discus breeding

[Discus man]

I have been looking around the forum and i have seen alot of posts about breeding discus and getting the moeny for them does not any one think for the discus or just themselfs they have lifes you dont go and get discus to put them back in the shop.
I know people have there own opinions but this is bad and before you get rid of the discus think to yourself why you are putting them back into a grubby shop.

 

[Tolak]

I know people in my aquatics club who breed discus. No one is quitting their day job, breeding discus, or any fish for that matter, isn't hitting the lotto. These folks have 40 or more tanks, many work in the trades, and shut down for the summer months. They resume during the colder months when they are out of work.

I agree with your statement about putting discus in some grubby shop. There are shops I won't sell angels to, discus wouldn't last long in most lfs.

I breed to offer quality fish to club members, as well as a couple of small privately owned shops who know what they are doing, and give customers correct information. If the fish pay for some food for themselves, I'm happy.

If I didn't have someplace to sell the fish, I wouldn't breed them. People often overlook this when they get all "I have fry!"

Tolak

 

[kev_kb]

Whats the problem of breeding fish??? Surely if they breed then you have accomplished your goal as fish keeper by providing them with perfect conditions and making them feel right at home? At the end of the day each creature exists to reproduce, us included, why we shouldn't we let them?

You have a point if the fish are then sold to shops who don't provide the right conditions for them, but then I think you'll find most Discus breeders wouldn't be willing to sell their fish to just anyone after all the time and effort they have put into breeding them!

 

[sylvia]

Do you mean you have a problem with the fry being sold or with the actual parents being returned? To me it sounds like you read a post where someone was planing to buy a pair, breed them, sell on the fry and return the pair. Is that what you mean? In that case I agree, it isn't very fair on the fish at all. If you have a problem with simply breeding the fish and selling the fry, well then I disagree. If people didn't breed discus they wouldn't exist in our aquariums in the first place, if LFSs don't sell them, a lot of people would never have heard of them. They'd be another one of the multitude of very rare specialist's fish and very few people would even try keeping them. Probably a lot of the color variations that exist wouldn't be here if ordinary hobbyists hadn't started breeding these fish in their home aquariums and fallen in love with their beauty. We would know very little about discus and we'd appreciate them less. To me it seems it would be a great shame if people stopped breeding discus altogether and this 'king of the fishes' became rare and even more expensive so that people who care about them won't be able to afford them or get hold of them ever again without a fortune to spend.

 

[annka5]

I've no problem with people breeding fish per se, only if its done with no realistic researched planning as to what will be done with the offspring.
If the fry are sold / passed on to an OK (or preferably, good) life, then where's the issue?
I agree if sold on to an LFS which is incapable of keeping them healthy until they are sold, they're unlikely to have a pleasant life, though.