Discus

Beautiful pair, keep us posted

 

Honestly, the guys who are breeding pf fishes in Germany are reputable people with ethics, and hopefully once Dirk and I have a breeding programme on the go, pf discus will be available locally.

I can also assure you, the dedication, time and effort it takes to breed and raise any discus is such that I doubt you will find a breeder who is a con.

 

I think the exact opposite will be the case. To cover the extra overheads that ethical breeders such as yourself will incur to produce pest free discus, your price will have to increase. I'm pretty sure that in the shortest time, you'll see "parasite free" discus being offered by dodgy breeders on gumtree and similar, at impossible prices. My question would be how I as an uninformed hobbyist can tell the difference between genuine pest free and normal healthy looking fish.

 

@Broder why will the cost increase?

 

I'll stop speculating. Apologies.

 

I think that buying fish DIRECTLY from a respected breeder is the ONLY way to go. There is also the added interest of the breeder to ensure his fish grow well and are an advert for him - and there is always that all important factor - if you have a problem with his fish he is at the end of a telephone for help.

 

I think @eros111 has hit the nail on the head. I have turned down how many sales of discus for various reasons, ie not feeling comfortable where the fish are going to be housed ( ie not the right tank requirements ), or a potential buyer's lack of knowledge and then even my own hesitation to ship discus across the country.

These are all learning curves for us and at some stage I will need to take the plunge and ship discus, but at the end of the day, the fish come first.

 

Fry on mom ( age 5 days )

 

Fry on dad ( age 5 days )

 

Fry on dad

 

All good Mr Broder. Let's see if we get them to spawn and raise babies first, then we can think of the next step. But for now, hold thumbs we get them to breed!! :blink1:

 

Phish_man can you give some info on Broder’s question? Arethere any differences between the two? Sorry boet my curiosity got the better of me . Eros111 is correct in his statement and I agree fully with him and as you said the fish comes first.

 

nice fish

 

@Ebrahim broder's question is relatively simple to answer: as far as I am aware, Prof Dirk and I are the only guys in SA at the moment who have imported stock of certified parasite-free discus. He has been dealing closely with the breeders in Germany. My own fish were obtained direct from Oswald Hanke and you can check out his site at ;

Index

There is an option to change language to English if your German is not too hot

Then browse around and you will see his stock is certified para-free by Dieter Untergasser.

Dirk and I both keep our stock completely clear of other discus so as to not contaminate them.

My side I have a 1000litre holding tank and 4 LARGE breeder tanks with formed pairs in all separate from my non pf fishes.

The growth and size of these fishes has been phenomenal over the 21 months they have been here.

Hope some of these pointers help answer Broders question ( btw, with an almost 1500 post count and an awesome tank, I don't view Broder as an 'uninformed hobbyist....)

 

If someone were to sell pf discus to me and I phone you to clarify the the matter, what is it that to look at to see if it really is pf discus? If the same question were directed at me regarding the origin of a frontosa there several things I can look at to certify this.... . I would like to know how you guys or other discus keepers verify this matter?

The reason I question this is because frontosa and discus there will always be a market for (and I came across people who actually try to breed blue zaire frontosa by crossing burundi, kigoma and chitika frontosa and by doing so flooded the market with crossbreeds). I know some people who will do anything to make buck and im just scared that the pf discus will go the same root. I hope you note the importance of the question even though it didn't happen with pf discus yet..

 

@Ebrahim that is why, as Reedfish has mentioned, it is important to know your source and only buy from a reputable breeder. What I can tell you is that as far as I know, Dirk and I are the only ones with pf discus in SA at the moment.

What I can also tell you is that I will always maintain my pf discus as just that because I see the benefit in it. But once I have offspring available, when they leave my facility its out of my hands how they are kept. Im sure both Dirk and I will look into finding a local vet to do autopsies out of each batch to verify them pf, but hey, lets get them breeding first. But yeah, just by looking at the outside of the fish you wont know.

So to summarize, if anyone is offering you para-free discus off gumtree, phone me!!

Perhaps we should start a separate thread on the parafree section on the forum?

 

Thanks for the answer..... im glad test can be done....

 

When will we see photos of these pf discus???

 

Another question that I've had for a while pertains to the treatment of flagellates. Often a newcomer to discus posts a picture of a sick looking fish and is advised to treat for flagellates with metronidazole? Would this treatment not kill flagellates, and if not, what is the purpose of the treatment?