Pharian
Mon Jan 09, 2006, 10:06 AM
hullo all... my first time here. must say great forums, kudos to the webmaster. There seems to be a great community of dedicated discus people here... well done :)
im an old time fish addict since my youth. like many addicts i shall blame my mother. She introduced me at a very young age... to the local fish shop where she traded her never ending supply of live bearers for other more colourful and interesting fish. i still remember being devastated when at 6 years old i dropped a bag of 20 guppies we were taking to the shop. A very sad week with no new fish. it took a lot to keep her mammoth 12ft (give or take) community tank well stocked. Everything and anything was in there at some stage. One episode with a fairly large blue crayfish will always be remembered as a particularly bad idea. Had it survived 'the great birthday party' of 87 im sure it would still be one of the most eclectic tanks i've ever seen.
anyhow, i thought i had kicked the habit when i moved out of home, breaking my 4ft tank in the process. The little ones i had used for quarantine and to keep the babies safe just didnt seem worth the effort on their own. And hey, i was 19 and out of home. I had rent to pay and beer to drink, etc etc... :wink: however, recently i was taken to a few aquarium shops with a discus loving friend while stocking my new pond (guppies, goldfish & platys all breeding madly while the birds eat them... ecosystem baby, yeah :wink: its going quite well). so many pretty fish, so many interesting species... all so close togeather. and the new filters, pumps and accessories.. oh the rapture. the cold sweats started. i could feel the old demon rising and an urge to spend outrageously large sums of money putting tanks all over the place... again. I know what will happen down that road. Hours and hours of introspective joy as i sit alone and unsociable in a room watching the pretty colours.... joy! And they scoff when i say its addictive. Not to mention the vast sums of money i would be liable to spend. you cant do these things by halves. its all in with at least a 6 footer or nothing (im only guessing but i reckon a crack habit might just scrape in cheaper... well at least in the short term).
Then a whacky idea was sudgested. Why not get lots of tanks, and breed the little chaps. It could be good for a lark. We'd get loads more pretty fish to look at and would have a reasonable excuse we could trot out if anyone thought we were completely barking mad. You never know, it might even offset the horrendous cost somewhat (although a crack habit is definitely looking fiscally sound at this point)...
So i come to my question:
How many fish does a discus make if a discus does make fish?
If a pair mate sucessfully (ok, eventually mate sucessfully). and you manage to stop them eating all their eggs. and you keep everyone happy and clean and well fed.. and singing songs like in disney cartoons... :) how many would you expect to reach maturity? Would you be happy if 10 made it through from a spawn? 20 be unrealistic? Or would it take 50 to make you say 'that'll do pig, that'll do'?
How often do discus... get it on?
Oh, and does anyone ever buy the wee darlings? Do fishshops buy discus from locals or do they only ever import them? Do they want babies or do i get to keep them till they become adults (mmm, 50 discus growing up togeather... joy). My excuse must hold some weight...... Although its always possible i will just keep them all for myself and not let anyone else near them while posting pictures of how fabulous they all are to make others jealous... you never know. they are rather addicive.
im an old time fish addict since my youth. like many addicts i shall blame my mother. She introduced me at a very young age... to the local fish shop where she traded her never ending supply of live bearers for other more colourful and interesting fish. i still remember being devastated when at 6 years old i dropped a bag of 20 guppies we were taking to the shop. A very sad week with no new fish. it took a lot to keep her mammoth 12ft (give or take) community tank well stocked. Everything and anything was in there at some stage. One episode with a fairly large blue crayfish will always be remembered as a particularly bad idea. Had it survived 'the great birthday party' of 87 im sure it would still be one of the most eclectic tanks i've ever seen.
anyhow, i thought i had kicked the habit when i moved out of home, breaking my 4ft tank in the process. The little ones i had used for quarantine and to keep the babies safe just didnt seem worth the effort on their own. And hey, i was 19 and out of home. I had rent to pay and beer to drink, etc etc... :wink: however, recently i was taken to a few aquarium shops with a discus loving friend while stocking my new pond (guppies, goldfish & platys all breeding madly while the birds eat them... ecosystem baby, yeah :wink: its going quite well). so many pretty fish, so many interesting species... all so close togeather. and the new filters, pumps and accessories.. oh the rapture. the cold sweats started. i could feel the old demon rising and an urge to spend outrageously large sums of money putting tanks all over the place... again. I know what will happen down that road. Hours and hours of introspective joy as i sit alone and unsociable in a room watching the pretty colours.... joy! And they scoff when i say its addictive. Not to mention the vast sums of money i would be liable to spend. you cant do these things by halves. its all in with at least a 6 footer or nothing (im only guessing but i reckon a crack habit might just scrape in cheaper... well at least in the short term).
Then a whacky idea was sudgested. Why not get lots of tanks, and breed the little chaps. It could be good for a lark. We'd get loads more pretty fish to look at and would have a reasonable excuse we could trot out if anyone thought we were completely barking mad. You never know, it might even offset the horrendous cost somewhat (although a crack habit is definitely looking fiscally sound at this point)...
So i come to my question:
How many fish does a discus make if a discus does make fish?
If a pair mate sucessfully (ok, eventually mate sucessfully). and you manage to stop them eating all their eggs. and you keep everyone happy and clean and well fed.. and singing songs like in disney cartoons... :) how many would you expect to reach maturity? Would you be happy if 10 made it through from a spawn? 20 be unrealistic? Or would it take 50 to make you say 'that'll do pig, that'll do'?
How often do discus... get it on?
Oh, and does anyone ever buy the wee darlings? Do fishshops buy discus from locals or do they only ever import them? Do they want babies or do i get to keep them till they become adults (mmm, 50 discus growing up togeather... joy). My excuse must hold some weight...... Although its always possible i will just keep them all for myself and not let anyone else near them while posting pictures of how fabulous they all are to make others jealous... you never know. they are rather addicive.