.

When I first started keeping discus (late 90's), I went to visit Bing Seto/Discus World in Alameda. Back at Fairy Lake, I mentioned to Herman that Bing had some really clean pigeon bloods available. Apparently that got his competitive juices flowing. Herman invited me into a room behind the store, where he had tanks of his new stuff, to ask how his PB-lines compared. :eek: That room, which had racks along one wall, was also his kitchen.

[CliffsDiscus]

I started back in the 60s after my hippie girlfriend died, it was a time of Height and Ashbury and of course the Vietnam War.
I first saw a pair of pancake like fish in a 55 gallon on one side there was a slade, thats when I got hooked. I eventually bought some Discus from Nippion Aquarium, $10 for a wild green and $35 for an wild Heckel was expensive back then. Only information was on the Atlas book. Herman Chan did open his store till around 65, he never really like to give out too much information.

[Willie]

..Herman Chan did open his store till around 65, he never really like to give out too much information...

Oh, the good old days of keeping secrets. Herman was certainly old school...

[JamesW]

My dad had a fish book on our bookshelf and had an outdoor koi/goldfish pond at our first house. I remember leafing through and was struck by the blue turqoise discus picture. I started with an 18" tank that had an angel fish, two discus, bristlenose and some tetras, maybe a little overstocked, I was probably around 10. Upgraded to a 3' with 4 discus then a 150 gallon 5' with 14 when I was in high school. Paused 7 years for grad school and rentals then the past 7 years with a gorgeous display tank.

Only ever really had 1 tank running at once but when I've had the time and space, it has always been a discus display tank.

[Steve_Gurule]

In the early 70’s my dad often take us to the lfs, it was the only one in town. I would check out every tank every time. Finally my dad bought a small tank, 10 gallons. We got some angel fish, I loved angelfish, they always came up to the glass to say hello. There was a large beautiful display tank that had 5 or 6 large brown discus, I didn’t know what discus were. They didn’t do much, they didn’t swim around the tank, they didn’t come to the glass to say hello. They were boring but there was an allure to them. They seemed majestic.

[Bart_NL]

I had a 450 Liter tank of African Cichlids, driving me nuts because they were always fighting, unrooting plants, very restless.

Then in a local garden center / pet shop I saw this discus tank, so beautiful and gracious, and soon found a breeder with Asian discus, making it more affordable to switch, i started with a dozen of 6cm juveniles.

[Discus Fever]

Back in the early 90's I use to breed angels and sell them to pet stores. I met a guy who had some angels and asked if I could come by and see his angels to which he agreed. When I got to his house "Oh My God" my eyes about fell out of my head. He only had a few tanks of angels but had at least 50 tanks of discus. He explained to me that he likes angels but discus were his love and had been doing it for 30 years.
I remember looking into those tanks like a little kid in a candy store. At that time I wasn't really familiar with discus but I remember saying I have never seen so many discus in my life. I knew right away that I had to have them. I remember asking him a million questions that day on what I needed to know and do to be successful at keeping them. He told me what to do and said when you are ready for some of them to come back. When I was ready I got 6 of them from him and after some time they paired off and was able to get babies from them. Since then I never looked back and have loved discus ever since.

[Raul-7]

I have yet to own Discus; but they always seemed like the pinnacle of the FW hobby [along with Altums IMHO]. Once I have a large aquarium - I will own a school. They are gorgeous.

[seanyuki]

Looking for discus shops in Vancouver in 2002 and found April Ross and Jason who owns a discus shop nearby April's grooming shop. April and Jason was getting their discus thru the late Kenny Cheung. Started my discus journey from then onwards.