Breeder Survey

(NOTE: Bing was in business during the 70's, then took some time away to pursue other interests. He has been back in the discus business since '94. The following answers take this into account.)
-dr

THE ESSENTIALS


The essentials: Name of company, name of particular breader, Address, Phone, FAX, E-Mail, WWW site.

DISCUS WORLD
Bing Seto
904 Otis Drive, Alameda, CA. 94501 USA
Phone: (510) 523-8811 / FAX: (510) 522-6434
Pager: (510) 874-6242
e-mail: bingseto@discusworld.com
WWW Site: http://www.discusworld.com




THE BUSINESS/PERSONAL


How many years have you been breeding Discus professionally, and how many years as a hobbyist?
Professsionally: 12 years
Hobbyist: 5 years

How long have you been in business?
12 years

Do you specialize in any particular strains?
Striated Discus

What strains are currently available? Available in the upcoming months?
Currently available: Cobalt Reds, Cobalt Blue Striated, Golden

Do you have any sales on particular strains of discus?
No

Do you sell fish other than discus? What?
No - Discus only

Are color photographs available either on the Net, snail mail, catalog?
Photographs are on my web page- http://www.discusworld.com

Are the photographs, etc, free? If not, how much do they cost?
Photos are free on the net

Have there been any reviews in trade journals of your fish?
Yes -

Tropical Fish Hobbyist June 1995
Freshwater and Marine Aquarium December 1994
Diskus Brief September 1994

How many customers do you have?
Hundreds

Can you provide a list of satisfied customers? E-mail addresses?
Yes

How many discus do you produce per year?
5000 - 10,000 per year

Do you make any effort to learn how your fish do in their new homes?
Occassionally




SALES


Do you take Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover? Check? First born?
No. I accept cash or cashiers checks only.

Do you sell to hobbyists, or do you strictly sell to Dealers only?
I sell to both, but mainly to dealers

Is there a minimum order in number of fish or total amount? What are they?
I have a $300.00 minimum for retail orders and a $600.00 for wholesale orders. There is no minimum (retail) order if fish are picked up in person.

Do you have a guarantee? If so, what is the exact guarantee.
I guarantee live delivery

What is your return policy? Do you have one?
I have no return policy

Do you add extra fish to orders in case of a fatality?
Yes, but only on large fry orders.

What sizes do you sell? Fry? 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 inch? Costs of each?
I sell all sizes. The retail cost are:
Small (approximately 1.5 inches)

$20.00 each
Medium (approximately 2.5 inches)
$35.00 each
Large (approximately 4 inches)
$60.00 each
Adults (approximately 6 inches)
$150.00 each
Mated Pairs
$450.00 pair

What is the minimum age of Discus fry you would consider selling?
No minimum

Do you sell "guaranteed pairs?"
Yes

Can buyers come to the hatchery and pick out fish? Appointment? Times?
Yes, by appointment only

Do you do business with and ship to international customers?
Yes

Do you offer wholesale prices? If so, what quantities have to be ordered to get the wholesale price?
Yes, I offer wholesale prices but only to people who have a legitimate business with a resale license

Do you sell any discus related products (medication, RO systems, etc)?
No




SHIPPING


How long have you been shipping Discus to non-local areas?
12 years

Do you ship internationally? If you do not currently ship internationally, would you be willing to try on a case-by-case basis?
Yes, I ship internationally

What are the shipping rates? Winter? v. Summer? International?
It depends on the carrier but the average is approximately $60.00 for domestic. For international orders, it depends on the weight of the shipment.

What is the shipping procedure? Does it vary depending on the season?
I usually ship airport to airport. No, it doesn't vary.

What are your packaging techniques? (Bagging, oxygen, heat, reinforcement, prophylactic medications, etc.)
Multiple bagging, oxygen, heat, styrofoam containers, corrugated boxes

If you medicate the fish for travel, what will be the impact of this medication on the fish when they arrive (or at any time later)? Should I add the travel water to the destination tank, and if so, will it have any affect on existing residents?
N/A

Do I have to go to an airport to get the fish?
Yes, unless prior arrangements have been made with me

If you ship directly to my house are the fish guaranteed to arrive alive?
Yes

If I do have to go to an airport, are they guaranteed to arrive alive?
Yes

For both of the above, what do I have to do if they do not arrive alive? (I would assume send them back somehow, but how?)
For local customers, i can pick them up and replace them. for non- local customers when the discus are shipped, the cargo agent must confirm on the airbill

What are your handling instructions from box to tank for the new fish?
Slow acclimation




ENVIRONMENT


Water, type and changing:
a) pH adults/pairs/fry
6.8 for all fish
b) hardness (dKH, dGH)
6.0 dKH (approximately 110 ppm)
c) treatments for pH and hardness adjustment
None
d) frequency and % of water changes adults/pairs/fry
25% daily for all fish
e) temperature and variations of temp
82-86 degrees

Filtration: type, media, and flow rate?
Central filtration
Type: Wet/Dry
Media: DLS and lava rock
Flow Rate: 3 times per hour

Does the system use reverse osmosis as a way of filtering?
No

Tanks, sizes and location (ie. away from traffic and height from the floor)
(12) 2-gallon tanks
(15) 10-gallon tanks
(34) 20-gallon tanks
(84) 29-gallon tanks
(2) 65-gallon tanks
(2) 150-gallon tanks

Lighting, time and intensity
Lights above all tanks for 14 hours a day

Do you consider the position of the breeding tank important?
Yes

Are your hatcheries quarantined?
Yes

Do you have gravel in your tanks?
No

Do you keep plants in your tanks?
No

Do you use some type of dechlorinator (chemical or carbon) when making water changes?
I use an industrial water treatment filter, which uses carbon to remove the chloramine from my water supply.




FEEDING


What and how often do you feed your adult discus?
Beef heart mixture with Ginger Food Color Flakes; Adult Discus get 2 feedings per day

What and how often do you feed your breeding pairs?
Same as above

What and how often do you feed your fry/young?
New fry are fed with my secret formula 4-5 times a day; Young fry are fed artemia 4-5 times a day

Do you add any hormones or artificial color enhancers to the food?
No

If you prepare your own food, would you be willing to share your formula? (if so, please give the formula here)
Yes -

200 pounds of cleaned beefheart
200 pounds of adult brine shrimp
20 pounds of Ginger Color Flake Food
10 pounds spirulina

If you feed commercially prepared food, is it available for purchase? If not, would you be willing to include a small amount with a fish purchase for purposes of weaning them to a different food?
Yes




LINEAGE


What are the origins of your breeding stock?
Wattley, Schlingmann, Gobel

How many generations can your stock be traced back?
3 generations

What method do you use to maintain your strains (ie do you breed parents to children, siblings to siblings, cross related lines, etc.)?
All of the above methods are used

How many generations of inbreeding do you permit before "new blood" is crossed in?
7 generations

Do you have any particular strains that you would consider hardier than most?
No

Do you have any particular strains that you would consider difficult to maintain and or breed? If so, what do you do different for these fish?
No




BREEDING


What is your method for inducing spawning?
Water changes

What spawning surface do you use?
Bricks

Do you raise the fry artificially, or are they parent raised?
Both artificially and parent raised

If your fry are parent raised, at what age do you separate the fry?
1 week

Do you use some sort of night-light to prevent fry loss?
Yes




DISEASE/DEFECTS


In general, what is your defect rate?
5% defect rate

Do you cull your fish?
Yes

Which diseases do you encounter most frequently in your hatchery?
I seldomly encounter diseases in my hatchery

Do you keep records of any diseases or medications that particular batches of fish have been exposed to? If so, would you provide this information about any particular order that has been purchased (assuming you were asked for it)?
Yes; Yes, I would provide this information

What medications and dosages do you use to treat for:

a) Flukes
Fluke Tabs
b) Intestinal parasites
Metronidazole
c) Bacterial infections
Doxycycline
d) Discus Plague
Doxycycline

What specific antibiotics have been used *at any time* in the history of your hatchery?
Doxycycline

Do you use ultraviolet sterilization in your hatchery?
No




OPENS


Is there anything you would like potential customers to know that is not covered in this survey?
I have a monthly questions and answers column in FAMA magazine.



To visit Bing Seto's Discus World, please follow this link

Back to The Discus Page