Hi from Central Ca and Bay Area

[D!NGO]

Hi,

I just wanted to finally say hello to everyone here. Since joining this site, I've been reading a lot of great advises and have picked up some excellent tips along the way. I have been a fish hobbyist (fresh, salt, reef, pond, etc.) for almost 30 years and I still find that I have a lot to learn. Hopefully I can repay by giving someone else my advise to help make their hobby more enjoyable.

I am not really new here but I've been putting off my intro because of a disaster two winters ago (here is the thread: http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?p=551383#post551383). This year, because of it, I've been busy setting up a fish room in the garage and moving the fish from the shed that was in my backyard.

After that disaster that wiped out almost all my discus, I was left with just 5 survivors out of 150+. From this group of 5 survivors, I was blessed with one pair that would eventually help me get back on my feet. They have spawned numerous times and each time I pulled the babies, they would have eggs again a week later.

For now I will share a few pics of the pair that gave so much pleasure to continue this wonderful hobby. Without these two fish, I would have surely given up.

Here are some pics of them with their first batch from frys to adulthood. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

First pic is the Father with 5 day old frys.
Second is Mom with 18 day old.
Third is the babies at 4 weeks.
Fourth is at 3 months.
Last is at 11 months.

Derek

[Ed13]

I guess it's an overdue welcome Derek.

Nice discus you got there! Very little pepper even with fry on their backs! Tiger PB? From Tony Tan?

[Disgirl]

Welcome Derek! Beautiful fish and wonderful pics too! I have a good friend who lives in French Camp.
Barb :)

[rich815]

Those are beautiful!

[discusvast]

those are awesome
would love to hand pick a few when it is available.

[D!NGO]

I guess it's an overdue welcome Derek.

Nice discus you got there! Very little pepper even with fry on their backs! Tiger PB? From Tony Tan?

Thank you Ed,

Yes, I am overdue and yes they are Tiger PB from Tony. I got them in 2007 hand picked from Kenny.

Derek

[D!NGO]

Welcome Derek! Beautiful fish and wonderful pics too! I have a good friend who lives in French Camp.
Barb :)

Thank you Barb, French Camp is about 30 minutes north of where I live.

[D!NGO]

Those are beautiful!
Thanks Rich,


those are awesome
would love to hand pick a few when it is available.

Thanks discusvast, this is the first batch and I planed on keeping them for future breeding. I did have subsequent batches that my friends and brother got from me. I do have a batch that is a little over a month and another batch on the parents right now. I have not decided what to do with them yet. I will let you know when I do. BTW, my sisters live in Tracy and I frequent them almost every weekend.

Derek

[Eddie]

Glad to meet you and WOW! Those Pigeons are gorgeous and you did amazing job raising them babies. The juveniles look SUPERB!!! I'd take some off you in a second!


Take care and glad you are still in the hobby,

Eddie

[D!NGO]

Glad to meet you and WOW! Those Pigeons are gorgeous and you did amazing job raising them babies. The juveniles look SUPERB!!! I'd take some off you in a second!


Take care and glad you are still in the hobby,

Eddie
Thanks Eddie. Yeah like your signature says, "water is the key". Since they were babies I've diligently changing 90% of their water twice a day. I think that is the key to their health, given the density of their tank.

These two are our favorites...
Can you see why?

[Eddie]

Outstanding! They are exceptional. Are you providing to a LFS or selling locally?

Where are you from exactly? I'm originally from the Bay Area and lived several years in Central CA with my dad until I joined the military back in 96.

Eddie

[D!NGO]

Outstanding! They are exceptional. Are you providing to a LFS or selling locally?

Where are you from exactly? I'm originally from the Bay Area and lived several years in Central CA with my dad until I joined the military back in 96.

Eddie
Since this is my(or their) first batch of frys, I planned to keep them for future breeding. I like that they have a more vertical pattern and most of their offsprings show similar patterns.

My friends "stole" the other batches before I can sell them to LFS. I have 2 more batches that are 1 month old and the other is still on the parent's backs. I am trying to keep these hidden away from my friends when they come over.

I used to live in SF for 20+ years and moved to Manteca 4 years ago. It's a town midway between Stockton and Modesto. The pace of life here is a lot calmer and more easy going than the City, although I wish the heat in the summer is not so intense.

Are you still in the military? Which branch? I always respected people in the military. They put their lives on the line for others.

Thanks. Stay safe.

Derek

[Eddie]

Hey...well keep a hold of them babies/pair for a long time and if I retire there in CA, I know who to call. I too like the vertical tiger patterns in Discus.

I am in the US Air Force, stationed in Okinawa. My Pops is retired Air Force living in Santa Maria. My Mom lives in San Martin but we lived in Fremont, Mt View, Sunnyvale and San Jose as I was growing up. Love the Bay Area, real nice and lots to do.

Beautiful fish you got there Derek, I would love to have some! ;)

Eddie

[Kenny's Discus]

Derek,

Long time my friend hope you've been well. You're doing very well with the Tiger Checkerboard babies and they looked gorgeous! All the best to them my friend I'm sure you will have no problem releasing a few of them to the Bay Area discus hobbyists.:) Thank you so much for bringing me ice-cream bars(and so many too) the last couple times we met, I look forward to seeing you again soon. All the best to your beautiful frys and talk with you soon!

Thanks,
Kenny

[D!NGO]

Derek,

Long time my friend hope you've been well. You're doing very well with the Tiger Checkerboard babies and they looked gorgeous! All the best to them my friend I'm sure you will have no problem releasing a few of them to the Bay Area discus hobbyists.:) Thank you so much for bringing me ice-cream bars(and so many too) the last couple times we met, I look forward to seeing you again soon. All the best to your beautiful frys and talk with you soon!

Thanks,
Kenny

Hey Kenny,

Yeah it's been a long time buddy...or it seems like it. How are you doing? Working hard as usual I bet. I peeked through your forum lately and those last shipments you got from Forrest made me drooled like you know what.

How is your sister doing? I hope she is all well. I didn't see anything written on the subject so I think everything is back to normal.

I'm glad to hear from you...knowing you're busy and all. You know the ice cream is just some bait to get you to send me some discus right. You mean it didn't work? And all these time I'd been expecting for some mysterious packages to be delivered at my front door hoping for some discus inside. Oh well, gotta come up with a new strategy.

Seriously, the ice cream is nothing compared to what you have been as a friend. When my fish room was in h3ll, you gave your shoulders for me to cry on. That means alot to me.

This pair was literally dead when I came home that day. None of the fish were moving at all and the temp was reading 59F! There were no signs of life on any of them so I thought I lost everything but this pair and 3 others survived.

Yeah I guest those babies are a miracle and that's why I'm still kicking in this hobby. As for supplying the Bay Area with discus, you know I can't touch you in that department. Don't even think about it.

It's good to hear from you Kenny. Will come by your place soon and bug you with all kinds of questions my friend.

Take care,

Derek

[rickztahone]

gorgeous looking discus Derek. those are some really nice PB's for sure and i wouldn't mind getting some even though i usually steer clear of PB's due to peppering. love the pattern

[D!NGO]

gorgeous looking discus Derek. those are some really nice PB's for sure and i wouldn't mind getting some even though i usually steer clear of PB's due to peppering. love the pattern

Thanks Ricardo,

These are Tony Tan's Tiger PB. I got them in 2007 from Kenny. They have very little peppering even when they're carrying frys. I guess that's why they had a hard time attaching. But once they do, they stick to the parents like glue. I was lucky to get them from an excellent source.

Thanks.
Derek

[Chad Hughes]

Hey Derek!

I'm so sorry to hear of your disaster! OUCH!

Fantastic looking discus and I love your time line pictorial. Well done my friend!

Best wishes!

[Kenny's Discus]

Derek my friend,

The ice-cream bars worked big time bro but I just didn't know where to send your presents LOL...was printing the shipping label the other day and then I realized whoops "what shipping address?"!:D:D

Thanks Derek if it's okay with you I'll give you a call tomo just to check in with you...I'm just so very glad that those miraculous babies and pair are doing so well for you right now and I wish you continued success in breeding them. Talk soon my friend!:)

Kenny

[D!NGO]

Hey Derek!

I'm so sorry to hear of your disaster! OUCH!

Fantastic looking discus and I love your time line pictorial. Well done my friend!

Best wishes!
Thank you Chad.


Derek my friend,

The ice-cream bars worked big time bro but I just didn't know where to send your presents LOL...was printing the shipping label the other day and then I realized whoops "what shipping address?"!:D:D

Thanks Derek if it's okay with you I'll give you a call tomo just to check in with you...I'm just so very glad that those miraculous babies and pair are doing so well for you right now and I wish you continued success in breeding them. Talk soon my friend!:)

Kenny

You are always welcome to call me Kenny.

Those miracle babies owe their lives in large part because of you my friend. The parents were very healthy and vibrant when I got them from you. I think they just got that little extra strength to pull through.

Talk to you soon.
Derek

[CliffsDiscus]

Derek,
Some very nice pattern on those PB.

Cliff

[DLock3d]

Glad to have you Derek. Awesome stories. You are much more of an optimist then I. :D I'm afraid of the day I have a disaster.

[discusvast]

Thanks Rich,



Thanks discusvast, this is the first batch and I planed on keeping them for future breeding. I did have subsequent batches that my friends and brother got from me. I do have a batch that is a little over a month and another batch on the parents right now. I have not decided what to do with them yet. I will let you know when I do. BTW, my sisters live in Tracy and I frequent them almost every weekend.

Derek

hi Derek,
let me know when it's ready and by the way if you would like to drop by just pm.

[D!NGO]

Derek,
Some very nice pattern on those PB.

Cliff
Thanks Cliff. It's an honor coming from you.


Glad to have you Derek. Awesome stories. You are much more of an optimist then I. :D I'm afraid of the day I have a disaster.
Thanks D. This is why I always planned for redundancy whenever I do things now.

hi Derek,
let me know when it's ready and by the way if you would like to drop by just pm.
Thanks, I will do that.

[dpt8]

Derek, Amazing story, pulling yourself up from disaster and rising way above it. Great job and awasome fish. I know there are many Simply people who would LOVE tiger PB so keep them breeding for us !! Continued good luck, plus you can't miss with Kenny as a friend.

[Justice]

Belated Hello! I was born and raised in the Bay Area (American Canyon) but live in Missouri now, but anyhow Hello!