To have your hatchery listed here, please fill out the Breeder's Survey.

Bing Seto's Discus World   Discus Connection   Discus It! Discus Unlimited   Lilian Yap Discus Fish Farm   Tony Griffitts   World Wide Fish Farm

THE ESSENTIALS

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

THE BUSINESS/PERSONAL

How many years have you been breeding Discus professionally, and how many years as a hobbyist?

How long have you been in business?

Do you specialize in any particular strains?

What strains are currently available? Available in the upcoming months?

Do you have any sales on particular strains of discus?

Do you sell fish other than discus? What?

Are color photographs available either on the Net, snail mail, catalog?

Are the photographs, etc, free? If not, how much do they cost?

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

How many customers do you have?

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

How many discus do you produce per year?

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

SALES

Do you take Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover? Check? First born?

Do you sell to hobbyists, or do you strictly sell to Dealers only?

Is there a minimum order in # of fish or total amount? What are they?

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

What is your return policy? Do you have one?

Do you add extra fish to orders in case of a fatality?

What sizes do you sell? Fry? 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 inch? Costs of each?

What is the minimum age of Discus fry you would consider selling?

Do you sell "guaranteed pairs?"

Can buyers come to the hatchery and pick out fish? Appointment? Times?

Do you do business with and ship to international customers?

Do you offer wholesale prices? If so, what quantities have to be ordered to get the wholesale price?

Do you sell any discus related products (medication, RO systems, etc)?
 
 
 
 

SHIPPING

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

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

What are the shipping rates? Winter? v. Summer? International?

What is the shipping procedure? Does it vary depending on the season?

What are your packaging techniques? (Bagging, oxygen, heat, reinforcement, prophylactic medications, etc.)

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?

Do I have to go to an airport to get the fish?

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

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

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?)

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

ENVIRONMENT

Water, type and changing:

Filtration: type, media, and flow rate?

Does the system use reverse osmosis as a way of filtering?

Tanks, sizes and location (ie. away from traffic and height from the floor)

Lighting, time and intensity

Do you consider the position of the breeding tank important?

Are your hatcheries quarantined?

Do you have gravel in your tanks?

Do you keep plants in your tanks?

Do you use some type of dechlorinator (chemical or carbon) when making water changes?
 
 
 
 

FEEDING

What and how often do you feed your adult discus?

What and how often do you feed your breeding pairs?

What and how often do you feed your fry/young?

Do you add any hormones or artificial color enhancers to the food?

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

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?
 
 
 
 

LINEAGE

What are the origins of your breeding stock?

How many generations can your stock be traced back?

What method do you use to maintain your strains (ie do you breed parents to children, siblings to siblings, cross related lines, etc.)?

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

Do you have any particular strains that you would consider hardier than most?

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?
 
 
 
 

BREEDING

What is your method for inducing spawning?

What spawning surface do you use?

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

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

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

DISEASE/DEFECTS

In general, what is your defect rate?

Do you cull your fish?

Which diseases do you encounter most frequently in your 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)?

What medications and dosages do you use to treat for:

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

Do you use ultraviolet sterilization in your hatchery?
 
 
 
 

OPENS

Is there anything you would like potential customers to know that is not covered in this survey?