How long have you been in business?
4 months
Do you specialize in any particular strains?
Brilliant Turquoise
Cobalt Blue/Heckel Cross
What strains are currently available? Available in the upcoming months?
Brilliant Turquoise
Cobalt Blue/Heckel Cross
Do you have any sales on particular strains of discus?
Yes
Do you sell fish other than discus? What?
No
Are color photographs available either on the Net, snail mail, catalog?
Yes
Are the photographs, etc, free? If not, how much do they cost?
Free for viewing on the internet.
Have there been any reviews in trade journals of your fish?
Not yet
How many customers do you have?
7
Can you provide a list of satisfied customers? E-mail addresses?
Chibly@aol.com, Celeste Schiebold
How many discus do you produce per year?
1500
Do you make any effort to learn how your fish do in their new homes?
Yes
Do you sell to hobbyists, or do you strictly sell to Dealers only?
Some hobbyist in the local area, mostly wholesalers and Dealers. I do
not advertise in publications, so people usually know of me by word of
mouth or my web page.
Is there a minimum order in # of fish or total amount? What are they?
$75 for local dealers. I have no set policy for wholesalers yet. No
minimum for those that pick up the fish.
Do you have a guarantee? If so, what is the exact guarantee.
Quality Guaranteed
My discus are not hormoned. I believe in maintaining highest ethical
standards in my hatchery. I guarantee that all the fish in my
hatchery have their natural color, and have not been chemically
altered. If you receive any discus from my hatchery that have any
genetic defects, they will be replaced or your money back.
What is your return policy? Do you have one?
I do not ship sick fish, therefore my return policy is only for
genetic defects. I do maintain a high quality control hatchery, but I
also recognize the fact that when you are dealing with 100's of fish
every month that there is a chance that an inferior fish my escape
detection. So far I have yet to have a fish returned.
Do you add extra fish to orders in case of a fatality?
Depends on quantity.
What sizes do you sell? Fry? 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 inch? Costs of each?
1 1/2" to 2" $15
2" to 3" $25
3" to 4" $35
4" to 5" $50 to $75
5" plus $75 to $100
What is the minimum age of Discus fry you would consider selling?
3 months
Do you sell "guaranteed pairs?"
No, not yet, maybe some day.
Can buyers come to the hatchery and pick out fish? Appointment? Times?
Yes, By appointment.
Do you do business with and ship to international customers?
No, not yet.
Do you offer wholesale prices? If so, what quantities have to be
ordered to get the wholesale price?
Only to wholesalers and dealers
Do you sell any discus related products (medication, RO systems, etc)?
No, not yet.
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 would be willing.
What are the shipping rates? Winter? v. Summer? International?
Varies, $30 to $50
What is the shipping procedure? Does it vary depending on the season?
Packed in Styrofoam inner box, cardboard outer box, may use heat packs
in the winter.
What are your packaging techniques? (Bagging, oxygen, heat,
reinforcement, prophylactic medications, etc.)
Double or triple bagged with oxygen,
no medication.
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)?
NA
Should I add the travel water to the destination tank, and if so, will it
have any affect on existing residents?
No.
Do I have to go to an airport to get the fish?
Sometimes, or they can be Fed Ex'ed to your door.
If you ship directly to my house are the fish guaranteed to arrive alive?
Yes, and in excellent health.
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?)
Notify the carrier of the damaged goods, and give me a call and I ship
more or give you your money back.
What are your handling instructions from box to tank for the new fish?
If the aquarium is warmer than the bag, dump them into a net without
floating first and drop them into the tank.
If the tank is cooler, float the fish to adjust the temp up before you add them to the aquarium.
Filtration: type, media, and flow rate?
Central Trickle Filter, 1 1/2 to 3 times an hour.
Does the system use reverse osmosis as a way of filtering?
RO for new water entering the system.
Tanks, sizes and location (ie. away from traffic and height from the floor)
20 to 125 gallons, breeders are about 6 feet off the floor.
Lighting, time and intensity
Standard 40w cool white fluorescent
Do you consider the position of the breeding tank important?
I have had discus rear their young in aquariums that where 6 inches
off the floor, so I don't think it is as important as many my believe.
Are your hatcheries quarantined?
Yes, unless I have had a chance to inspect the facility of the breeder
and feel confident in the health of the fish.
Do you have gravel in your tanks?
In my show tanks, but not in the breeder tanks.
Do you keep plants in your tanks?
In my show tanks, but not in the breeder tanks.
Do you use some type of dechlorinator (chemical or carbon) when making
water changes?
dechlorinator-sometimes
carbon-Yes in the RO system
What and how often do you feed your breeding pairs?
2 to 3 times a day
What and how often do you feed your fry/young?
Fry up to 2 1/2 weeks-newly hatched brine shrimp.
All other my beef heart mix.
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,
4 lb. Beef Heart
8 oz Freeze Dried Krill
4 to 6 tsp. Kent Zoe Freshwater Vitamins
Small amount of Water for processing
The krill is processed first in a meat grinder, which turns it into a powder. Then the beef heart is ground twice. I then add the powdered krill and the vitamins to the beef heart. I then mix it all together adding water to soften the texture, and then I run it through the meat grinder one more time. I then flatten it out in a zip lock baggy to not more than a 1/4 inch and than I freeze it. After it has been frozen for 24 hours I remove a bag from the freezer and process it through a Salad Shooter and then refreeze.
If you feed commercially prepared food, is it available for
purchase?
No.
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, only for locally bought discus.
How many generations can your stock be traced back?
One
What method do you use to maintain your strains
(ie do you breed parents to children, siblings to siblings,
cross related lines, etc.)?
Sure, all of the above.
How many generations of inbreeding do you permit before
"new blood" is crossed in?
Ask me this again in a few years.
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.
What spawning surface do you use?
Red Clay Brick
Do you raise the fry artificially, or are they parent raised?
95% parent raised
If your fry are parent raised, at what age do you separate the fry?
They can be removed from the parents after 8 days of free swimming.
Do you use some sort of night-light to prevent fry loss?
No.
Do you cull your fish?
Yes, I give the culled fish away as feeder fish to a friend with a
tank of monster fish.
Which diseases do you encounter most frequently in your hatchery?
Hexamita
Do you keep records of any diseases or medications that particular
batches of fish have been exposed to?
No.
If so, would you provide
this information about any particular order that has been purchased
(assuming you were asked for it)?
Yes.
What medications and dosages do you use to treat for:
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Hole in the Head Fish Stopped Eating Stringy White Feces Here's my recommendation for treatment: Step 1) Do a 50% to 75% water change Step 2) Keep the pH below 6.2, in the 4's would be even better. Step 3) Raise the temp to 90 to 94=B0F (32 to 34=B0C) Step 4) Make up a fresh batch of my beef heart mix, and add one capsule of "DISCOMED" from Aquatronics (first dilute the contents of the capsule in 2 oz (60 ml) of water) to 8 oz (225 mg) of beef heart mix. The Freeze dried krill will soak up the medication. You can then freeze it in a zip lock bag. Attempt to feed only very small amounts of this mixture 2 to 3 times a day and increase the amount fed as the fish begin to eat. Feed for 10 days after they begin to eat, not more and not less. Step 5) Add 2 capsules of Aquatronics Hex-a-mit (500 mg) of Metronidazole to 10 gallons (38 L) of water. Add this medication to the water every other day for three days. Wait 3 days and do another 50 to 75% water change and repeat this treatment for three more days. Step 6) Do a 50 to 75% water change, and filter the aquarium water with a high quality activated carbon to remove medication.
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Symptom- Discus are dark, fins clamped, sides are producing excessive
slime, and are huddled in a pack in a shaded area.
Here's my recommendation for treatment: Step 1) Do a 50 to 75% water change Step 2) Keep the pH below 6.2, in the 4's would be even better. Step 3) Raise the temp to 90 to 94=B0F (32 to 34=B0C) Step 4) Add Copper Sulfate .15 ppm for not less than 10 days or until fish are cured. Aquarium Systems, SeaCure is one product of Copper Sulfate that works well. Step 5) Do a 50 to 75% water change, and filter the aquarium water with a high quality activated carbon to remove medication. CAUTION: Copper Sulfate is a very harsh chemical. It will kill bacteria, invertebrates, and many species of plants. Excessive amounts of Copper Sulfate can kill fish. Use a Copper Test Kit to monitor copper levels in your aquarium water.
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What specific antibiotics have been used *at any time* in the history
of your hatchery?
Listed Above.
Do you use ultraviolet sterilization in your hatchery?
Yes, I would not run a hatchery without it.
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