Discus Growth

[KIAWAHKID]

How long does it take you to grow a discus to 6 inches before you ship to PingCo or Pompas?

[LizStreithorst]

Re: Discus Growth

Those guys are importers. They don't buy fish from domestic breeders.

[KIAWAHKID]

Re: Discus Growth

I am just trying to get an answer as to how many months it took to get a fish to 6 inches before it was shipped to the USA. I am guess that like Perdue with chickens here, it does not take them even a year in the Far East.

[KIAWAHKID]

Re: Discus Growth

I know Pingo and Pompas are importers I was try to get an answer from the exporter Forrest, though I understand he does not raise all the discus he exports.

[Willie]

Re: Discus Growth

Important to understand that Forrest's role is an aggregator and he sources from multiple Malaysian farms. Other than 1 - 2 strains, Forrest does not raise any of the discus he exports. It's not an expose, but just an explanation of how the Asian industry works.

It's hard enough to create, maintain and propagate just one strain. No one has the resources to produce 30 - 40 strains of discus. Each farm focuses on a few strains, so you need an aggregator to ensure multiple strains be made available to picky hobbyists like us.

[Iminit]

Re: Discus Growth

Wow I had no idea Willie. I thought Forrest was the breeder. So these breeders that Forrest deals with also deal with other sellers? Interesting!

[KIAWAHKID]

Re: Discus Growth

I was aware of Forrest role fromback in his Kenny days but I thought he couldgive me an answer based on his relationship with those he gets his discusfrom, Stilllooking for an answer if possible

[forrest]

Re: Discus Growth

Hi to all,
Im just a "part time breeder" and a "full time exporter"...lol, fishes that i raise by myself just abt 10% from my export.
as for your question abt growth of 6" fishes, this is subjective to different farms or breeders, i ll say it takes10-15 month in average, it depend on many factors for fishes to grow: water quality(from different areas and sources), enviroment(system in farms), food, efforts of breeders and many more. for example, same batch of fishes going into different famaly, after a year, those fishes may grow in very much different rate and also different quality...
btw, thank u very much for your question, very seldom i come into forum here, my apologies if im not reply sooner, thx.

[GeauxDiscus]

Re: Discus Growth

It was very cool to see a Forrest post! He's like a celebrity here - I'm gushing right now. I've had so many Forrest-exported fish.

[Willie]

Re: Discus Growth

Wow I had no idea Willie. I thought Forrest was the breeder. So these breeders that Forrest deals with also deal with other sellers? Interesting!

Not my intention to "out" anyone here. I recall Kenny had strains that carried Forrest's name so I presume they're his.

I'm just commenting on the nature of the discus industry in Asia, one that is extremely decentralized. There are farms/companies that breed discus, they sells spawns to other companies that raise them to 1" - 1.5", who then sell them to other companies to raise them bigger, then onto other companies that raise them even bigger, etc. All this is described in multiple books on Asian discus.

Everything that goes into breeding discus, the genetic stock, the equipment, the labor, the food, etc. costs money. In business terms, this is known as working capital. Working capital is relatively expensive outside the US. If you breed and sell 5" discus, that means your working capital is tied up for ~1 year from start to finish. Until you sell that discus, you don't have any working capital to start the next batch, etc. So farms have to sell very quickly to make money, in order to make their next investment.

The discus production business is no different that any other manufacturing business overseas that does one or a few things. For example, thousands of suppliers make one automotive part, perhaps they'll do multiple sizes. They borrow the money to buy the raw material, make one thing, sell it and take that money to buy more raw material. Companies like Ford has the working capital to buy all these parts, assemble them, distribute them, etc. to you and me. All these little companies don't make cars because a lack of working capital.

So Forrest is a breeder. But does he breed all 30 - 40 strains of discus that is offered - the blues, the reds, the spotted, the solids, the browns, the horizontally striped ones, the vertically striped ones, the albinos, the Heckel crosses, and continue to introduce newer varieties...? That would be impossible.

Does he source the highest quality discus available from Malaysia today? I believe so because that's where all my Asian discus comes from.

[KIAWAHKID]

Re: Discus Growth

Hi to all,
Im just a "part time breeder" and a "full time exporter"...lol, fishes that i raise by myself just abt 10% from my export.
as for your question abt growth of 6" fishes, this is subjective to different farms or breeders, i ll say it takes10-15 month in average, it depend on many factors for fishes to grow: water quality(from different areas and sources), enviroment(system in farms), food, efforts of breeders and many more. for example, same batch of fishes going into different famaly, after a year, those fishes may grow in very much different rate and also different quality...
btw, thank u very much for your question, very seldom i come into forum here, my apologies if im not reply sooner, thx.

Thank you Forrest for your reply. There was a discussion on one of the FB discus groups about how long it takes to grow out discus and I was guessing that you and the people that you source your discus from do it in less than a year for a 6 inch fish. I was close. I see that Pingco is keeping up the great work that Kenny did in marketing your fish; we need a black discus just like the black angels!!!

CONTINUED SUCCESS!!!!!

[pastry]

Re: Discus Growth

Regardless of which fish he sources and which he breeds himself then exports... I'll stand by my quote years ago that
FORREST HAS THE SEXIEST HANDS IN THE HOBBY! ...God, I love the pics of those beauties in his hands

Definitely miss Kenny... always will. Especially since I knew that at the beginning of every month I'd at least see 50, 60, 70+ pics of Forrest's paws with some killer discus strains resting in them for us to see. To many of us, it was on the verge of labeling it "recurring discus porn"... especially when you have a spouse who asked while you look at your phone and constantly zoom in, click, zoom in, click..., "You're looking kind of hard at the phone, there. Boobs or fish? Oh wait, it's the beginning of the month... must be new Kenny shipment."

[GeauxDiscus]

Re: Discus Growth

Regardless of which fish he sources and which he breeds himself then exports... I'll stand by my quote years ago that
FORREST HAS THE SEXIEST HANDS IN THE HOBBY! ...God, I love the pics of those beauties in his hands

Definitely miss Kenny... always will. Especially since I knew that at the beginning of every month I'd at least see 50, 60, 70+ pics of Forrest's paws with some killer discus strains resting in them for us to see. To many of us, it was on the verge of labeling it "recurring discus porn"... especially when you have a spouse who asked while you look at your phone and constantly zoom in, click, zoom in, click..., "You're looking kind of hard at the phone, there. Boobs or fish? Oh wait, it's the beginning of the month... must be new Kenny shipment."

Oh man, I thought my wife was the only one who accused me of looking at "fish porn"!! That's why I come here - I'm NOT ALONE. Yep, Kenny was the best.